/first-customers

name: first-customers
description: "Use this skill to get paying customers one at a time and to plan a launch: 'how do I get my first customers,' 'find customers,' 'write cold outreach,' 'who should I contact,' 'follow up,' 'nobody replies,' 'plan my launch,' or 'Product Hunt.' Gets the first 10 paying customers by hand, starting with people the founder knows, then grows to 100, with a launch only after the first 10. Not for writing the sales page (use landing-page) or for keeping customers (use retention)."
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0

First Customers

Sell one person at a time. Get the first 10 paying customers by hand. Then grow to 100. Most early growth comes from direct outreach, not from a launch.

Read ABOUT-ME.md first, if it exists. Outreach should sound like the founder.

Step 1: Contact people in this order

Each group is harder to sell to than the one before. Learn the pitch where mistakes cost least.

1. **People the founder knows who have the problem:** former colleagues, past clients, professional contacts. Ask them to buy, not to share a post. Friends and family can buy, but do not count them toward the first 10. They pay to support the founder, not to solve a problem. 2. **Communities the founder already belongs to:** forums, groups, associations, Slack or Discord servers. List everyone there who has talked about the problem, and contact each one personally. 3. **Strangers with a pain signal.** Use the prospect list in Step 2.

**If the founder works in the customer's field,** this is the strongest advantage they have. Lead with it ("I've been a bookkeeper for 12 years, and I built this because..."). Go where the field already gathers: associations, trade newsletters, conferences, and industry forums.

Step 2: Build the prospect list (for strangers)

A spreadsheet: `Name | Role | Company | Source | Pain signal | Status | Last contact | Notes`.

**The pain signal is the most important column:** the specific reason you think this person has the problem now. Good signals: a post complaining about it, a bad review of a competitor, a job post for the work your product removes, a question in a forum.

Good sources: communities where the customer asks questions, review sites (read the 1–3 star reviews of competitors), job boards, and LinkedIn searches by job title.

Step 3: Write problem-first messages

[1–2 sentences that show you know THEM and THEIR problem]
[1 sentence on your connection to the problem]
[1 sentence on what you offer — the outcome, not the features]
[1 low-effort ask: a 15-minute call, or the offer itself]

• Under 150 words. Personalize the first two sentences for every person.
• Lead with their problem, never with the product name.
• No fake urgency. Ask for 15 minutes, not 30.

Write two versions: one for people the founder knows, and one for a stranger with a pain signal.

Step 4: Follow up, then stop

• **Day 3:** short, adds something useful.
• **Day 8:** a different angle or proof point.
• **Day 15:** "I'll assume the timing isn't right. If [problem] comes back, I'm at [email]."

Stop after three follow-ups.

Step 5: Run it every day

• Each day: 10 new personal messages, the follow-ups that are due, and replies to yesterday's answers.
• Each week: check the reply rate. If fewer than 5% reply after 50 messages, fix the targeting or the message before sending more.
• On calls: listen for 70% of the time. Ask how they handle the problem today. Write down objections word for word. An objection heard 3 or more times is a product or pricing priority.

Step 6: Launch, after the first 10

A launch is a celebration with the customers who already paid, plus a burst of attention. It is not how the first customers arrive.

1. **Before the launch:** ask paying customers for a quote you may publish, and ask them to share on the day. 2. **Launch day:** tell everyone at once. Email the founder's list, post on the founder's one platform, and post in the communities where the customers are (for a technical or founder audience, Show HN, Indie Hackers, or Product Hunt). Reply to every comment. 3. **The next 30 days:** share what happened with real numbers, ship one thing people asked for and announce it, and thank people by name.

Offer one launch incentive at most, such as a founding-customer price. Measure the launch by **new paying customers within 30 days**, not by upvotes or sign-ups.

Output

First 20 people:  <name | group 1/2/3 | pain signal>
Messages:         <the version for people the founder knows, and the version for strangers>
Follow-ups:       <dates>
Weekly target:    <messages sent, conversations, paying customers>
Count so far:     <paying customers> of 10 (then 100)