a single source, nothing corroborates it
Deliver the outcome by hand before you build it
Do the work manually and scrappily for the first customers, and let the repeated steps tell you what the software should be. The buyer cares that the result arrives, not how it was produced.
The method
- 01
Deliver the outcome by hand for your first customers before you build any software to do it.
What it returned
Every startup Christina Cacioppo asked about security admitted they did nothing and only acted when a customer demanded it. She did the work for them manually and scrappily, and that became Vanta.
Sources
- How the most successful B2B startups came up with their original ideaChristina Cacioppo · lennysnewsletter.com · Path 2: Ponder and probe · 2023-08-08
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in sales
- Charge for it before it exists6 unconnected
- Book the buyer calls before you write any code6 unconnected
- Package more of what you own into sellable slots6 unconnected
- Interview customers when sales stall, not buy traffic5 unconnected
- Borrow credibility from the customers you have5 unconnected
- Keep a named list of dream accounts and work it5 unconnected