a single source, nothing corroborates it
Know whether your buyers can talk to each other
Where your product is a competitive edge, nobody broadcasts it: a founder will tell other founders about a lead source, a financial analyst will not tell rivals about a forecasting advantage. Recommendation carries itself in low touch self serve businesses, and in business to business the talk you want happens inside a target account ahead of a direct approach.
The method
- 01
Expect word of mouth to carry itself only in low touch self serve businesses. In B2B your product is a competitive edge customers will not broadcast, so the talk you want is inside each target account ahead of a direct sales approach.
- 02
Expect no word of mouth from customers for whom your product is a competitive edge. A founder tells other founders about a lead source, a financial analyst will not tell rivals about a forecasting advantage.
Sources
- Balancing Multiple ICPs: Strategies for Solo FoundersArvid Kahl · thebootstrappedfounder.com · The Competition Factor · 2025-09-19
- Spreading the Word: How to Do Marketing on a Shoestring Budget – The Bootstrapped FounderArvid Kahl · thebootstrappedfounder.com · The Power of Word of Mouth · 2020-06-11
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 word of mouth
- Check word of mouth exists before you build8 unconnected · contested
- Turn buyers into fans instead of buying ads6 unconnected
- Show up in person where your readers are5 unconnected
- Make the second user arrive with the first5 unconnected
- Answer support as if it were the sales channel4 unconnected
- Give the hardest customers your hours4 unconnected