50 Founders Share How They Got Their First Customers

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  • Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
  • At the start of the S23 batch we interviewed 50 founders about how they managed to get their very first customers. It's a snapshot in time that highlights the different tactics YC founders employ in the early stages to get their companies up and running. Hopefully their experience will offer some insights for anyone wondering about how exactly to go after that first customer.
    Thank you to all the companies who volunteered to be interviewed for this episode: Artie, CandorIQ, Accend, Mantlebio, Fleet Works, Sweetspot, Shasta Health, Kapa, Ohmic Biosciences, Kino AI, Osium AI, Gleam, Paylane, Fortuna Health, Roame, Mano AI, Certainly Health, Strada, Envelope Money, Greenlite, Spine AI, RightPage, Movley, Octo, Craftwork, Letter AI, Flair Health, Helios
    Apply to Y Combinator: yc.link/FounderFAQ-apply
    Work at a Startup: yc.link/FounderFAQ-jobs
    Chapters (Powered by bit.ly/chapterme-yc) -
    00:00 - Intro: How did you find your first customer?
    00:20 - Sweetspot
    00:31 - Shasta Health
    00:45 - Kapa.ai
    01:01 - Platform we got our first customer?
    01:15 - Envelope Money
    01:36 - Reworkd AI
    01:53 - Greenlite
    02:12 - Ohmic Biosciences
    02:23 - Kino AI
    02:34 - MantleBio
    02:49 - Accend
    02:57 - Craftwork
    03:11 - Helios
    03:25 - Letter AI
    03:52 - Outro
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 56

  • @bzengineer8969
    @bzengineer8969 10 місяців тому +68

    We need this type of snapshot content into founders life

    • @islandliving3745
      @islandliving3745 10 місяців тому +1

      It really isn’t that exciting day to day, however, it might be during the burst of activity in the few weeks of a YC batch. I’m curious, what type of short form snap like content would you be interested in?

  • @ymvtech
    @ymvtech 10 місяців тому +5

    Love the fast paced insightful content

  • @NhlakaMkhize-oh1dr
    @NhlakaMkhize-oh1dr 8 місяців тому +3

    This channel is amazing!!!...I'm from South Africa , and I'm starting my very own property development company and the information I am getting here is great♡♡

  • @ycombinator
    @ycombinator  10 місяців тому +14

    How did you find YOUR first customer?

    • @frontforumfocus
      @frontforumfocus 10 місяців тому

      on the way thereeee MVP out testing with early users

    • @NativeNotify
      @NativeNotify 10 місяців тому

      I built an embarrassingly simple and terrible looking MVP in about a month and forced people to pay $29.99/month to even try to use the product. Spent about $700 on Google Ads and actually got a paying customer within about 2 weeks.

    • @Kanibulus
      @Kanibulus 10 місяців тому +2

      Im not from the US, do I have any chance?

    • @LouisMille
      @LouisMille 10 місяців тому

      youtube

    • @Prograffable
      @Prograffable 10 місяців тому +1

      Yesterday by doing cold e-mail

  • @mukurpuri4966
    @mukurpuri4966 10 місяців тому +7

    YCombinator is one such a great ecosystem !!

  • @timsamuel3244
    @timsamuel3244 10 місяців тому +5

    I fucking love it!
    So many people think giant businesses are born overnight. But no. They all have to start somewhere.

  • @Zblboul
    @Zblboul 10 місяців тому +4

    I wish one day I can be a Y Combinator alumnie. This is so inspirational and far better than any guru out there.

  • @chapterme
    @chapterme 10 місяців тому +17

    Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) -
    00:00 - Intro: How did you find your first customer?
    00:20 - Sweetspot
    00:31 - Shasta Health
    00:45 - Kapa AI
    01:01 - Platform we got our first customer?
    01:15 - Envelope Money
    01:36 - Reworkd AI
    01:53 - Greenlite
    02:12 - Ohmic Biosciences
    02:23 - Kino AI
    02:34 - MantleBio
    02:49 - Accend
    02:57 - Craftwork
    03:11 - Helios
    03:25 - Letter AI
    03:52 - Outro

  • @mrgyani
    @mrgyani 10 місяців тому +2

    More of this please..

