# Solo founder first-customer record

**Product:**  
**Product stage:**  
**Date started:**  
**Next review:**  

## The problem and who has it

**Problem I found during validation:**  

**Group I think has the problem:**  

**The evidence that led me here:**  

**What I most need to learn from the first customer:**  

## What each result means for this product

These definitions keep a free user, an interview, and a payment from being
recorded as the same result.

**First user:**  

**Pilot or free user:**  

**First customer:**  

**First paid customer:**  

**What counts as payment or a paid commitment:**  

**What a free trial, pilot, interview, survey, early cohort, or letter of intent
still can't prove:**  

## My ten possible first customers

Each row is for one real person. Assumptions stay marked as assumptions, with a
direct source wherever the evidence is public.

| # | Name | Role, organization, or situation | What's happening now? | What are they already doing or spending? | Can they say yes? | Why now? | Can your product help? | Are they likely to try it? | Will they tell you what happened? | How can you contact them? | What might rule them out? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 2 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 3 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 4 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 5 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 6 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 7 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 8 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 9 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 10 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## Chosen person

**First person:**  

**Backup:**  

**Why this person goes first:**  

**Fact that could change the decision:**  

**Reason to rule them out:**  

## Check the person and contact details

- [ ] I opened the sources attached to this person.
- [ ] I confirmed their identity and current role or situation.
- [ ] I confirmed the recent event or problem I plan to mention.
- [ ] I separated what I observed from what I inferred.
- [ ] I confirmed that the way I plan to contact them is current and appropriate.
- [ ] I removed any guessed email address, title, relationship, or permission.

**Sources checked:**  

**Facts confirmed:**  

**Assumptions that remain:**  

## Invitation

**Invitation type:** Free trial / discounted trial / early cohort / interview /
survey / letter of intent / other  

**The exact action I'm asking for:**  

**What they receive:**  

**Time, effort, access, or internal support this asks from them:**  

**What they may need to explain to somebody else before saying yes:**  

**What I can offer to make the first test easier to try:**  

**The question this invitation tests:**  

**What a positive result would show:**  

**What it would leave open:**  

## How much help I'll give

I'll do **[specific manual work]** for **[person]** for **[time or usage
limit]** to find out whether **[what I think is true]**.

I'll stop when **[result]**.

Anything they ask for beyond this goes in a separate note; it doesn't change
what this test was for.

- 

## Contact record

Five messages is the ceiling. The sequence ends sooner after a direct no,
request to stop, no working way to contact them, a fact that rules them out, or
a completed next action.

| Message | Date | How I contacted them | Purpose | What I sent | Result | Next action and date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1: Initial invitation |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 2: Follow-up |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 3: Follow-up |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 4: Follow-up |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 5: Final follow-up |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## Result

**Current result:** No response / declined / interview / survey / first user /
free user / pilot user / discounted customer / early-cohort customer / letter
of intent / first paid customer / other  

