Manually buying and returning Nordstrom clothes to bootstrap demand.
Doing things that don't scale collection
Collection
The stories of how famous startups did things that do not scale to achieve success and scale.
Each company will tell you a story of how they started and the key tactic to gain their initial traction.
Hand-onboarding early listings and creatively solving supply gaps.
Manually implementing search functionality for early adopters.
Processing orders manually and hacking same-day logistics.
Delivering pizza with branded materials to target clients.
Interviewing and featuring industry leaders to attract users.
In-person training to educate bartenders and boost sales.
Personalized champagne deliveries to potential clients.
Targeting sororities and fraternities for early adoption.
Hiring interns to manually recruit talent via social DMs.
Executing deliveries and customer service manually.
Handling bookings manually to validate the model.
Custom videos to engage prospects and drive signups.
Working from cafes and bartering services for meals.
Launching with limited functionality to test core features.
Seeding traction via a viral Reddit discussion.
Using Google Voice to manually coordinate deliveries.
Creating a scrappy explainer video to drive waitlist signups.
Leveraging a TED Talk to recruit early users.
Attending fairs to manually onboard artisans.
Deploying physical servers at each university to scale.
Personalized onboarding to ensure user retention.
Hand-reselling items to test the marketplace concept.
Iterating based on the founders' own email needs.
Emailing PDF coupons to prove the model.
Getting certified to manually handle accounting.
Manual photography to build the initial inventory database.
Using spreadsheets to manage early user data.
Personal outreach to high-profile connections for growth.
Offering services while building the software.
Hand-delivering items and camping at retail locations.
Bootstrapping via WhatsApp to connect sellers/buyers.
Delivering food to understand the user journey.
College classroom presentations to drive signups.
Launching one neighborhood at a time to ensure density.
Manual music categorization to train the algorithm.
Building early units manually to demo functionality.
Changing demo devices to showcase Pinterest.
Curating a manual newsletter to build an audience.
Seeding answers using personal networks.
Posting under pseudonyms to simulate engagement.
Pop-up events on campuses to drive rentals.
Hand-processing food orders to test demand.
Outreach to cultural groups to onboard cooks.
Leveraging personal networks for teen adoption.
Using Peet’s Coffee in Starbucks bags initially.
Organic growth via fitness communities.
Founders manually integrating Stripe for early clients.
Creating bespoke features for key influencers.
Precision ads to dominate teen markets.
Manual outreach to bootstrap supply.
College parties and student reps for growth.
Using personal blogs to promote the platform.
Hand-selling at events and transit hubs.
Manual compliance audits to start.
Creating early e-commerce sites by hand.
Refocusing the product based on user behavior.
Photographing local store inventory to validate demand.
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