This one is going to frustrate some of you.

I built something (not very interesting), and got 17 meetings in 24 hours (pretty interesting).

Here’s what you (maybe) can’t replicate:

• I have some followers (which honestly doesn’t help as much as you think it would, but sometimes it does)

• I have people who know me as the builder of another product (i.e. they signed up for a previous product I built).

Here’s what you can replicate:

• copy

• strategy

So let’s jump in. The product is for AEs and salespeople to build better demos (not relevant). I built it while on vacation in Mexico because I wake up early as sh*$ and usually just read + code for 2-3 hours. I saw a post about a company in this space doing quite well and was curious about building a desktop screen capture app. That was the extent of the research i did for better (and for worse).

So I built it without talking to a soul in the space (don’t do that). But whatever. I did it. So then with absolutely zero traffic and zero signups (actually 1 rando from the chrome extension) I needed to get meetings.

An internet friend of mine DMed me on Linkedin and told me about a strategy he sees working right now (and for good reason). It’s called the “Advisory Committee” strategy. The pitch is “join my advisory committee for this new company. Get some swag and potentially equity if you are selected, and help shape the future of this product”. Total cost? Maybe $500 in swag and some equity currently worth $0.

So first and foremost, you actually have to set up the advisory committee, and give out equity, and listen, and do the meetings, and create a little community. This is a lot of work, so this isn’t a silver bullet but if you’re willing to do anything to make it, then you should be willing to do this.

Side note. Companies set aside 5%-10% of their equity as an option pool for employee equity. Why TF don’t people do it for early customers, fans, and champions?

Results:

• 1 email

• 1,000 recipients

• 34 unsubscribes

• 2 replies

• 17 meetings

• no open or click tracking enabled

Strategy:

• Email / outreach with an ask to join your advisory committee.

• Offer them swag + equity

  

What’s Next:

The goal for the advisory committee is to get feedback. You can’t bait and switch and expect them to pay for your product. That can’t be the goal of this type of outreach. What you can do is:

• get genuine feedback

• actually built a small committee of product advocates

• ask for intros to other people

• LISTEN

I almost never start of projects like this. Getting 17 interviews is extremely unusual for me. I swear every 6 months it gets harder to get meetings unless you have something very compelling. Since at the start you often don’t, you need other ways to entice people to jump on a call with you. People say you only need to talk to 5 people in a market to get a pulse on your idea, direction etc. Hopefully 2-3x that will bear fruit, and at the very worst, you’ve met some cool people in the space you’re interested in.

But let’s be real. 17 people aren’t going to show up. 10 will. Of those 10, 5 will be worth while. But those 5 may lead you to your first customer. They may lead you to 10 more meetings (can you intro me to 2 people you’d think this would be interesting for).

So the plan is to get real feedback, do proper “customer interviews”, and after all this I may end up killing the project if I don’t see a path forward.

Copy:

Happy Monday!

I'm Andrew, the creator of Super Send, and I’m excited to introduce my latest venture: Demo Monster.

I'm assembling an advisory committee (of ~20 people) and I’d love for you to be a part of it. If you’re an AE, founder, or product marketer, let’s chat about how you can contribute.

What’s in it for you:

• A cool hat featuring Mo’, our mascot monster

• Potential equity in Demo Monster

• A free Demo Monster account

What’s expected from you:

• Provide input on product features

• Make relevant introductions

Interested? Let’s set up a time to discuss. https://calendly.com/andrew-xo/30

Best,

Andrew