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Ask HN: How many users does the average YC founder cold call/talk to?

12 points by santy-gegen ↗ HN
I'm implementing the talk to users write code approach. I'm talking to as many users as I can find (without losing too much quality in the interactions) while also coding and improving the product a little bit every day.

I'm curious about how do YC top performers do on these stats? So that I might improve myself.

Thanks in advance, Santy

15 comments

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ezekg
You guys cold call?

Just kidding. I'm not YC -- I bootstrapped. But never did cold calls.

santy-gegen
that's great. what other strategies did you use to get the first clients? or was it just the pure bliss of making such a great product it spread by word of mouth?

thanks for answering! very kind

ezekg
Sorry, I wasn't trying to be unkind. I got my first customers through ads and content marketing. I never did cold emails or cold calls. Sounds grueling.
santy-gegen
of course, i didn't think of it as unkind. i was genuinely happy that someone took time out to reply. also, any tips on content marketing? if you've written a blog on your experience with it i'd be happy to read it.
b20000
what they say is less important than what they do
santy-gegen
what do you mean?
ungreased0675
As one example, when a user describes a pain point, ask them what they’ve tried to solve it. Have they bought some other product that didn’t work out? Built internal tooling? If it’s merely annoying but not worth fixing today, that likely foreshadows a tough road ahead for a paid solution.

I like that question because it can avoid the trap of all the end users agreeing something is a problem, but not being interested in spending money on solutions. Quite a few developer SaaS tools fall into this category.

santy-gegen
agree, i read the mom test to avoid this kind of problems. i try to ask as much as i can:

what have you done to solve this problem? when do you encounter this problem throughout the day?

thanks for the answer!

b20000
people say a lot of things. observe what they do.

also they don’t know what they want. they only know what they don’t want.

santy-gegen
this is a very interesting observations indeed, thanks!
frou_dh
A lot of people are bullshitters who say they would pay for your product but... only if it gets this additional feature or works differently. That gets implemented. They still won't pay.
cl42
Went through S12, and also talk to a lot of YC founders. A few thoughts:

1. Quality over quantity. "Talk to users" works best when you have a well-defined market or ICP. Talking to 10 users in your ultra-specific niche is way better than talking to 100 users across multiple niches.

2. Your script matters a lot. Asking leading questions will get you results you can't trust. I think The Mom Test (https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...) is a great intro on this topic.

3. Talk to enough users that you start being able to predict their answers. If you are running interviews and still getting new/surprising answers to your questions, then it means you either haven't spoken to enough people or have a poorly defined ICP... If you need #s, I generally find that after 10 interviews in a very focused ICP, you should start seeing patterns.

Finally, there is an exception to every rule. Your specific market might need more interviews, or you might have such a good insight that you skip formal interviewing all together.

santy-gegen
Wow, this is an incredibly detailed answer. Thanks so so much.

1- I hadn't thought about it. Maybe I was being too general. 2- Read it. Using it in all interviews so far. 3- Cool thing to aim for.

Again, thanks so much :)