Key findings
B2B companies' early growth strategies can be summarized into three
Leveraging personal networks is especially important
It is effective to identify where potential customers are and proactively approach them.
Use press releases as a complementary tool
Strategy 1: Leverage your personal network
Key point: Who in your network could be a potential customer?
Representative Examples
Slack - Leverage your friends Stewart Butterfield (CEO): "We asked our friends and companies we knew to try Slack and get their feedback. We started with 6-10 companies and slowly scaled up."
Salesforce - Leveraging former colleagues Marc Benioff (CEO): "It was difficult to get our first customers, but we targeted pioneers who were interested in new ideas. We reached out to founders of smaller software companies that we had previously invested in, and that's how we got our first customers."
Gusto - Leveraging friends and incubator peers Tomer London (CPO, co-founder): “Our first 10 customers were people we knew who were just starting out in California, including startups from our Y Combinator cohort and small non-tech businesses we met through family and friends.”
point :
Start with people you trust and focus on improving your product and building trust.
Make effective use of incubator and accelerator networks
Increase the versatility of the product by acquiring initial customers from a variety of industries
Strategy 2: Find your customers where they are
Key point: Who is your target customer and where are they currently spending their time?
Representative Examples
Shopify - Leveraging the Ruby denmark telegram phone number list on Rails Community Tobi Lütke (CEO): "Shopify was built in response to requests from the Ruby on Rails developer community. When we launched in beta, hundreds of stores were up and running."
Figma - Using Twitter Dylan Field (CEO): "We used Twitter to identify the most influential designers and reach out to them individually. This gave us valuable feedback that helped us improve our product."
Square - Visiting Small Businesses in Person Cameron Walters (Founding Team Member): "By reaching out to real, local businesses and visiting them several times a week, we were able to see real usage and make improvements to our product quickly."
point :
Focus on a specific technical community or professional group
Use social media strategically to reach out to influencers
Offline, direct approaches are also effective
Strategy 3: Use press releases 🗞
Key Takeaway: What unique, unknown story can you pitch to the press?
Representative Examples
Canva, Melanie Perkins (CEO): "We gained press attention as a 'stealth startup' thanks to high-profile investors and a 50,000-person waitlist."
Twilio launched in private beta on TechCrunch in November 2008. A few days prior to launch, Dave McClure (angel investor) used the service to rickroll Michael Arrington (TechCrunch), resulting in their first press hit.
Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield: "We had an impressive press rollout, with 8,000 people requesting invites on the first day and 15,000 people requesting invites two weeks later."
point :
Capture press attention with high-profile investors and unique stories
Demonstrate your services in a unique way and create buzz
Don't underestimate the power of traditional media
summary
Here are three strategies that are effective for B2B companies to acquire early customers:
Leveraging your personal network
Reach your potential customers where they are
Using press releases
Combining these strategies and adapting them to your situation can help you gain early customer acquisition and growth. The key is to communicate closely with your customers to improve your product and build trust.
Finally, a strong personal network is a great advantage for success in the B2B market, and if necessary, this can be built and expanded by involving connector investors and participating in incubator and accelerator programs such as Y Combinator.
