Fast, cheap, scalable: pick two
Pick the strategy your time and budget fit.
Where is the strategy defined: ads or SEO? Here: say what you would rather pay with, hours, cash or months, and your agents run the strategy that fits.
You, to your agentI would rather pay in my hours than cash. Get our first customers.
Your 20 terms: about 1,300 searches a month.
- Ask for them: 100 checked emails, about $2, and your calls; replies in days.
- Buy them: a first test of about $3,000 for 500 clicks; read within weeks.
- Earn them: about $1.25 of data and 20 minutes a week; signups from month 3 to 6.
Sample · seo platform: 1,300 searches a month, $6.01 a click
Hands-onFast and nearly free; your agents do the legwork, you take the calls.
Get your first customersYou, to your agentI would rather pay in cash than months. Get our first customers.
Your 20 terms: about 1,300 searches a month.
- Buy them: a first test of about $3,000 for 500 clicks; read within weeks.
- Ask for them: 100 checked emails, about $2, and your calls; replies in days.
- Earn them: about $1.25 of data and 20 minutes a week; signups from month 3 to 6.
Sample · seo platform: 1,300 searches a month, $6.01 a click
PaidFast and scalable, paid in cash, with a stop rule.
Get your first customersYou, to your agentI would rather pay in months than cash. Get our first customers.
Your 20 terms: about 1,300 searches a month.
- Earn them: about $1.25 of data and 20 minutes a week; signups from month 3 to 6.
- Ask for them: 100 checked emails, about $2, and your calls; replies in days.
- Buy them: a first test of about $3,000 for 500 clicks; read within weeks.
Sample · seo platform: 1,300 searches a month, $6.01 a click
PassiveSlow to start, cheap to run, and it keeps paying.
Get your first customersPick two
| You want | You pay with | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Fast and scalable | Cash | Paid |
| Cheap and scalable | Months | Passive |
| Fast and cheap | Your hours | Hands-on |
| Borrowed reach, through a store or a partner | Control: the store keeps it | A route your agents add |
Your agents spend most of those hours. They find the people, check the emails and draft every send; you approve the batch and take the calls.
| Your terms, three ways | What it costs | First signal |
|---|---|---|
| Earn them (Passive) | About $1.25 of data and 20 minutes a week, then pages and links | Signups from month 3 to 6 |
| Buy them (Paid) | About $3,000 for 500 clicks at $6.01 a click (the sample term) | Within weeks of the first spend |
| Ask for them (Hands-on) | About $2 for 100 checked emails, and your calls | Replies in days |
A click pays when your first-year margin times the visit-to-paid rate beats its cost. At 2%, a $20-a-month tool can pay $4.80 a click, and a $5k-a-year contract can pay $100.
Questions founders ask first
| Question | Answered at |
|---|---|
| Where is the strategy defined: ads or SEO? | This page |
| I want to be passive: what do I do? | Passive |
| I have hours, not cash: where do I start? | Hands-on |
| I have cash and want customers fast: what do I do? | Paid |
| Where should I list my product? | Directory submissions |
| Where do I find my first 100 people? | Find your first customers |
| When should I launch, and where? | Launch circuit |
| Which terms should I target? | Research demand |
| What does ChatGPT say about my category? | Check AI answers |
| Who am I up against, and what works for them? | Size up competitors |
| Who writes my pages, posts and ads? | Make content |
| Can my agent post as me on LinkedIn, X and Reddit? | Publish and post |
| Can I submit my domain for indexing? | Get indexed |
| How do I get my first backlinks? | Earn first links |
| How do I reach the first 100 people on my list? | Reach out |
| What would 500 clicks on my terms cost? | Run ads |
| Is it working? | Measure |
| What can my agents do for traction? | Capabilities |
Every way to get customers
| Way | Scale | Cash | First signal | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid search | High, up to the search demand | High, every month | Clicks within a day | Paid |
| Paid social | High | High; LinkedIn costs most | Clicks within a day | Paid |
| Search | High | Low: about $1.25 of data, then pages and links | Your brand name in days; impressions in weeks | Passive |
| AI answers | Medium, growing | Low | Weeks; robots changes land in about a day | Passive |
| Outreach | Medium; sending capacity caps it | Low: 100 checked emails for $1 to $3 | Replies in days | Hands-on |
| Network and warm intros | Low | About $0 | Days | Hands-on |
| Communities and launches | Low, plus a spike | About $0 | Launch day; threads in days | Passive |
| Stores and partners | Medium to high, borrowed | Low | Weeks, after the store reviews it | A route |
| Way | Your time, with agents | What it leaves behind | The number behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid search | Low: approve copy and the cap | The terms and angles that convert | Google cost per click averages $5.26, up 12.9% a year (B) |
| Paid social | Low: approve the ad kit | Winning creative and angles | LinkedIn B2B SaaS cost per click runs $11 to $14 (B) |
| Search | About 45 minutes in week 1, then about 20 a week | Pages and links that keep ranking | 1.74% of new pages reach the top 10 within a year (B) |
| AI answers | Folded into search | Mentions that persist | Brand mentions track AI visibility more closely than authority does (B) |
| Outreach | Medium: the calls are yours | A qualified list and the offer that works | Cold email replies average about 3.4%; the top tenth reach 10.7% (B) |
| Network and warm intros | High | Relationships | 12 of about 20 fast B2B companies got their first 10 this way (B) |
| Communities and launches | High in launch week | Links, a list, and threads that rank and get cited | A typical launch brings 100 to 1,000 users (C) |
| Stores and partners | Low to medium | A listing and its reviews | — |
Grades: A is a primary source, B a measured sample, C an anecdote. Each Startup measures its own from its first month.
Three strategies
| Strategy | You pay with | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Passive | Months | Search and AI answers: about $1.25 of data and 20 minutes a week, with your brand name found in days and signups from month 3. |
| Hands-on | Your hours, mostly spent by agents | Outreach from your own inbox: about $2 for 100 checked emails, replies in days, and the calls are yours. |
| Paid | Cash | Ads on your own accounts: a first test of about 500 clicks, clicks in a day, and the agent stops spend that does not pay. |
Routes your agents add
| Route | The Play | Your agents add it when |
|---|---|---|
| A store listing | Marketplace listings | the product extends a platform that has a store |
| Agent registries | Agent registries | the product is an API, an MCP server or a package |
| House ads in a Studio | House ads | the Startup sits in a Studio beside related brands, which show its ads without cash |
What founders try first
| They try | What it costs them |
|---|---|
| Launch and hope | Months of silence, and no idea why |
| A playbook of a hundred tactics | Weeks of guessing which one fits |
| A tool per channel, or an AI SDR | Stitching, seats, and sends with no strategy behind them |
| An agency or a growth hire | A retainer or a salary before the first customer |
Compiled, not written: edit the records it reads (strategies; rec:ways), then regenerate. Every step runs from a sentence or a line of code. In your words: the CRM words you know, and where each lives here.