4 ms·

Ask HN: How did you find your first 10 customers for your startup?

40 points by going_to_800 11y ago

Wondering?

gearoidoc 11y ago
It really depends on your product. Is it an app? SaaS? Have you validated yet?
- going_to_800 11y ago
  Kinda validated, but I need to hit the 10 customers mark. My product is a SaaS, outbound live chat for lead generation teams.
  - gearoidoc 11y ago
    Quite a busy space that. What pain points does your platform offer that others dont?
    - going_to_800 11y ago
      Higher engagement(it's a landing page dedicated to chat), lead generation during conversation(it has a form builder) and you can include the chat link in emails or other websites.
joshontheweb 11y ago
Twitter. If you are solving a real pain point, there will likely be people complaining about it on twitter. Search for those phrases and offer to solve their problem. I got my first couple hundred users this way. Then it grew organically from there.
- going_to_800 11y ago
  Awesome, thanks. This could also be used to find what pains people have. Any suggestion of how to find that? Using keywords like "how can I" ?
  - joshontheweb 11y ago
    It's hard to say without knowing you problem/solution. Perhaps search for your competitor and scan for complaints. My app helps podcasters record their skype/hangouts calls so i search "podcast record skype" or variants of that and look for people complaining about the quality.
  - joshontheweb 11y ago
    Another thing you can try is searching for the hashtags of conferences in your industry.
    - going_to_800 11y ago
      Thanks, you gave me an idea to search for tech recruiters(one of the target market) with hashtags Do you have any tips how to engage with them?
      - iqonik 11y ago
        How do you see them using it? I know a couple of a Tech recruiters and I'm happy to email them on your behalf if I can understand the use case.
        going_to_800 11y ago
        Hey, thanks for the offer. They can include the link to the chat page in job posting, articles, careers page, email etc, like "Apply via Chat" A few benefits are: - low barrier to get in touch, right when the candidates are the most interested - faster than email and more comfortable than phone calls(especially for tech guys) - no more filling of long application forms - gives a good impression and stands out from the competition
        iqonik 11y ago
        I think you're onto something here but don't realise quite how useful what you have can be in the right hands, with the right pitch. Push the mobile side of things, right now every recruitment site has a brick wall where the CV upload is mandatory but every iPhone user cannot upload a file - you're solving that problem and then some. My product is similar to HootSuite, Buffr etc. but by focusing on a Niche (Real Estate) I'm seeing promising traction. By focusing you're going to find it easier to reach potential customers and your product development will be cut down too. Are you in the UK? I'd love to meet for a beer and discuss, I think this could be huge.
iqonik 11y ago
I'm aware that I owe you an email reply OP, sorry I have been busy and have stopped cold emailing customers. Right now, I'm selling to retail / real estate (http://www.retailwizard.co.uk http://www.retailwizard.co.uk / http://www.propertywizard.io http://www.propertywizard.io) so to get customers I literally go to their workplace & ask them for 5 minutes of their time. I did try emailing as you know, but I have found going to speak to to them face-to-face to be more effective for my niche. Obviously email works for other sectors, something I'm looking to explore again in the future.
- tixocloud 11y ago
  I think that's a great tip. For your product, would it apply for Canadian retailers/real estate companies as well? Given that I was focused on real estate with my previous startup, I could help you make the connections in Canada.
  - iqonik 11y ago
    It works worldwide, the only reason I'm concentrating on the UK at the moment is because of my high touch sales process. I'd love to chat more (email in my profile) and I'd appreciate any connections you can make. I'd also be happy to pay you a referral fee.
    - tixocloud 11y ago
      Sure. I'll ping you through email later today.
      - iqonik 11y ago
        I didn't get an email, just wanted to make sure I didn't miss it?
tixocloud 11y ago
Thanks for asking a very relevant question. Another tip I can share is going to meetups of your target customer and building relationships. We're building something that's fairly overlapping (i.e. landing pages, etc. ) but we're more focused on the marketing automation piece. Good luck!

