Pain Point #1: “Everyone wants social proof. No one wants to be the first customer who provides it.”
- “When we reached out to small companies, they asked why we did not already have a big customer. When we reached out to big companies, they asked why we did not already have a few more customers… Everyone wants social proof. No one wants to be the first customer who provides it.” (Post 16)
- “I keep hearing that the hardest part of any B2B startup is getting the very first paying customer.” (Post 8)
- “We’re launching soon… Curious to know your experience with onboarding your first customer.” (Post 9)
- “What method have you used to find beta testers that are not friends or family…?” (Post 19)
- “Launched, got paid customers, but nowhere near enough to make it worthwhile, next steps?” (Post 5)

Opportunity: The Pilot Bond—Guaranteed-Logo, De-Risked Pilots-as-a-Service
- You underwrite and run the first 2–3 design partner pilots for early B2B SaaS. Deliverables guaranteed: live deployment, reference call, and logo usage rights within 30–45 days—or money back.
- What’s new/controversial: You compensate pilot customers (cash/stipend or platform credits) and pre-negotiate a standard DPA/procurement “fast lane” so startups can skip the death-loop of “come back when you have references.”
- Price: $12k per guaranteed reference logo or 10% of first-year ACV per logo (whichever is higher). Bundled 3-logo package at $30k.

First 10 Customers:
- Founder/CEO at seed–Series A B2B SaaS with ACV $10k–$100k, selling to mid-market (50–1,000 employees).
- Head of Sales or RevOps at B2B SaaS (5–30 person GTM teams) struggling to open first vertical.
- Founder-led service → SaaS transitions (agencies turning productized) needing first 3 logos.
- VC Platform/Acceleration Directors looking to help portfolio companies land first customers quickly.

MVP in 48 Hours:
- Webflow landing page + clear “3 logos in 30–45 days or refund” guarantee + Typeform intake.
- Airtable CRM of “pilot-friendly” buyers (start with your network + LinkedIn Sales Navigator + community DMs).
- Notion template packet: standard DPA, InfoSec one-pager, reference-call terms, and a 4-week pilot plan.
- Calendly to book discovery; you manually recruit 5–10 pilot customers via targeted outreach; pay stipends from startup fee; manage pilots in Slack/Zoom.

Justification:
- Demand: Multiple founders explicitly stuck on first customers/pilots and beta testers (Posts 16, 8, 9, 19, 5). Raw quotes above.
- ROI: Compresses 3–6 months of sales/pilot work into 30–45 days; 1–3 reference logos can increase close rates 20–40% and unlock procurement faster; worth $30k+ to avoid runway death.
- Scalable: Standardized legal packet, repeatable pilot playbooks by vertical, network effects on the buyer side (a roster of “pilot-friendly” companies). Add contractors to run concurrent pilots; expands to $1M+ with packages (e.g., 30 startups/year x $30k).
- Purple Cow/Controversial: Paying to secure social proof (and guaranteeing logos) is taboo but brutally effective. It productizes what warm networks and top accelerators gatekeep.

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Pain Point #2: “I want to do ‘pay if you close’ growth—but I can’t verify outcomes or structure it”
Raw quotes proving pain:
- “They thought that was too expensive and dropped me… I want to offer them a ‘pay if you close’ deal… I would take on all the risk… I’m not sure how to structure the deal since I don’t know their margins and I can’t predict CAC.” (Post 38)
- “Facebook is sending a lot of bot traffic to websites… Don’t trust Facebook ads manager data blindly.” (Post 61)

Opportunity: CloseSplit (Revenue-share growth contracts with verified outcomes)
- What it is: A “proof-of-outcome” layer for agencies/contractors. Standardized revenue-share contracts, escrow, and automated verification by linking: call transcripts (CallRail), CRM pipeline events (HubSpot/Pipedrive), invoices/paid deposits (Stripe/QuickBooks), or bank deposits (Plaid). Payouts trigger only when a job is actually booked/paid.
- Why it wins now: Agencies want risk-reversal offers; SMBs don’t trust ad manager data. This turns “trust me” into “funds are released when money hits.”
- Pricing: Platform fee 5% of revenue-shared payouts + $199/month per client connection. Optional white-glove setup $999.

