This guy is the goat, I have no degree, no diploma, launched my startup in Tunisia 6 months ago, now i have 5 paid customers (B2B), EVERYTHING I LEARNED IS FROM THIS GUY, If u ever met him tell him thank you.
How to find your first 10 customers? 1. Solve a problem for someone you know personally who has it. 2. Avoid Hard customers Find 10 people who LOVE your product. Do it in a way that doesn't scale! "Hand-recruit" them 3. Don't make your first customers, the ones that are hard-to-get. - They should intensely have the problem you are trying to solve - Willing to work with early-stage startup - are willing to pay to have their problem solved 4. Charge your customers 5. Qualify your customers: Have 4-5 questions to ask them to find out: - how intensely they have the problem - how willing they are to move quickly Those customers that "qualify", pursue aggressively to sign up.
Amazing advice! It's important to seek out uncomfortable truths. Which is why It is so important to try to charge the customer - it can be financial capital or social capital - but make sure you charge them something. It may be uncomfortable, but it'll reveal some fundamental truths about your product / market fit.
Thank you. This is really great. 2 weeks ago my team & I finalised our MVP aftr 12 mnths of development. I am happy with our 1st commercial version & am now starting to try to get customers. This video says a lot as the question of how I get customers has been playing on my mind.
Want to ask questions but I feel I have to launch first working on it now, that confidence level getting settled , keep thinking bout the war and I just won the battle
Thanks! A question on charging your customers. We provide a solution that is supposed to uplift the (wine) sales for our B2B customers. So, we charge on a success rate. Is that fair or should we agree to charge the customers regardless?
Thank you for video! A quick question: what if my startup is "TikTok" like app? Usually it's totally free. How can I charge first users if the core of monetization is advertisement? Thank you.
Dear Michael, here's an idea for a video. European founders looking at the USA, the sooner the better or take it easy? Would you recommend a European bootstrapping founder to relocate right away to the USA, or try to grow first locally and then relocate to the USA. I'm building 2 awesome startups in southern Spain. 30min drive from the nearest decent startup ecosystem, upcoming Malaga. Bootstrapping thanks to my main employment. Thank you for the advice.
Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00 - Introduction 00:20 - Solve a problem 00:38 - 10 people who love your product 00:57 - No benefit to you to make first customers hard to get 01:49 - Charge your customers 02:17 - Qualify your customers 02:47 - Final takeaway
We're building a type of marketplace. So we have two kinds of customers, one the sellers who would enlist themselves, and the other, the buyers who would like to buy the services delivered by the sellers. The enlisting is free of cost for the sellers so we would like to figure out how to implement the point about charging the customer
My suggestion is for you to think along the following lines while applying the point on "You should charge your customer ". For your 2 sets of customers, what is the specific painpoint you are solving for them to get on your marketplace ? Once you have articulated that, you should define the fee. For the Seller, its possibly exposure to a new customer base. For the buyers, it is a possible chance to pick up a deal or two and save some bucks. For either of the 2 scenarios, you should calibrate a fee. And even if the fee sounds lower to begin with, thats fine...it still shows the customer's true disposition towards your service. Hope it helps. Best wishes !
should we apply this if it is a Product based company like I am solving the problem to get the Middle and Lower Middle Class people to get them the best Casual dining food at more reasonable prices with that great experience so that they visit restaurants more frequently . and I am integrating technology by adding a Ordering through our App system in our MVP can Hospitality be such a priority that someone badly needs it
I am exactly at this stage with my online business... But I stumble with those 5 questions to qualify. I guess you just have to ask "what happens if your business doesn't succeed? How does that affect your life? What are you willing to do to get your next sale or client? What would you need from me?". Something like that? Asking for money is easy for me because I have a sales background, but what to know if I can help frost of course. Anyone have some input on this? Thanks!
I guess you should draw a picture of how the perfect customer looks like to you, and then elaborate some questions that will show you if this customer is the ideal one. Suppose you've built a platform that allows SaaS companies to anticipate their year's MRR. You would probably be looking for: 1 - SaaS companies (the most obvious one)... 2 - ...that are looking for funding... 3 - ...and don't want more dillution. Then, your questions should probably be: 1 - Are you a SaaS company? (E.A.: Yes) 2 - How do you charge your customers (E.A.: Monthly) 3 - Are you looking for funding? (E.A.: Yes) 4 - Would you rather avoid dillution or bring new investors in? (E.A.: avoid dillution) 5 - Would you trust such an important thing to a startup? (E.A.: Yes) I think it's in this way :) *E.A. = expected answer
@@abner_horn thank you, this is really useful! Thanks for the answer variables too. Specifically, how to collate an answer against what it means to me. What to look for. Thx again
I was wondering the same. I think depends on market and other factors. In other videos they mention you have to be an expert interviewing people and they recommend the Jobs to Be Done interviewing method
Michael, is there anyway we could reach out to you ? We are a start up from Yemen and would like to bring in our app to your attention, we need YC help to take us to the next step.
