My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Value-first community relationship building
Why It Works
Builds trust through authentic helpfulness before any promotion, leverages social proof from respected community members
Prerequisites
How to Execute
Join relevant groups and only add value for 2-3 weeks
Build relationships with admins and power users
Get product feedback from community leaders
Let advocates post about your product rather than posting yourself
When It Fails
When you lead with promotion, target wrong communities, or don't genuinely help users
Real Example
“Jenny AI grew to first 100 customers by helping in grad student Facebook groups before ever mentioning their product”
Related Knowledge
AI-Powered Academic Writing Assistant
Students struggle with writer's block, proper citations, and ensuring originality in academic writing
Zoom-In Pivot Framework
A strategic pivot where you narrow focus from a broad, mediocre product for everyone to an excellent product for a specific niche that already shows traction within your existing user base.
Influence the Influencers Strategy
A customer acquisition strategy focused on winning over community leaders and moderators first, who then authentically promote your product to their communities.
Acquire first 100 customers through authentic community engagement
100+ paying customers acquired organically with strong retention, community leaders actively recommending your product
Market Selection Over Execution Excellence
The idea that picking the right market with good timing matters more than having the best product or execution
Success is the sum of your attempts
Don't view failed attempts as wasted time - they're building blocks for future success