The Most Important Question on Your Way to the First $1M Revenue: Why Did Your First 10 Customers Become Your Customers?
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
This is what I say to myself before sending a proposal to every new prospect.
And then I begin with one question:
“Why did the last customer buy?”
After working with founders across different GTM journeys, I have realized something interesting. The answer to that one question quietly shapes your positioning more than any strategy workshop ever will.
Most founders tend to answer that question with the obvious things such as better features, competitive pricing, multiple agents, etc.
But I rarely find those reasons sitting at the top.
One customer bought because the founder was personally involved.
Another bought because implementation felt less risky.
Someone else bought because you understood an operational problem nobody else bothered to understand.
If you see here, the product stayed the same, but the reason people bought it kept revealing something about your positioning.
Finding patterns in these is where I think the real insight lives. Because positioning is rarely invented in a conference room. It is discovered by repeatedly asking why customers bought, why they stayed, and why they confidently introduced someone else to your business.
So, how do you do it?
Take a piece of paper.
Write down the names of your first 10 customers. Then answer these questions for each one.
- What problem made them start looking for a solution in the first place?
- What made them choose you over every other alternative, including doing nothing?
- After becoming a customer, what made them stay?
- Did they introduce someone else to your business? Why?
- What are the key differences or personalized highlights in each of your proposals to them?
Now step back and read all ten answers together.
For example:
- Customer A cared about implementation.
- Customer B cared about compliance.
- Customer C cared about speed.
If the same reasons keep appearing, congratulations. You probably just found your positioning.
Founders spend months trying to invent a positioning statement. But your first customers have already been writing it for you.
The objections they raised. The reasons they said yes. The reasons they stayed. The referrals they made.
They are clues.
Read enough of them, and you stop guessing what your positioning should be.
Inventing a new story isn’t the fastest way to your first $1M revenue. It’s repeating the one your first customers already believed.
Somewhere out there are hundreds of businesses struggling with the same problem your first 10 customers had. Before chasing a new positioning, make sure you’ve understood the one that already brought you here.
At Elephant Edge, we work with AI and B2B technology companies building their GTM engine for markets like the US. From finding your ideal buyers to designing the right sales motion, we help founders move from building products people try to building companies customers pay for.
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