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Networking & Communities

Be a known, helpful presence in the places your buyers already talk — forums, groups, meetups and your own network. Many of today's best-known B2B companies found their first ten customers through people, not ads.

Cost
Free
Time to results
Months
Difficulty
Easy
Best for
B2B
0/7

Proof first

8 companies already did this.

Three of these examples come from Lenny Rachitsky's survey of how B2B companies found their first customers — see sources.

Deep dives

Two case studies, start to finish.

Product Hunt — start with the people you know

Product Hunt · 2013

Friends first · 43,000+ subscribers

What they built: a shared email list, then meetups

What they didRyan Hoover set up a shared list of product picks and invited a couple dozen people he knew to contribute. Word of mouth took it to a couple hundred subscribers. He kept growing it through personal outreach on email and Twitter, showed mockups to his most influential followers, and hosted meetups such as a New York brunch for long-time members.

Why it workedThe first contributors were his own network of product people — who were also exactly the audience. Every invite came from someone they knew. By January 2015 the email list had passed 43,000 subscribers.

Copy thisStart with 20 people who already trust you and match your buyer. Make it personal, one message at a time.

lemlist — help first in someone else's group

Lemlist · 2018

One Facebook post · ~120 beta testers

What they built: a post in a sales-prospecting Facebook group

What they didWith no ad budget, Guillaume Moubeche went to a Facebook group where sales people discussed prospecting. With the admin's permission, he posted the replies his cold emails were getting and invited members to comment for beta access. He also answered members' cold-email questions.

Why it workedHe was helpful in the room before and after asking for anything. He says the post drew 200 comments and about 120 beta testers. Right after launch he started his own group for the same people.

Copy thisAsk the group admin first, show a real result, and answer questions for weeks — the ask works because the help came first.

The guide

7 steps, each anchored to a real example.

Tick each step off as you go. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Step 1 · ~1 hour

List the rooms your buyers are already in

Write down where your buyers ask questions: product forums, Slack and Discord groups, LinkedIn and Facebook groups, subreddits, local meetups and conferences. Pick the three most active.

RedditSlack communitiesMeetupLinkedIn groups

How Zapier did this step

"We hung around forums and listened to the complaints. Each time we helped, we got a few new beta customers."

Paraphrased — see source

Zapier's founders hung around the Evernote, Dropbox and Highrise forums and listened to what users complained about — then offered to fix it.

Source [8] ↓

Step 2 · ~30 min / day

Help before you pitch

Answer questions, share what you've learned, and leave your product out of it for the first few weeks. People notice who's useful. When you do share, ask the moderator first.

NotificationsSaved searchesCalendar block

How Lemlist did this step

Ambassador
Moderator
Member

Illustration

Moubeche got the admin's permission before posting in a sales group, and answered members' cold-email questions. One post brought about 120 beta testers.

Source [4] ↓

Step 3 · ~1 week

Start with the people you already know

Make a list of everyone who might be a buyer or know one: friends, former colleagues, your accelerator batch, past clients. Tell each of them, personally, what you're building.

SpreadsheetLinkedInEmail

How Gusto did this step

Illustration

Gusto's first ten customers were friends who were just starting their own businesses in California.

Source [3] ↓

Step 4 · ~2 hours each

Ask for introductions — and make them easy

Ask investors, advisers and happy customers who they know. Send a short, forwardable paragraph so they only have to click forward.

EmailLinkedIn

How Looker did this step

Illustration

Looker found its first ten-plus customers through its own network, its customers' networks and its investors' networks.

Source [3] ↓

Step 5 · ~Monthly

Host a small, regular get-together

A dinner, a pizza night or a monthly call for early users. Ten people who care beat a hundred who don't. Bring the product and listen.

LumaEventbriteGoogle Meet

How Figma did this step

Illustration

Figma hosted a pizza night for closed-beta users — about ten people came. Early relationships like these led to Coda becoming the first team to use Figma full-time.

