If you build it, they will come. Right?

What worked for a corn farm in Dyersville, Iowa, decisively does NOT work for startups. The startup graveyard is littered with companies with incredible products that went under because they did not focus on distribution until it was too late.

Getting those first users can be challenging for anyone, especially if you don’t have the cash to throw money at the problem. I asked my Twitter followers how they got their first users, and the answers blew me away. Here’s a link to the thread if you want to check it out.

By the numbers

I went through and categorized each of the responses in the thread and found that the majority of founders that responded got their first users by manually reaching out (54%). This was followed by social accounts and then ads with 18 and 10%, respectively.

First and foremost, this data shows that there is no one way to get your start, but the thing that most of these tactics have in common is that they are more manual than most acquisition methods at larger companies.

I talked with a few of the founders about their experience and figured it could be helpful to all of you potential founders out there wondering how to get started.