First 10 Customers:
- Owners of home services marketing agencies (renovation, roofing, HVAC, landscaping)
- Growth leads at multi-location franchises (dental, medspa, plumbing)
- Fractional CMOs running paid acquisition for SMBs that churn on “expensive” ads
- Lead-gen marketplaces wanting transparent, pay-on-close delivery to merchants

MVP in 48 Hours:
- Stripe Connect for revenue-share payouts + simple escrow rules
- Plaid sandbox to simulate verified deposits; CallRail/HubSpot webhook to ingest events
- Whisper/AssemblyAI to transcribe calls; simple keyword heuristics (“deposit,” “booked,” “scheduled”) to mark “closed”
- Google Sheets ledger + Bubble/Glide front-end dashboard
- Webflow landing + DocuSign templates for standard revenue-share contracts

Justification:
- Demand: Direct ask to structure “pay if you close” + systemic distrust of Ads Manager data and bot traffic.
- ROI: Agencies retain longer (risk reversal); SMBs only pay when cash lands. One closed $8k kitchen job at 10% rev-share = $800 payout; platform earns 5% ($40) + SaaS fee.
- Scalable: The product is integrations + templates + rules. Once integrations exist, every agency/SMB vertical is copy/paste.
- Purple Cow/Controversial: “Connect your bank and call recordings so we only pay on verified money” is shocking—yet perfectly aligned incentives in a bot-infested, attribution-broken world.

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Pain Point #3: "Manual inventory tracking with weekly physical counts (very time-consuming)… No real-time stock visibility… Lot numbers must appear on customer invoices… How to get lot# information onto QuickBooks invoices?" (Frozen food manufacturer; QBO + barcode + lot/expiry; $300–600/mo budget)

Opportunity: LotLink — a QBO-native micro-ERP for small food manufacturers that adds real-time lot/expiry tracking, mobile barcode scanning, FIFO lot selection, and prints lot numbers onto QBO invoices. Includes a lightweight SPS Commerce EDI connector without forcing a full ERP rip-and-replace.

First 10 Customers:
- Operations/Plant Manager at frozen or chilled CPG producers (5–30 employees) using QuickBooks Online
- Owner of USDA/FDA-inspected commissary kitchens (frozen appetizers, baked goods, meal prep)
- Warehouse/Inventory Manager at specialty food brands selling into retail/wholesale
- Controller/Head of Finance at <$10M revenue CPG companies consolidating QBO + inventory
- Food Safety/QA Manager who must trace lots/expiry for recalls and audits

MVP in 48 Hours:
- Airtable (or Google Sheets) as lot/expiry master + inventory ledger
- Jotform (or Glide) mobile app with phone camera barcode scan to receive/ship lots
- Zapier to sync on-hand counts with QBO items and to inject lot numbers into a custom invoice PDF (GDocs template) sent via QBO
- Simple FIFO picker screen (Airtable interface) that forces lot selection at scan-out
- Pilot with 1–2 SKUs and preprinted barcodes; run live for one shipping day

Justification:
- Demand: Exact quotes show repeated, urgent needs: “Manual inventory tracking… No real-time stock visibility,” “Lot numbers must appear on customer invoices,” “Real-time integration with QuickBooks Online,” “When scanning OUT: should deduct from specific lot# (FIFO preferred).” Multiple adjacent posts amplify it (sampling/spec errors in apparel 53–57; electronics compliance 55) — small producers drowning in ops detail without ERP budgets.
- ROI: Eliminates weekly physical counts (4–10 hours/week), prevents mis-picks/expired shipments (chargebacks), and unlocks retail (EDI) without $50–200k ERP. At $399–$599/mo + $1,500 onboarding, 1 avoided spoilage or 1 regained retailer PO pays for months.
- Scalable: QBO-first, vertical workflows (frozen, bakery, beverage) = repeatable templates; smartphone scanning (no hardware lock-in); app store listing in QBO ecosystem; add-ons (SPS EDI, GS1 labels) as upsells. 500 accounts at $500 MRR = $250k MRR.
- Purple Cow/Controversial: “ERP power, QBO price” + lot numbers printed directly on QBO invoices (most QBO add-ons can’t). Bold pledge: “Trace any case to a lot in 30 seconds from your phone.” Anti-ERP stance resonates with small plants.