**What the person did:**  

**Money, time, access, data, inventory, or reputation committed:**  

**What happened during use or onboarding:**  

**Feedback in their words:**  

**What happened that didn't match what I thought:**  

**What I learned:**  

**Next person or action:**  

## Notes for your ideal customer profile

**Facts about this person that may repeat:**  

**Facts that appear specific to this one person:**  

**Problem trigger:**  

**Current alternative:**  

**Reason they acted or declined:**  

**Who made the decision and how:**  

**Words or phrases worth retaining:**  

## AI prompt: review my ten possible customers

```text
I need to choose the first person to approach as a possible early customer.

My context
- Product or service: [what I'm offering now]
- Product stage: [prototype / lightweight MVP / pre-launch / live]
- Problem I've found: [the problem and the evidence that makes it worth investigating]
- Group I think has the problem: [the recognizable group]
- Current invitation options: [free trial / discounted trial / early cohort /
  interview / survey / letter of intent / other]
- What I most need to learn: [one question]
- What I can provide right now: [what I can and can't support]
- Geography or legal limits: [if relevant]

My ten possible customers

For each person, I'll provide:
- Name
- Current role, organization, or relevant situation
- Source URLs
- The recent problem or change I observed
- What they already do or spend
- What shows they can influence or make the decision
- Why they might deal with the problem now
- What suggests they may try an early product
- What suggests they may give detailed feedback
- How I can contact them and why that method is appropriate
- My relationship to them
- Missing facts and possible reasons to rule them out

[Paste all ten entries separately]

Your task
1. Review each person separately before comparing them.
2. For every person, separate verified facts, my assumptions, your
   interpretation, and missing information.
3. Look at what has happened recently, what they're already doing or spending,
   whether they can say yes, why they might act now, whether my current product
   can help, whether they're likely to try it and tell me what happened, and
   whether I've got an appropriate way to contact them.
4. Identify any reason to rule somebody out or any fact I need to check myself.
5. Compare the ten without assigning a made-up numerical score.
6. Recommend one person to approach first and one backup. Explain which evidence
   produced the order and which uncertainty could change it.
7. Recommend the invitation type that best answers my stated learning question.
8. Give me a list of facts and sources to check for the chosen person before I
   draft a message.

Rules
- Use only people and evidence I supplied.
- Don't invent or infer a name, role, employer, relationship, problem, event,
  intent, budget, ability to decide, email address, social profile, source, quotation,
  contact permission, or willingness to participate.
- A public profile or email address doesn't automatically give permission for
  every type of contact.
- Keep friendly relationships separate from evidence of demand.
- Keep interviews, surveys, free use, discounted use, letters of intent, and
  payment as different results.
- Identify missing information instead of filling it with a plausible guess.

Return exactly these headings
## Review of each person
## Facts, assumptions, and missing information
## Reasons to rule somebody out and checks required
## Comparison of the ten
## Person to approach first
## Backup person
## Recommended invitation and the question it tests
## Facts and sources to check myself
```

**Prompt output:**


## AI prompt: draft the first invitation

Use this only after checking the facts, sources, and contact details yourself.

```text
Draft a first-customer invitation and follow-up sequence for one person. The
sequence may contain no more than five messages in total: one initial message
and up to four follow-ups.

My product and question
- Product or service: [what I'm offering now]
- Product stage: [prototype / lightweight MVP / pre-launch / live]
- Problem it addresses: [one or two sentences]
- What I need to learn: [one question]
- Invitation type: [free trial / discounted trial / early cohort / interview /
  survey / letter of intent / other]
- Exact action I'm asking for: [the next step]
- What the person will receive: [access, support, discount, terms, or other]
- Time, effort, access, or internal support this asks from them: [what saying
  yes requires]
- What they may need to explain to somebody else: [known detail, or unknown]
- What I can offer to make the first test easier to try: [support, clear limits,
  an easy way to stop, relevant proof, or another known option]
- Manual work I'll provide: [specific limit]
- Facts or claims I must avoid: [list]

Verified person context
- Name and preferred form of address: [verified]
- Current role, organization, or situation: [verified]
- Recent problem, event, or change: [verified]
- Current approach or spend: [verified, or unknown]
- Can they say yes?: [verified, or unknown]
- Source URLs: [direct links I opened]
- How I can contact them: [verified]
- Relationship to me: [warm / referred / public conversation / no relationship]
- Previous contact: [dates, messages, replies, or none]

My voice
- How I normally write: [brief description]
- Examples: [paste two or three short messages I wrote]
- Words or approaches to avoid: [list]

Your task
1. Draft a concise initial message tied to the verified context and one clear
   action.
2. State the invitation accurately, including whether it's free, discounted,
   cohort-based, paid, or an interview or survey.
   Make the time, effort, access, or internal support required clear without
   inventing a concern the person hasn't expressed. Include any supplied
   support, limit, stop point, or relevant proof that makes the test easier to
   try.
3. Draft up to four brief follow-ups. Give each message a different job; don't
   restate the first message with new wording.
4. Include a stop note beside every message: send only if [condition].
5. End the sequence after five total messages, or sooner after a direct no,
   request to stop, no working way to contact them, a fact that rules the
   person out, or a completed next action.
6. List every missing fact or personal detail I can't support before the drafts.

Rules
- Use only the verified facts and voice examples I supplied.
- Don't invent or infer familiarity, praise, urgency, intent, ability to decide, budget,
  results, quotations, contact permission, product capability, dates, or links.
- Don't disguise a sales invitation as neutral research.
- Don't add a demo link, calendar link, attachment, discount, deadline, or claim
  unless I supplied it.
- Keep the initial message to one purpose and one ask.
- Distinguish facts, assumptions, and recommendations.
- Never send, schedule, post, or upload anything.

Return exactly these headings
## Missing facts and personal details I can't support
## Recommended approach
## Message 1: initial invitation
## Message 2: follow-up
## Message 3: follow-up
## Message 4: follow-up
## Message 5: final follow-up
## Stop conditions
## Result fields to update in my record
```

**Prompt output:**

## Decision record

| Date | Decision | Evidence used | Assumptions retained | Next action |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |

## Next review

**Date:**  

**What I'll review:**  

**What would make me choose another person, offer a different invitation, or
change how much help I'll give:**