A founder building an offline security audit app asks: how do SaaS startups land 100 customers and hit $500k ARR so fast?
How SaaS startup guys get first 100 customers first, make fkn $500k ARR fast?
A founder of a small AI company that built an offline security audit app—a fine-tuned small language model inside an Electron app that audits GitHub and local code repos—asks how SaaS startups land their first 100 customers and reach $500k ARR so quickly without spending on ads. He admits he can't even get 5 customers and says he sucks at sales.
I always see these LinkedIn or X guys making $500k ARR or $1m ARR within months; how the fkk do they get that many customers without spending on ads? I can't even get 5 customers; damn it, I do suck at sales
- namanyayg
You need to set up a methodical go-to-market process.
You can automate some of it, but it's good to start manually and learn the ropes first.
You need to understand who your ideal customer is and what channels are they on.
Linkedin is a common one for b2b sales.
If you make 200 connections on linkedin every week and send them a message, some % of that will convert to meetings and sales (the exact % depends on your audience, message, and how urgent the pain you're solving is)
It is extremely hard at start, especially for engineer types (like myself)
Fortunately, it's a skill like any other that can be learned.
Read this article for more info https://x.com/namanyayg/status/2097783972302557668?s=46
- lelanthran
> I always see these LinkedIn or X guys making $500k ARR or $1m ARR within months; how the fkk do they get that many customers without spending on ads?
First, as others have pointed out, that ARR is an amplification number.
Second, if it is not, then they may have spent $1m in marketing for a $500k revenue.
You never know, they aren't going to let anyone see poverty, they're only going to project success.
- nandakishor_ml
Is it because I live in a remote place in India and don't have connections to SF companies, like they have companies in the backyard that raised 100 million and can easily make money? This stuff has been bothering me for years!! What am I missing?
- respectattentio
How much you want? $1M? $10M?
I could easily give you that title. Or maybe you can even do that yourself.
Lots of new companies are either faked, or amplified.
Example:
If I made a sale of $100 this hour, it can become $864K ARR, with amplification (100 x 24 x 30 x 12).
What to do?
Focus on your job and forget everybody else. Don't ever judge progress by revenue alone. A low revenue company who invents something in energy could be worth all companies exist today. But you never hear about it, because it is the real stuff.
- moezd
To my estimation, you are in B2B, competing with the likes of Wiz. Those with $500k ARR are usually "ad forwarding" or "networking" companies. Think about how you distribute your software, that's probably more important than your current features.