This guy is the goat, I have no degree, no diploma, launched my startup in Tunisia 6 months ago, now i have 5 paid customers (B2B), EVERYTHING I LEARNED IS FROM THIS GUY, If u ever met him tell him thank you.
Sa7a ya jmal bon courage
3ash ya sa7by! Respect
good luck buddy
Legend, how’s it going now?
This is amazing. The value added from any public advice by Michael Seibel is immeasurable. And I got rejected from YC twice.
He is so humble that he says "I am a partner at YC" when he is actually the CEO
Ikr he always does this in all speeches/talks
Maybe he doesn't know
@@seanshaf 😂
@@seanshaf maybe he'll know when he sees this video
He was*
Amazing how he said enough in a few minutes what most talks do in 30-60min. Bite sized videos ftw!
That's because hes actually doing stuff besides making UA-cam videos
Michael, you are constantly an example of humility and class. Thank you for this incredibly helpful video!
This vlog is so insightful that I think it can be life changing for an aspiring entrepreneur.
How to find your first 10 customers?
1. Solve a problem for someone you know personally who has it.
2. Avoid Hard customers
Find 10 people who LOVE your product.
Do it in a way that doesn't scale!
"Hand-recruit" them
3. Don't make your first customers, the ones that are hard-to-get.
- They should intensely have the problem you are trying to solve
- Willing to work with early-stage startup
- are willing to pay to have their problem solved
4. Charge your customers
5. Qualify your customers:
Have 4-5 questions to ask them to find out:
- how intensely they have the problem
- how willing they are to move quickly
Those customers that "qualify", pursue aggressively to sign up.
I was wondering what exactly questions I should ask my customers to find out if they're whether a hard customer or not?
I’m a simple person. I see Michael Seibel, I watch.
Super helpful. Talking to a wrong audience is the most common mistake of founders (with a strong technical background) at the early stage.
Plain background, nothing fancy, just great info. Nothing more educational and inspirational than this!
So simple, yet helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing advice! It's important to seek out uncomfortable truths. Which is why It is so important to try to charge the customer - it can be financial capital or social capital - but make sure you charge them something. It may be uncomfortable, but it'll reveal some fundamental truths about your product / market fit.
Simple, efficient, to the point; I love your style
As always, Michael is precise and convincing.
Thank you. This is really great. 2 weeks ago my team & I finalised our MVP aftr 12 mnths of development. I am happy with our 1st commercial version & am now starting to try to get customers. This video says a lot as the question of how I get customers has been playing on my mind.
Are you funded? How have you sustained for 12 months?
Fantastic bite sized value! Concise and relevant. Appreciate it.
Simple, practical and straight to the point. Thank you
Thank you for making new videos Michael, you have been missed.
I loved all the tips, Michael! My favorites were #2 and #3! It can also be applied in all businesses.
Thanks very much Michael. Much appreciated. 🙌🙌🙌 YC
Wow! This is the best video on getting customers in 3 minutes.😊
Clear and absolutely important advice ❤❤
We loved this kind of content!, short but insightful. Keep it up team!
Want to ask questions but I feel I have to launch first working on it now, that confidence level getting settled , keep thinking bout the war and I just won the battle
Fabulous pillars to balance the startup load ...that to well designed & delivered by great startup vehicle " The Michael Seibel "
Cold email still works great for getting your first ten customers. Learn it, then master it.
Thanks! A question on charging your customers. We provide a solution that is supposed to uplift the (wine) sales for our B2B customers. So, we charge on a success rate. Is that fair or should we agree to charge the customers regardless?
Thank you for video! A quick question: what if my startup is "TikTok" like app? Usually it's totally free. How can I charge first users if the core of monetization is advertisement? Thank you.
Dear Michael, here's an idea for a video. European founders looking at the USA, the sooner the better or take it easy? Would you recommend a European bootstrapping founder to relocate right away to the USA, or try to grow first locally and then relocate to the USA. I'm building 2 awesome startups in southern Spain. 30min drive from the nearest decent startup ecosystem, upcoming Malaga. Bootstrapping thanks to my main employment. Thank you for the advice.
Great advice. Thanks Michael.
Thanks a lot sir ♥️♥️ your knowledge is impeccable and it helps me a lot .
This is amazing... I will follow this principles... But please what are the right questions to ask?
Excellent...really educative and at the right time....Thanks so much.....
Hey Michael, can you make a video about getting first 100 or 1000 customers after aquiring 10 paid ones within your contacts?
First launch a startup and get 10 customers 🤪
@@movocode Failed Twice after < 50 customers that's why asking btw thanks for motivating 🤗
Hey suyash by any chance you are from modern academy? If yes let me know
@suyash shukla
@@suryanshsaxena5489 nope
Yes. Sometime we make the mistake of going for big customers who most likely won't use a budding startup.
Thank you, Michael.
Excellent advice! What if you're building a gaming or entertainment app?
