Pre-Seed stage founders (typically the CEO) own the sales function. With lean teams consisting of just founders and a few engineers, hiring a dedicated salesperson rarely makes economic sense. More importantly, founders need constant contact with users and customers to discover product-market fit.
Spending hours planning target markets, messaging frameworks, or elaborate sales processes is a distraction at this stage. Instead, keep it simple: talk to users and prospective customers relentlessly, rank your hypotheses, and prove them right or wrong quickly.
Talk to users and customers
Your primary job is to understand customer needs and steer the product toward maximum revenue potential. This requires continuous engagement with both users of your open source project and potential commercial customers.
Talk to customers and users constantly. They provide the insights that inform product development decisions. Building in isolation is one of the most dangerous mistakes pre-seed companies make. Potential customers don't buy features—they buy solutions to their most pressing problems. Focus on the heaviest users of your open source project, as their needs often represent the most valuable commercial opportunities.
Avoid the consultant trap. While industry experts can supplement user feedback, generalist consultants cannot replace direct customer conversations. Agencies typically follow rigid internal methodologies to produce generic deliverables that aren't useful for the highly iterative nature of early-stage product development. You need the real-time feedback loop that only comes from talking directly with prospective customers.
Engage in market conversations
Build brand awareness through active participation in relevant discussions on platforms like Hacker News, LinkedIn, Reddit, and industry-specific forums. This engagement serves two purposes: it identifies potential customers and heavy users, and it helps you understand the problems they're trying to solve.
Focus on engaging directly with individuals rather than broadcasting marketing messages. The goal is understanding their problems and how your solution might address them. When engaging potential customers, focus on understanding their current state and pain points:
- "Can you tell me how you're using [open source project/similar tools/current processes] today?"
- "What's the hardest thing about that? Why is that hard? How often does this problem occur?"
- "Why is it important to solve this problem? How do you solve it now?"
Follow up with clarifying questions: "Can you tell me more about that?" or "What do you mean by that?" These conversations should be about understanding problems, not showcasing solutions.
Handling inbounds when you don't have a product
When prospects reach out before your commercial product is ready, treat these as discovery opportunities, not traditional sales calls. Your approach should focus on understanding their needs while positioning yourself as a potential solution.
Lead with questions, not pitches
Focus on understanding customer needs during early discovery calls. What caused them to reach out? What have they tried internally? What other solutions are they evaluating? Are they facing current production problems or anticipating future issues?
Use a qualification framework like BANT to assess whether prospects have:
- Budget: Money to spend on solving this problem
- Authority: Decision-making power or influence over the solution choice
- Need: A genuine pain point your product could address
- Timeline: A window for making a decision
Handle pricing questions strategically
When pricing comes up, respond with: "Right now, I want to understand what your problems are and how we might be helpful. I have questions to get that context, then I'll come back with a proposal."
Don't hide that you're early-stage. Frame it positively: "We're working with select design partners to ensure we're building exactly what solves their specific needs, rather than trying to sell an off-the-shelf solution."
Always set the expectation that you'll charge them. This qualifies their seriousness—if they won't pay, the problem isn't significant enough to warrant their attention or yours.
Position as a consultant
Approach each conversation as an unpaid subject matter expert, helping them find the right solution, whether or not that's something you'll build. Be willing to help them identify if they don't need you—it's better to discover this early than waste time on unqualified prospects.
Don't trade on their ignorance; capitalize on their sophistication. If they could solve their problem with your open source project alone, help them understand why they're considering a commercial solution. Ask directly: "Since [open source project] is available, why not run a POC yourself? What value do you see in a hosted/managed solution?"
What you're selling at this stage is you—your expertise, background, and ability to solve their specific problem.
Trials, Proof of Concepts, and Pilots
When prospects want to test your solution:
- Establish clear, quantifiable benchmarks for success
- Set minimal timelines to maintain momentum
- Discuss pricing upfront to ensure commercial intent
- Define binary success criteria that lead to a purchase decision
The goal is moving from proof of concept to paid customer as quickly as possible while gathering the product feedback necessary to serve future customers better.