50 Founders Share How They Got Their First Customers

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

[@bzengineer8969]

We need this type of snapshot content into founders life

[@islandliving3745]

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]

Love the fast paced insightful content

[@NhlakaMkhize-oh1dr]

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♡♡

[@mukurpuri4966]

YCombinator is one such a great ecosystem !!

[@timsamuel3244]

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

[@ycombinator]

How did you find YOUR first customer?

[@frontforumfocus]

on the way thereeee MVP out testing with early users

[@NativeNotify]

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]

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

[@LouisMille]

youtube

[@Prograffable]

Yesterday by doing cold e-mail

[@mrgyani]

More of this please..

[@stableandhappy]

Great. Thanks ❤

[@Zblboul]

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

[@reprovedcandy]

Don't wish, take action.

[@chapterme]

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

[@jonathanlobe509]

Waouh, thanks for this guys

[@Math_kru_earng]

Thank you

[@dotpenji]

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?

[@karenperezchatu8990]

Love YC!

[@m.ehtizan]

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]

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

[@frogiwthoutahat]

Is the Patagonia required

[@rey-op7je]

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]

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

[@ycombinator]

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

[@rey-op7je]

@@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]

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

[@fronkamili6686]

the name of the companies are too hidden in the video

[@brain_respect_and_freedom]

👍

[@samedbensaad4391]

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

[@marleybarrett4982]

seems like more single person founders than before

[@0xAG]

A decent amount of black founders🎉

[@therealrogden]

This video. 🤣

[@xenstarnetwork5333]

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

[@vincenthus399]

Life hack: pay your customers to be your customers

[@Kanibulus]

Paypal: 👀

[@t4tariah]

How does this work?

[@vincenthus399]

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]

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

[@vincenthus399]

@@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]

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

[@lucascool]

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