Ash IH: how should I get my first 10 customers for my security startup
I've been spending the last week trying to get my first 10 users. I've got a few active users registered after I gave a promo code (and a few non active users), but it's been a ton of effort just for that.
Startup: https://www.tamarin.us
Pitch: Catch intruders anywhere. We host honeypot websites and you can create bait credentials for them. Place the plaintext bait credentials anywhere an intruder might look. If an intruder attempts to use the credentials at the honeypot site, it means you've been breached, and you get an alert.
Is anyone here willing to register for the service? I will give you a code for a free year of service if you want to try. Any ideas about who I should be approaching to use the service?
Instead of explaining what your product/service is or does, try explaining to me why I would want this. To put it bluntly, people do not care about your product or service; they only care about how it can make their lives better.
It appears you're approaching this, as so many of us do, as a programmer/developer: build something you think is of value and once done, try to retrofit customers into the business. Doing it the other way, starting with customers instead of with a product, makes your live easier. Find customers who you know have a problem; speak to them about their problem and the solution you think you can provide. Only then start working on the solution while staying in touch with those initial prospects. In the end, you'll have your first customers lined up when the product is ready.
Circling back to your situation; I understand what your product does. However, I haven no idea what real problem this solves (my apologies for being blunt; not trying to offend) and/or why someone might need this. Why did you built this in the first place?
Finally, I would stop giving out free plans left and right. This is not the proper method of getting real customers. All you'll end up with is users who are giving this a try because it's free. Focus on creating value instead.
Thanks for the feedback, I agree with you on most of these points.
The problem I set out to solve was the uncertainty people have about whether their devices/accounts have been compromised, and the fact that existing breach detection systems aren't compatible across all devices/accounts, and generally require software to be installed.
If an employee's devices or accounts have been compromised, the attack could potentially spread to the rest of the network. This is a common theme in economic espionage activities as well. Additionally, the longer a breach goes unaddressed, the more harm that may come of it.
I think you're probably right about handing out codes being counterproductive, and it's not like that's even been easy. I'm definitely going to focus on creating value as I iterate going forward. This is all good advice.
Who is the idea customer? IT companies? Banks making their own software?
Make a list of 100 that you want on board. Go get em
Thanks, this sounds like a good exercise. So far, I've thought about MSPs, general IT companies, individual software developers, private investigators/loss prevention, high profile journalists, political campaigns, cryptocurrency startups, defense contractors, financial companies, healthcare companies. I need to keep brainstorming.
My initial feeling is that individuals wouldn't care to set this up, but it could benefit companies. Maybe try selling the service to companies but raise the price a lot, $2/mo gives the impression that your service doesn't do a lot. Imagine what the value would be to a company if it stops a data breach or something else catastrophic!
Yeah that's probably the way to go. I don't think I'm going to have success marketing directly to individuals. I got in touch with a lot of developers and engineers and they understood the idea and the need, but clearly it wasn't something they were going to buy, and at $1.99/mo it doesn't make much sense.
So I'll probably spend the weekend overhauling things and making it business-friendly. I'm thinking I'll push the "customized. private honeypot" angle harder.
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No new users, but I really do appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to ask around.
This comment was deleted 8 years ago