This is the absolute best way to raise money for first time founders with no startup experience. We landed $23 million in funding at REDACTED using exactly these 5 steps:
1. Find an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
One with a recurring need in an unsexy market that isn't chased by the latest hot trend. Write down: Who do you want to serve (demographics, job titles, location, industry)? What are their needs, goals, and aspirations? What stands in their way of achieving that? Where do they eat, breathe, drink, sleep, hangout? Who do they follow, what do they frequent, what other services do they pay for?
2. Talk to 50-100 customers to hone in on the problem.
Leverage your network + cold email + LinkedIn to reach out. Setup a simple landing outlining the value prop. This will help you validate the ICP and the right problem to solve for them, as well as test and refine your messaging. Always obsess about the problem not the solution. A well-defined and compelling problem forms the foundation for a successful business. The solution will go through several iterations.
3. Get paid to do the work manually and get customers to their desired outcome.
Nothing makes the rubber hit the road faster than feedback from paying customers. No outcome = no customer. By doing the work manually, you will learn the exact step by step process to deliver customer outcomes. And you will get a better understanding of exactly what to build.
4. Use no-code/low-code tools to digitize the manual work.
REDACTED’s first version was built using Zoho Creator and Zapier, but today there are many other options like Bubble and Webflow. First identify the manual and repetitive tasks to automate. Break them down into smaller components. Use drag-and-drop interfaces and templates to build your prototype. Leverage APIs if your manual process involves gathering data (many no code tools have built-in integrations or just use Zapier). Get feedback from customers to iterate and improve.
5. Build an audience & community for your ICP in parallel.
Create content for your ICP on the channels where they hang out most often. Start by compiling a list of 100 burning questions from your audience to generate content ideas. Maximize content reach by repurposing it into various formats. Ex: One Zoom recording can turn into long-form YouTube, Podcast, Shorts, Reels plus text for LinkedIn/ social posts, Newsletter/ Substack. Turn your audience into a community by hosting virtual/ IRL events and chat groups on Whatsapp etc.
The 5 steps above also enabled us to bootstrap to $10 million ARR before taking a dollar in outside funding.