40 points by going_to_800 11y ago

Wondering?

gearoidoc 11y ago

It really depends on your product. Is it an app? SaaS? Have you validated yet?

going_to_800 11y ago
Kinda validated, but I need to hit the 10 customers mark. My product is a SaaS, outbound live chat for lead generation teams.
- gearoidoc 11y ago
  Quite a busy space that. What pain points does your platform offer that others dont?
  - going_to_800 11y ago
    Higher engagement(it's a landing page dedicated to chat), lead generation during conversation(it has a form builder) and you can include the chat link in emails or other websites.

joshontheweb 11y ago

Twitter. If you are solving a real pain point, there will likely be people complaining about it on twitter. Search for those phrases and offer to solve their problem. I got my first couple hundred users this way. Then it grew organically from there.

going_to_800 11y ago
Awesome, thanks. This could also be used to find what pains people have. Any suggestion of how to find that? Using keywords like "how can I" ?
- joshontheweb 11y ago
  It's hard to say without knowing you problem/solution. Perhaps search for your competitor and scan for complaints. My app helps podcasters record their skype/hangouts calls so i search "podcast record skype" or variants of that and look for people complaining about the quality.
- joshontheweb 11y ago
  Another thing you can try is searching for the hashtags of conferences in your industry.
  - going_to_800 11y ago
    Thanks, you gave me an idea to search for tech recruiters(one of the target market) with hashtags Do you have any tips how to engage with them?
    - iqonik 11y ago
      How do you see them using it? I know a couple of a Tech recruiters and I'm happy to email them on your behalf if I can understand the use case.
      - going_to_800 11y ago
        Hey, thanks for the offer. They can include the link to the chat page in job posting, articles, careers page, email etc, like "Apply via Chat" A few benefits are: - low barrier to get in touch, right when the candidates are the most interested - faster than email and more comfortable than phone calls(especially for tech guys) - no more filling of long application forms - gives a good impression and stands out from the competition
        iqonik 11y ago
        I think you're onto something here but don't realise quite how useful what you have can be in the right hands, with the right pitch. Push the mobile side of things, right now every recruitment site has a brick wall where the CV upload is mandatory but every iPhone user cannot upload a file - you're solving that problem and then some. My product is similar to HootSuite, Buffr etc. but by focusing on a Niche (Real Estate) I'm seeing promising traction. By focusing you're going to find it easier to reach potential customers and your product development will be cut down too. Are you in the UK? I'd love to meet for a beer and discuss, I think this could be huge.

iqonik 11y ago

I'm aware that I owe you an email reply OP, sorry I have been busy and have stopped cold emailing customers. Right now, I'm selling to retail / real estate (http://www.retailwizard.co.uk http://www.retailwizard.co.uk / http://www.propertywizard.io http://www.propertywizard.io) so to get customers I literally go to their workplace & ask them for 5 minutes of their time. I did try emailing as you know, but I have found going to speak to to them face-to-face to be more effective for my niche. Obviously email works for other sectors, something I'm looking to explore again in the future.

tixocloud 11y ago
I think that's a great tip. For your product, would it apply for Canadian retailers/real estate companies as well? Given that I was focused on real estate with my previous startup, I could help you make the connections in Canada.
- iqonik 11y ago
  It works worldwide, the only reason I'm concentrating on the UK at the moment is because of my high touch sales process. I'd love to chat more (email in my profile) and I'd appreciate any connections you can make. I'd also be happy to pay you a referral fee.
  - tixocloud 11y ago
    Sure. I'll ping you through email later today.
    - iqonik 11y ago
      I didn't get an email, just wanted to make sure I didn't miss it?

tixocloud 11y ago

Thanks for asking a very relevant question. Another tip I can share is going to meetups of your target customer and building relationships. We're building something that's fairly overlapping (i.e. landing pages, etc. ) but we're more focused on the marketing automation piece. Good luck!