Thanks to all of the product development conversations, we had a direct line into many of the folks who's dream solution we actually built. In that process, we found a lot of value in a platform that could cut through the noise of what most consumers face on a daily basis - torrents of emails, and ads from competing companies trying to capture business.įrom those conversations, BuildFire was born. In crafting the product that's now BuildFire, we spoke to hundreds of potential customers, trying to understand their key pains related to retaining and engaging customers. Those are just a few high-level insights from the founders.Ĥ3 Founders Reveal the Growth Hacking Strategies That Landed Their First Paying CustomersĪ big path for us was customer development. Because that audience has a product that meets their exact needs, they'll get a ton of value, and happily share it with their network. Solicit feedback from potential users,īring that feedback to life, and sell it to them. #5: Let your customers "build" the product: Identify your ideal customers and get them involved in the development of the product. Make sure you are building something people actually want or need, and #4: Find your purple cow: It's harder than ever to stand out the marketplace. Find where your ideal audience hangs out, and start conversations.
#3: Leverage existing communities: Don't try to reinvent the wheel. #2: Build marketing into your product: Add functionality that forces engagement and makes it easy for people to share and advocate for your product. From coffee and live demonstrations, to sending thousands of cold emails, do whatever it takes to seed your customer base. In the early days when you're laser-focused on getting those first people using, and paying for your product, you'll need to do things thatĭon't scale. #1: Do things that don't scale: If you've put a ton of work into a pre-launch strategy, gaining traction will be a little easier. 5 Common Growth Strategies Used By The Founders The responses from each company's founder are compiled below. Some of the answers might surprise you :)īut first. What growth strategies did you use to land your first paying customers? Our team reached out to the founders of 44 successful companies and asked the following question: We decided to go straight to the horse's mouth, and find the answer to that exact question. So, how did companies like Zapier, Segment, WordStream and Pipedrive not only survive and land their first paying customers, but gain traction and grow into multi-million dollar businesses with hundreds of thousands of loyal customers? Whether it's pre-launch or post-launch, failure lurks everywhere, especially in the early days. Often it's failing to get a product in front of the right people. Why do so many startups fail to get traction? No matter what data you look at, or how you look at it, startup life is a grind.
According to the US Small Business Administration, the failure rate for new startups is estimated to be around 70% to 80% in the first year, and only half of those remain in business over the next five years. Landing your first paying customers is even harder.Įvery day, companies with killer products fail. Starting a business and launching a product is hard.
0 kommentar(er)
