
Ask HN: How did you find your first 10 customers for your startup? - going_to_800
Wondering?
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joshontheweb
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.

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going_to_800
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" ?

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joshontheweb
Another thing you can try is searching for the hashtags of conferences in your
industry.

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going_to_800
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?

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iqonik
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.

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going_to_800
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

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iqonik
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.

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iqonik
FYI applypage.io is available.

~~~
iqonik
If anyone reading this is interested in this product please email me (in my
profile) - as this will be ready very soon after chatting with the OP.

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iqonik
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.

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tixocloud
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.

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iqonik
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.

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tixocloud
Sure. I'll ping you through email later today.

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iqonik
I didn't get an email, just wanted to make sure I didn't miss it?

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tixocloud
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!

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gearoidoc
It really depends on your product. Is it an app? SaaS?

Have you validated yet?

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going_to_800
Kinda validated, but I need to hit the 10 customers mark.

My product is a SaaS, outbound live chat for lead generation teams.

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gearoidoc
Quite a busy space that.

What pain points does your platform offer that others dont?

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going_to_800
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.

