Knowing where your first users are is a prerequisite to starting a startup

I talk to 15-20 founders each week about their growth needs, and occasionally, I have to deliver this feedback...

"๐˜๐˜ง ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐™›๐™ž๐™ง๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ช๐™จ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต."

Here's why...

  1. People are best at solving problems they experience, meaning that their first users are like them. Their first users hang out where the founder hangs out online and IRL. Their first users have tried the solutions that the founder has tried, so they have the same dissatisfaction with the current solutions. The founder is the first user, so a better product attracting the right first users is more likely to be built and shared in a space where the first users hang out.

  2. Great founders are relentlessly resourceful and have a bias for action. Even if the founder has simply observed a problem from a distance, they dive in and immerse themselves in the problem. Great founders have the grit and the drive to quickly learn about the problem and the space it occupies.

Previous
Previous

Donโ€™t ask a VC to sign your NDA

Next
Next

The startup product positioning formula