How to Get Your First 10 Customers

What we recorded

Full transcript read in Chrome 2026-11-11 (posted about four months earlier). Compiled from dozens of YC founders answering an internal Bookface post; no count, no method. Customers 1 to 3 almost always came from the personal network (friends in the industry, former colleagues, classmates, one intro away), with basically no counterexamples. Prospecting tools start to matter at 10 to 20 quality customers; 4 to 10 come from unscalable work. When asking for an intro, name who and why. On LinkedIn, send a connection request without a message, then a short DM once accepted. Keep outreach under 75 words with one clear call to action; follow up three or four times over a couple of weeks. One founder: about 50% of connection requests accepted, 20% of those to calls.

Claims that cite it

• YC’s Max Kolysh, compiling answers from dozens of YC founders, says customers one to three almost always came from the founder’s personal network with basically no counterexamples, and that prospecting tools start to matter only at 10 to 20 customers. (moderate)
• The same YC talk advises keeping outreach under 75 words with one clear call to action, and following up three or four times over a couple of weeks. (weak)