How to Get Your First 10 Customers for a SaaS Product

Paid ads and SEO are not how you get the first 10 customers. Those channels work when you already know what converts - the right audience, the right message, the right moment. You don't know any of that yet.

78% of B2B SaaS companies got their first 10 customers through direct founder outreach. Not inbound. Not product-led growth. Not a launch on Product Hunt. A founder, talking directly to the people who have the problem, and closing them.

Why this happens

Early-stage founders treat customer acquisition as a marketing problem because that's the playbook they've read. Scale companies use marketing. Therefore, you should too. But scale companies use marketing because they've already done the discovery work - they know who converts, why, and at what message. You haven't done that work yet.

The other factor: direct outreach feels uncomfortable. It exposes the product to real scrutiny before it feels ready. Most founders delay it by building more features or polishing the website. That's not momentum - it's avoidance.

The result is a founder 6 months in with a better product and zero customers, rather than 10 customers in 90 days and a product shaped by real feedback.

What to check first

Before you start outreach, verify you've answered these four questions:

Do you know exactly which person has the problem urgently enough to pay now? Not a persona - a specific job title, company type, and situation. If your answer is "anyone in operations" or "B2B SaaS companies," narrow it until you can name 20 real people on LinkedIn who match.
Do you know where those people are reachable today? LinkedIn, a Slack community, a newsletter, a conference, a mutual connection. If you can't identify at least one accessible channel, you haven't finished defining the ICP.
Can you have a genuine conversation before asking for money? The best early sales calls aren't pitches - they're problem diagnosis conversations. You ask about the problem, confirm your understanding, and then introduce the solution if it fits. Founders who lead with the product close less than half as often as those who lead with the problem.
Are you selling the product or the outcome? "We're an AI-powered project management tool" is a product description. "Your team stops losing status updates across Slack and email" is an outcome. Buyers in the first 10 are buying a solution to a specific pain. Name the pain.

How to fix it

The first 10 customers are a sales problem, not a marketing problem. Here's the sequence:

Step 1: Build a list of 30. Use LinkedIn, community directories, your own network, and warm intros. Filter for the specific ICP you defined. You need 30 because not everyone will reply, and not everyone who replies will be the right fit.

Step 2: Lead with the problem, not the product. Your outreach should demonstrate that you understand their situation before it mentions what you've built. One sentence on the problem, one sentence on why you're reaching out, one ask - a 20-minute conversation, not a demo.

Step 3: Run problem-first conversations. Ask: What does this cost you right now? What have you tried? What would a good solution look like? Listen for urgency signals - budget spent on workarounds, team time wasted, a deadline or pain event they're trying to solve for.

Step 4: Introduce the solution only when the fit is confirmed. If the conversation confirms the problem and your product addresses it, introduce it: "That's exactly what we built for. Can I show you how it works?" Then close for a trial, a pilot, or a paid engagement.

Step 5: Close 10 before scaling anything. Don't build a content strategy. Don't run a LinkedIn ad. Don't redesign the website. Get to 10 paying customers first. Those 10 customers will tell you more about what to say and who to target than any amount of channel testing.

Marketing is for after you know what converts. Sales is how you find out.

Remove the guesswork

Two variables determine whether direct outreach works: knowing which person to target and knowing what to say when you reach them. RightAudience ranks your ICP segments by conversion likelihood so you start with the highest-fit buyers. RightEngagement tests your outreach message against simulated buyers in that segment - showing reply intent, tone fit, and rewrites - before you send a single message to a real prospect.

Find your highest-fit segment with RightAudience