sara

Everyone remembers their first sale. Not the biggest one. The first one.

Almost every founder I talk to tells a similar story. It wasn't big money but something changed after it. Before that you're someone who builds things. After that you know people will actually pay for them.

And it almost never comes from a perfect pitch. It's a friend of a friend, a follow up someone almost didn't send, a random comment that turned into a call.

What was your first sale? And how did you actually get it?

My LinkedIn inbox is half spam these days. Pitches right after connecting, fake "quick question" messages, AI written compliments about my profile.

But I still reply to some strangers. Usually when they mention something real I posted or just ask a normal human question without selling right away.

I'm curious where your line is?

What makes you reply to a DM from someone you don't know? And what makes you ignore it instantly?

A signup tells us someone was interested, but it doesn't tell us whether they reached the part of the product that helps them. A user might leave because they got confused, or simply because the product wasn't right for them.

I think a short conversation with someone who didn't finish onboarding could reveal more than a funnel number alone. But it can be hard to get a reply from someone who has already left.

How have you found the point where new users get stuck? What did you change after finding it?