Source [6] ↓

Step 6 · ~Ongoing

Make it personal, one person at a time

Message people individually, use their name, reference what they said. Mass messages in a community read as spam; personal ones start relationships.

EmailX / Twitter DMs

How Product Hunt did this step

"Early on, I spent a lot of time doing manual outreach, through email, on Twitter, making it personal."

Exact quote — see source

Ryan Hoover grew Product Hunt through manual outreach by email and Twitter, and changed the design based on feedback from his most influential followers.

Source [2] ↓

Step 7 · ~Weekly review

Track every conversation and follow up

Keep a simple list: who, where you met, what they need, next step, date. Most deals come from the second or third conversation, not the first.

SpreadsheetHubSpot (free)Attio

How ConvertKit did this step

Illustration

Nathan Barry emailed bloggers who used competing tools — only about a third were cold — and offered demos and free migration. Monthly revenue grew from about $3,000 to over $30,000 in ten months.

Source [7] ↓

Before you start

Pros & cons.

Works in your favour

  • Free — it costs time, not money
  • Trust transfers through introductions
  • You hear what buyers actually need
  • Works before you have a marketing budget
  • Compounds: each happy customer knows the next one

Go in with eyes open

  • Slow, and it doesn't scale on its own
  • Easy to cross into spam — always ask the moderator first
  • Depends on your network, which may be thin at first
  • Hard to measure
  • Time spent networking is time not spent building

Make it yours

Three ways to run it.

The Gusto model

Friends & batchmates

Sell to people you already know who fit the buyer — friends, former colleagues, your accelerator batch. Best for your first ten B2B customers.

The lemlist model

Help in someone else's group

Become the most useful member of an existing community, then ask for beta users with the admin's blessing. Best when your buyers already gather online.

The Figma model

Host your own small events

Run small dinners, meetups or calls for early users. Best when you need deep feedback and early champions.

Copy and paste

Templates & resources.

Forwardable intro request

make it one click for the person introducing you

Subject: Intro to {name}?

Hi {connector},

Would you be open to introducing me to {name}? Here's a short note you can forward as is:

---
{Your name} is building {product}, which helps {who} {outcome}. {One line of proof}. {He/She/They} would love 20 minutes to hear how {company} handles {problem} today — no pitch unless it's useful.
---

Thanks either way!
{You}

Community post (after asking the admin)

modeled on lemlist's beta post

Hi all — {admin} kindly said I could share this.

I've been {doing the thing this group cares about} and noticed {specific problem}. I built a small tool that {result, with a real number}.

It's in beta and free for this group. Comment "beta" and I'll send you access — and I'm happy to answer any {topic} questions either way.

Follow-up after meeting someone

send within 24 hours

Subject: Great to meet you at {event}

Hi {name},

Thanks for the chat about {their problem}. You mentioned {specific detail} — {one useful idea or link}.

If it helps, I'd be glad to show you how {product} handles that. Would {day} or {day} suit for 20 minutes?

{You}

From the showcase

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Discussion

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Receipts

Sources & references.

Last reviewed

  1. 1.
    Slack: "maybe six to ten companies to start with" (opens in a new tab)

    First Round Review, 2015

  2. 2.
    Product Hunt's growth through personal outreach and meetups (opens in a new tab)

    First Round Review, 2015

  3. 3.
    How B2B companies found their first ten customers (Gusto, Looker, Asana) (opens in a new tab)

    Lenny's Newsletter, 2020

  4. 4.
    lemlist: 200 comments and about 120 beta testers from one post (opens in a new tab)

    Guillaume Moubeche, Starter Story, 2019

  5. 5.
    Lessons from bootstrapping lemlist (opens in a new tab)

    Growth Unhinged, 2024

  6. 6.
    Figma's community-led growth, from stealth to enterprise (opens in a new tab)

    First Round Review, 2022

  7. 7.
    ConvertKit: from $3,237 to $30,000+ MRR (opens in a new tab)

    Nathan Barry, 2015

  8. 8.
    Wade Foster on Zapier's first customers from app forums (opens in a new tab)

    Typeform

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