June 25, 2026
Inbox zero, drama 100
How to get your first customers [video]
YC says your first buyers come from real-life hustle, but founders are not all buying it
TLDR: YC’s advice is that first customers usually come from personal connections and in-person effort, not mass online outreach. Commenters partly agreed, but argued over how long that strategy lasts, with one founder saying Reddit beat networking and others insisting awareness alone never closes a sale.
Y Combinator’s latest Startup School lesson tries to burst a very modern fantasy: that your first customers will magically appear through cold messages, slick sales tools, and a perfectly polished online profile. Max Kolysh’s advice is much messier — and, according to many founders, much more real. The pitch is simple: your earliest buyers usually come from your network, meeting people face to face, and doing awkward, scrappy things that don’t scale.
But the comments quickly turned into a mini food fight over whether this is timeless wisdom or just another startup slogan. One camp basically said, “Sure, but why stop at 10?” with people arguing these tactics can work for 20, 30, even 50 customers if you have the time. Another founder jumped in with a plot twist: forget warm introductions — Reddit brought in customer one, two, three, and beyond. So much for the idea that everyone has to start with friends, former coworkers, and handshakes.
Then came the big reality-check comment: online posts and cold messages may make people aware of you, but awareness is not the same as opening their wallet. That drew nods from readers who see the real battle as getting someone from “that sounds nice” to “here’s my money.” There weren’t big meme explosions here, but the mood had a dry, knowing humor: everyone agrees getting customers is hard, and everyone thinks their weird exception proves the rule.
Key Points
- •The article is about a Startup School video on how founders can get their first customers.
- •It states that many founders begin with cold email, LinkedIn, and prospecting tools.
- •It says the first 10 customers rarely come from a tool.
- •The article highlights personal networks, in-person outreach, and non-scalable efforts as the starting point for early customer acquisition.
- •YC Visiting Partner Max Kolysh uses stories from dozens of YC founders to explain how to identify buyers, start conversations, and convert them into customers.