5.3a · Build Your 50-Name Network List
Module 5 · Lesson 5.3a · [CORE] · From Idea to First Paying Customer
Input: must-have-user persona + 1 named segment from Chapter 5.1
Output: 50 names sorted into 4 outreach buckets
Progress: M5 · 3a of 7 · Results so far: must-have segment + channel commitment
Sixty percent of the fastest-growing B2B startups got their first 10 customers from people who already knew the founder. Most founders skip this because it feels like begging. It’s not. It’s the highest-probability first sale you’ll ever make.
After this lesson you will be able to: sort 50 names into 4 outreach buckets so you know exactly who to message first.
In 2021, Lenny Rachitsky asked 21 of the fastest-growing B2B companies (Figma, Stripe, Slack, Notion) where their first 10 customers came from. The answer: ~60% from personal network, ~35% from cold outbound, only 5% from inbound or launch events.
You are not asking friends to buy. You are asking them to be first to try something that solves a problem they already have, at a steep discount, while you fix the rough edges they catch.
Open a Google Sheet. Six columns: Name, Company, Role, Bucket, Relationship strength, Last contact date. Fill 50 rows in one sitting before you send anything.
| Bucket | How many | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Champions | 5 | Already complained to you about this exact problem. Will pick up your call. |
| Hot | 10 | In your must-have segment from 5.1. Knows you personally. Last contact under 6 months. |
| Warm | 15 | Adjacent. Knew you 6-24 months ago. Reasonable bet they have the problem. |
| Cold | 20 | Dormant LinkedIn 1st-degree. Unclear if they have the problem. |
First, count your network. Filter your 1st-degree LinkedIn connections by your must-have segment from Ch 5.1 (title + company size + industry).
Count What this means Your path 30+ Standard warm motion works. Continue below. 15-29 Reduced warm motion. Build smaller buckets: 2 champions + 5 hot + 8 warm + 5 cold. You’ll need cold outbound (Ch 5.5) in parallel. Under 15 Your network doesn’t contain the ICP segment. Skip to Ch 5.5 cold outbound.
Build:
- Open LinkedIn. Filter 1st-degree connections by your must-have segment criteria.
- Export the filtered list with LinkedIn’s data export (free, takes 24 hours; you can use yesterday’s).
- Cross-reference your phone contacts, email inbox, and last three jobs’ Slack workspaces if you still have access.
- Sort every name into one of the 4 buckets. Champions first. If you can’t name 5 people who complained to you about this problem in the last 12 months, re-read your verbatim Q2-Q3 quotes from 5.1.
- ✅ Success check: 50 names sorted across all 4 buckets, champions row fully filled.
If this fails: your network is under 15 names after filtering. Why: your must-have segment isn’t represented in your professional network. Fix: skip to Ch 5.5 cold outbound. Use community fallbacks (Indie Hackers, sector Slack, Reddit) as warm-cold hybrid messages.
Count your champions out loud. That’s the number of people who’ve already told you the problem is real, before you wrote a line of code.
Done: 50 names sorted into 4 buckets, champions identified.
You have now: must-have segment (5.1) + channel commitment (5.2) + sorted 50-name list (5.3a). The message is next.
Next: 5.3b · Write the Outreach Message - turns your bucket list into 4 message templates with a recorded Loom.
If blocked: see “If this fails” above.
Built by JetThoughts as part of the From Idea to First Paying Customer free curriculum.