How to get your first 12 paying customers (step by step)

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Title: How to get your first 12+ paying customers (step by step)

Read time: 3.5 min

Today I want to talk about the GTM to get your first 12+ paying customers. GTM is one of those terms that gets tossed around a lot, and most of the time it’s used vaguely without any real clarity.

At Rampd, we define GTM simply:
The system that gets your product in front of the right buyers, and makes it painfully obvious why they need it.

Early founders don’t need a “scale-ready” GTM. They need one that helps them close their first 12 customers, reliably, predictably, and without depending on warm intros.

Let me ground this with a quick example:

Yesterday I spoke with a founder who raised $13.5M from a top-tier VC. They’ve closed 47 customers, booked $400K in ARR, and landed logos like Replit and Decagon, but when I asked him to walk me through their GTM, he admitted:

“We really don’t have one, we kind of got here by accident.”

No repeatable process. No scalable motion. Just raw momentum, and now it’s stalling.

They’re thinking about eventually hiring salespeople, but the system isn’t there.

Enterprise deals are getting stuck, and there’s no clear path to move them forward.

This is the moment where a real GTM becomes non-negotiable. Needless to say they are now a Rampd client.

The number one reason we pass on entrepreneurs we'd otherwise like to back is their focusing on product to the exclusion of everything else.

~Marc Andreeson

Read the above quote again, and think about it.

First time founders obsess over product. Second time founders obsess over distribution. Why? Because through a lot of pain, they understand that the latter will help solve the former.

So let’s unpack how we think about GTM at Rampd, especially for founders who are still in the early innings and just trying to break through that $0–$100K wall.

The Two Halves of GTM

GTM isn’t one thing. It’s two tightly linked systems:

• Product

• Sales

Product

These are the questions that shape the foundation:

• Are you solving a bum knee or a broken leg?
  One gets tolerated. The other gets fixed.
  

• Can your buyer actually afford your product?
  If not, price isn’t friction, it’s a wall.
  

• Do you deeply understand your ICP?
  Not just the title, the pain, urgency, budget, and motivation.
  

• Are you operating in a growing market or a bloated one?
  If it’s saturated, you’ll be forced to win on price. If it’s growing, you can build a moat.

You can’t acquire your first 12 customers without nailing the foundation, otherwise the next steps don’t stick.

Sales

Once the product is live, sales becomes the primary driver. In other words you need to focus 80% of your effort into driving TOFU, to validate the hypothesis of what you built by walking customers through a process. Here’s what early adopters are looking for.

• How fast is your “time to wow”?
  (Speed of insight = speed of conviction)
  

• Is your solution 10x better, or just 10%?
  Early customers won’t move for marginal gain.
  

• What’s the onboarding cost for them?
  If it feels like work, they won’t do it.
  

• Can you make the value so clear, so sharp, that price becomes secondary?

If you can’t answer those questions clearly, your GTM isn’t ready to land those first dozen deals.

The Sales GTM Breakdown

Let’s assume you’ve shipped your MVP.
You’ve got something real.

Now the goal is to pressure-test your assumptions in-market through structured sales execution, with one clear target:

Close 12 paying customers as fast and cleanly as possible.

Here’s how we build that engine.

1. Market Clarity

This is where most founders stall.

You don’t need a 30-slide persona deck. You need a clear view of who is most likely to buy and why now.

We start by locking in:

• ICP definition

• Segment prioritization

• Pain point clarity

Ask:

• Who’s the most painful customer to serve, and who’s most profitable?

• What internal job titles actually own the problem?

• What triggers urgency for them?

It’s very difficult to close 12 deals without this level of clarity.

2. Message Testing

Messaging is not a brainstorm exercise, it’s a combat sport.

Every early cold email, LinkedIn DM, or call is a test.

What we look for:

• Which value props spark curiosity vs. confusion?

• Where are you losing people in the pitch?

• What objections keep coming up?

You only need a handful of messages to start, but they need to be surgical.

This is what gets you those first meetings, and your first closes.

3. Sales Infrastructure

Before we scale anything, we build the core assets to run a tight process:

• Cold email + LinkedIn cadences

• Sales decks

• Business cases

• Positioning docs

• Disco talk track

• Demo decks

• Difficult to refuse offers

• Scoping talk track

• Closing cadence

• Objection-handling doc

This is all founder led selling, that if executed correctly, with proper coaching will make you lethal.

You just need consistency, and a repeatable rhythm that doesn’t rely on luck or referrals. Warm intros are great, but it’s difficult to scale to the next level on intros alone.

4. Core Value Props Framework

We frame every value prop across these four levers:

Speed

• “Cuts X from hours to minutes.”

• “Shortens hiring cycles by 40%.”

Accuracy

• “Eliminates manual errors.”

• “Ensures clean data you can actually trust.”

Compliance

• “Helps you stay audit-ready.”

• “Flags risks in real time.”

Security

• “SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA out of the box.”

• “On-prem option for enterprise buyers.”

This is how you anchor ROI before they see the product.

Acquisition Channels: Where the First 12 Come From

Early on if you’re selling B2B you don’t need paid ads.

You need 1:1 engagement with people who deeply feel the pain and are willing to take a bet.

Outbound (Always)

Cold Email + LinkedIn

• Build a tight list of high-fit buyers

• Run short, value-driven cadences (3–5 touches)

• Learn → Adjust → Iterate

Cold Calling (Optional by Vertical)

• Know the pain.

• Know the rebuttals.

• Don’t sell. Discover.

Inbound (If You Can)

LinkedIn Thought Leadership

• Post 3x/week minimum

• Talk about real pain in your buyer’s language

• No fluff. Be useful.

Podcasts & Media

• Be where your buyer already listens

• Speak to outcomes, not features

Industry Groups

• Slack channels, niche subs, forums

• Contribute to build trust

Most founders overcomplicate this. You don’t need 10,000 leads. You need a 100-200 great ones.

If you work that list with focus and consistency, you will get your first 12.

The One Thing That Breaks It All

You can do everything above and still lose if you don’t have this:

A repeatable sales process.

I’ve seen it all with warm intros, demos, investor leads, and they still don’t close.

Why?

• No follow-up system

• No structured discovery → pitch → pilot → close flow

• Winging every call

• Letting deals stall because there's no urgency loop

If you can’t run a deal from intro to closed-won, you’ll keep spinning.

What We Do at Rampd

We help you close those first 12, and build the system that gets you the next 100.

We don’t do coaching from the sidelines. We build it with you.

• ICP clarity

• Cold outreach execution

• Message testing

• Sales process design

• Discovery + close training

• Deal review + objection handling

• Full-funnel GTM system

Outbound, inbound, referrals, partnerships, all stitched together and compounding.

If you’re stuck, stalling, or relying on hope.

It’s probably not your product. It’s your GTM.

If you’re ready, let’s fix it.

Book a call here. 💪

See you all next week!

Darren

P.S. If you’re a venture backed startup looking to level up your sales and distribution, book a call here.