  • @stableandhappy
    @stableandhappy 10 місяців тому +2

    Great. Thanks ❤

  • @jonathanlobe509
    @jonathanlobe509 10 місяців тому

    Waouh, thanks for this guys

  • @m.ehtizan
    @m.ehtizan 10 місяців тому

    Hey Y Combinator, I just watched your video and I must say that it was really informative and well-made. I loved your videos. I was wondering if I could help you edit your videos and also make highly engaging shorts for you?

    • @ymvtech
      @ymvtech 10 місяців тому

      We might be interested in your service. Do you have a portfolio or website?

  • @Math_kru_earng
    @Math_kru_earng 10 місяців тому

    Thank you

  • @karenperezchatu8990
    @karenperezchatu8990 4 місяці тому

    Love YC!

  • @dotpenji
    @dotpenji 9 місяців тому

    It's intriguing to hear about the various strategies to land that crucial first customer. What method or approach do you think proved most effective for your startup in securing your initial customers?

  • @elleszabo8655
    @elleszabo8655 10 місяців тому +1

    Is the Patagonia required

  • @rey-op7je
    @rey-op7je 10 місяців тому +3

    How can a startup without customer can be accepted by YC? There are couple of people in the video without customers. Do these individuals possess the right founder-market fit?

    • @ErikChan
      @ErikChan 10 місяців тому +1

      its possible they are experts in a field or their idea requires intensive R&D

    • @ycombinator
      @ycombinator  10 місяців тому +14

      On average, 40% of the companies we fund in each batch are just an idea. Most don’t have any revenue.

    • @rey-op7je
      @rey-op7je 10 місяців тому +2

      @@ycombinator I was aware of that statistic. What remains unclear to me is which of those 40% of companies did not have any customers or a waitlist with people signed up.

    • @MyDerrick
      @MyDerrick 10 місяців тому

      ​@@rey-op7je100% of the 40% likely had no wait-list or customers.

  • @fronkamili6686
    @fronkamili6686 9 місяців тому +2

    the name of the companies are too hidden in the video

  • @marleybarrett4982
    @marleybarrett4982 10 місяців тому +1

    seems like more single person founders than before

  • @samedbensaad4391
    @samedbensaad4391 10 місяців тому

    I'm still looking for someone to invest in my idea 😂😂😂

  • @brain_respect_and_freedom
    @brain_respect_and_freedom 10 місяців тому

    👍

  • @0xAG
    @0xAG 10 місяців тому +1

    A decent amount of black founders🎉

  • @therealrogden
    @therealrogden 10 місяців тому

    This video. 🤣

  • @xenstarnetwork5333
    @xenstarnetwork5333 3 місяці тому

    Summary:
    Cold Email
    Reddit
    cold outreach
    door to door
    Linkedin
    Hacker news
    Network (Friends)

  • @vincenthus399
    @vincenthus399 10 місяців тому +13

    Life hack: pay your customers to be your customers

    • @Kanibulus
      @Kanibulus 10 місяців тому +3

      Paypal: 👀

    • @t4tariah
      @t4tariah 10 місяців тому +2

      How does this work?

    • @vincenthus399
      @vincenthus399 10 місяців тому +1

      Yes @Kanibulus, Paypal or Uber show it can be cheaper to pay customers directly than to spend on ads or sales.
      It's strange but true: sometimes, paying customers to be your customers is more cost-effective.

    • @montramedia
      @montramedia 10 місяців тому +1

      ⁠@@vincenthus399could you give an example howd you do this ?

    • @vincenthus399
      @vincenthus399 10 місяців тому

      @@montramedia You tell a potential customer here is $20. To get it you need to sign up for paypall or a more recent example, revolut. Then they signup where they get $20 and they can transfer it anywhere they want.
      This is cheaper than if you would have to spend $80k a year for a sales person to get get x amount of sales or spend $20 in advertisements to get customer in.
      Uber did the same thing if you google.

  • @sricharangovindolla7044
    @sricharangovindolla7044 10 місяців тому +5

    My notes: LinkedIn is always better to reach your first customer.

    • @lucascool
      @lucascool 10 місяців тому +1

      Agreed, but It can be expensive if no one answers back your inmails.

  • @user-ah0
    @user-ah0 10 місяців тому

    Email, LinkedIn, Reddit, Network