How to Go from Idea to First Clients in 6 Weeks

In January 2020, a company met with about 45 companies to refine their vision, understand their go-to-market strategy, and build a list of potential clients. They built the first alpha version of their product in five weeks and had their first paying customer six weeks later. The article discusses lessons learned during this period, emphasizing the importance of continuous customer meetings to identify patterns, understanding the context of customers' needs, using early mockups for intermediary validation, selling products immediately with order forms instead of letters of intent (LOIs), and offering free or paid proofs of concept (POC) when necessary. The author also highlights the value of having paying customers as a form of validation for investors.