Do you need any help with getting traction? Read this:
The hard part of running a SaaS is not building it contrary to popular belief. Based on my experience selling over $1M in software online, the most important thing is distribution.
There are 100s of books about finding the best startup ideas but rarely one on getting traction with the right distribution. Use LinkedIn to find your ideal customers and start to do outreach to get in touch with people.
Not only does this scale because you can use multiple LinkedIn accounts, you also don't have to pay for every click like you have to do with Google or Facebook ads. With every click on FB you basically pay $1 towards Mr Zuckerberg's next yacht, no hate, but the one he has currently seems fine so keep your money to yourself.
I am using my own tool to automate my outreach and it works, LinkedIn is really underestimated because people post so much nonsense on it. Even if you don't want to pay for a tool at least do it manually. And start NOW.
You can literally find your ideal customers by using their inbuilt search, how amazing is that lol.
Here are 3 free templates that you can use for your outreach:
#1 The Value Proposition Template
Hey {first name},
I noticed that you were responsible for handling {role(s)/responsibilities of prospect} at {company name} as its {job title}.
I work with people in similar positions at {company 1 that’s a customer in the same space} and {company 2 that’s a customer in the same space} to solve for {value that product/service provides}.
Curious to know if this is something that interests you. Let me know if you’d like to connect to discuss this further sometime!
P.S: I was also pleasantly surprised to find that we both went to {school’s name}. {Insert inside joke/common thing they’d recognize like “Go Boilermakers!” here}
#2 The Compliment Template
Hey {first name},
I’m not going to lie—you fit right into our product’s ICP, but I don’t want to be a person that spams you with a sales pitch from the get-go.
The real reason I sent this connection request is that I read your last post around {insert post subject here} and couldn’t agree more about {the specific point they made}.
I’d be really happy if we could keep in touch on LinkedIn. I work for {insert your company name here} ({link out to your company website URL if you need}), and it looks like you might have a use for our product.
If something works out in the future, I’ll embrace it. If not, that’s completely fine, I’m just happy you’re in my network.
Have a great day!
#3 The Common Group Template
Hey {first name},
I’ve been following your thread on {LinkedIn group name} and found your insights on {something they commented on the group} really interesting.
I’m {your name} from {your company name}. I’ve been a part of {LinkedIn group name} and have been wanting to reach out to you for quite a while now.
I have a few insights to share with you regarding {the topic they commented on} and was hoping to get a chance to discuss them with you to hear your opinions on the same.
Are you open to getting on a call with me sometime this week?
Disclaimer:
I created and run Vonto.ai, a tool that automates outreach on LinkedIn.
Great breakdown. One thing I'd add: traction starts before launch with demand validation.
Scanning communities like HN and GitHub for real pain points before building saved me a lot of wasted effort. The signal is already there — you just need to find it.
What's worked best for you in the early zero-to-one stage?
The interesting distinction is between distribution access and message-market fit. LinkedIn can make it easy to reach people who fit an ICP on paper, but that doesn't mean the prospect immediately recognizes the problem as worth solving. The value-prop template actually hints at this: “solve for {value}” still leaves the founder responsible for translating that value into why this matters to me now. I’d be curious whether the outreach is being measured beyond replies—specifically, which message produces prospects who already understand the problem before the sales conversation starts.
Saving this one. Traction is the part I'm most nervous about with my own launch coming up. If you had to pick just one thing you wish you'd done earlier, what would it be?
This is useful, thanks for putting it together. Curious where you'd rank cold outreach in niche communities (Facebook groups, subreddits) versus answering existing questions on Q&A sites like Quora — we tried the former heavily and the click-through was almost nothing, while a couple of Quora answers to already-searched questions did better despite far less reach.
For a new product with almost no existing audience, which single distribution channel would you test first before spending time across multiple directories?
One distinction I found interesting here is that “distribution” can mean both access and actual traction. LinkedIn can generate a lot of activity, but activity and genuine resonance are very different signals. The gap between those two is probably where the harder story sits.