How to target founders?
Apologies if this question isn't allowed - I was wondering how others are targeting founders for their startup (eg: b2b saas). I've tried going on discord groups and I get a steady trickle of leads every week.
Do paid ads actually work? SEO? Events? Something else?
It depends on the stage of founder you're trying to target. My rough mental model of where to find founders at various stages:
Idea stage - Local meetups
Early stage - Indiehackers, twitter, local tech demo days, online communities
Matured stage - Conferences (MicroConf, SaaStr, etc)!!
surprised no one said SEO :O
Oh sweet, thanks so much! Early stage is where I'm looking for. I'll look into twitter, demo days, online communities
Facebook groups, Linkedin, Twitter, Slack channels and many more can be good acquisition channels.
You need to find the right channels that work for you.
Which ones have worked for you :O
Slack channels and reddit groups have been my main acquisition channels.
Facebook groups have lot of potential but I am yet to strike a deal there.
Nothing beats meeting them face to face. You can then followup with email, phone call, social media etc. Here is the SaaS conference coming up in September: https://www.saastrannual2022.com
This seems costly. Is it really worth it ? Have you done this before?
I have attended conference for IP attorneys to meet them in person. I am also taking Prospecting course from : https://www.salesgravy.university. They also recommend it. It takes 11 touch points via different channels to move the prospects in your pipeline to desired outcome. You also have opportunity to meet influencers in your market. Making connections with them is very valuable.
LinkedIn
Thanks for asking this question!
thanks for saying thanks hehe
This question is practically the essence of marketing.
Did you try to ask your current users? Where do they "hang out"? Where do they go? What are the alternatives to the "job" that your product is doing?
You could mix looking at people who are building things on IndieHackers with a bit of Twitter research. You'd probably have more luck reaching out 1:1 with people on Twitter if their product fits your product.
Oh interesting, ive never tried DMing people on twitter. whats been your experience like?
Are you looking for indie hacker founders or "traditional" (i.e. vc-backed) startup founders? I think there's some overlap, but also somewhat different.
If I were looking for founders, I'd do it in this order (my best guess):
I don't think I would do either events or paid ads (except maybe if you can target founders on LinkedIn or Twitter, I don't know I haven't tried).
Hope that helps, and good luck!
By the way, I just came across this post:
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/meeting-cofounders-27-places-to-find-them-780bb9ad73
It's about finding cofounders, but I think there is a lot of overlap w/ your question and some good ideas.
This comment was deleted 4 years ago