Thank you for all the content you are providing!
Here before someone called him Amit Shah
Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) -
00:00 - Introduction
00:20 - Solve a problem
00:38 - 10 people who love your product
00:57 - No benefit to you to make first customers hard to get
01:49 - Charge your customers
02:17 - Qualify your customers
02:47 - Final takeaway
any books on this specifically?
We're building a type of marketplace. So we have two kinds of customers, one the sellers who would enlist themselves, and the other, the buyers who would like to buy the services delivered by the sellers. The enlisting is free of cost for the sellers so we would like to figure out how to implement the point about charging the customer
My suggestion is for you to think along the following lines while applying the point on "You should charge your customer ".
For your 2 sets of customers, what is the specific painpoint you are solving for them to get on your marketplace ? Once you have articulated that, you should define the fee. For the Seller, its possibly exposure to a new customer base. For the buyers, it is a possible chance to pick up a deal or two and save some bucks. For either of the 2 scenarios, you should calibrate a fee. And even if the fee sounds lower to begin with, thats fine...it still shows the customer's true disposition towards your service.
Hope it helps. Best wishes !
@@prasads2855 thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to my comment. Thank you!
Initially you can give the service for free to grow user base and later charge money. At least that’s what all freemium products do.
Thank you Michael!
Another amazing video, thanks Michael! Just curious what you used to record the audio? It sounds great
Another question: when is a product good enough to go on a hunt for customers?
First 10 customers are key to building a network of customers
Thank you Boss! The video is super helpful.
Great video! Would you say this applies to B2C where tickets are really low? ($5/10 monthly subscription)
Yeah!
Thank you..very useful ideas
He is total think tank.
somehow I don’t make the startup yet but I like this channel 😅
What if your social connections/skills are limited?
But what if I don't have a network of potential users and I can't even get interviews to get some feedback or find a problem?
thank you so much
How would you go about this for a new social media?
Thanks for the reminder
Wish could start a business here.
Bless! 🖑
should we apply this if it is a Product based company like
I am solving the problem to get the Middle and Lower Middle Class people to get them the best Casual dining food at more reasonable prices with that great experience
so that they visit restaurants more frequently .
and I am integrating technology by adding a Ordering through our App system in our MVP
can Hospitality be such a priority that someone badly needs it
I think u should refine this idea n look at food industry's other pain points frm biz point of view.
ur the best sir.
Super clear
Fantastic.
Excellent
I am exactly at this stage with my online business... But I stumble with those 5 questions to qualify. I guess you just have to ask "what happens if your business doesn't succeed? How does that affect your life? What are you willing to do to get your next sale or client? What would you need from me?". Something like that? Asking for money is easy for me because I have a sales background, but what to know if I can help frost of course. Anyone have some input on this? Thanks!
I guess you should draw a picture of how the perfect customer looks like to you, and then elaborate some questions that will show you if this customer is the ideal one. Suppose you've built a platform that allows SaaS companies to anticipate their year's MRR. You would probably be looking for:
1 - SaaS companies (the most obvious one)...
2 - ...that are looking for funding...
3 - ...and don't want more dillution.
Then, your questions should probably be:
1 - Are you a SaaS company? (E.A.: Yes)
2 - How do you charge your customers (E.A.: Monthly)
3 - Are you looking for funding? (E.A.: Yes)
4 - Would you rather avoid dillution or bring new investors in? (E.A.: avoid dillution)
5 - Would you trust such an important thing to a startup? (E.A.: Yes)
I think it's in this way :)
*E.A. = expected answer
@@abner_horn thank you, this is really useful! Thanks for the answer variables too. Specifically, how to collate an answer against what it means to me. What to look for. Thx again
My Mentor
Qualify customers and avoid the hard to get ones.
Dumbledore ⭐️✌️👍🏻👑
I hate to admit this but every time I watch a YC video I realize yeah I made this mistake too.
Great👍
Now I understand that I was wrong. I have to start again. Looking for a partner.
what are those 5 questions?
I was wondering the same. I think depends on market and other factors. In other videos they mention you have to be an expert interviewing people and they recommend the Jobs to Be Done interviewing method
Question: How to get your first 10 customers.
This guy's answer: You should get your first 10 customers and they should really like your product.
🙏🙏🙏
Scared me at 2:35
Was looking for this comment haha
awsm
I find them, send them emails but the never reply
The answer: fake it till you make it
Hey this strategy is not suited for all kinds of startups otherwise ur points are good
🤩🤩🤩🤓
Michael, is there anyway we could reach out to you ? We are a start up from Yemen and would like to bring in our app to your attention, we need YC help to take us to the next step.
U should apply to the YC summer 2021 batch, and connection doesn’t contribute to your chance of getting in
He talks about how to reach out to him and others like him in one of his videos.
why they pretend to use "early adopters" for customers facing the problem intensely and willing to pay?
wow this guy created twitch lol
is he indian? too many indians here
😬
とうございます」、