Where do your first Earlycustomers actually come from?

I've been thinking about this a lot while building a product and trying to figure out customer acquisition.

For a long time, I thought getting customers was mostly about finding the right companies, identifying the right person, and reaching out to them.

But the more conversations I look at across places like Reddit, LinkedIn, X, Product hunt, Bluesky and different communities, the more I’m starting to question that approach.

People constantly talk about problems they’re having.

They ask for alternatives to products they already use.
They look for recommendations.
They complain about workflows.
They ask if there’s a tool that can solve a specific problem.

Most of these conversations probably never make it into a traditional lead database.

And that got me thinking: Maybe some of the best customer opportunities aren't the people we predict will buy, but the people who are already showing us that they have a problem.

There’s a big difference between saying,
“This company looks like a good fit for my product”
And
Finding someone who is actively talking about the problem your product solves.

The second one feels much closer to actual intent.

It has also changed how I think about guerrilla marketing. Instead of always trying to create attention, what if you find conversations where attention and demand already exist?

I'm curious how other founders think about this.

Where have you found your best customers so far?

Cold outreach, communities, Reddit, LinkedIn, X, Product Hunt, referrals, content - or somewhere completely unexpected?