URL: /strategy · Id: `page:/strategy`

# Fast, cheap, scalable: pick two

> Pick what you would rather pay with, hours, cash or months, and see the strategy, its first moves and what each one costs.

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 would rather pay with | Strategy | First signal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Months | [Passive](/strategy/passive) | Your brand name shows up in days; signups from month 3 |
| My hours | [Hands-on](/strategy/hands-on) | Replies in days |
| Cash | [Paid](/strategy/paid) | Clicks in a day |

## Pick two
| You want | You pay with | Strategy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fast and scalable | Cash | [Paid](/strategy/paid) |
| Cheap and scalable | Months | [Passive](/strategy/passive) |
| Fast and cheap | Your hours | [Hands-on](/strategy/hands-on) |
| Borrowed reach, through a store or a partner | Control: the store keeps it | [A route your agents add](/strategy#routes) |

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](#the-rule) |
| I want to be passive: what do I do? | [Passive](/strategy/passive) |
| I have hours, not cash: where do I start? | [Hands-on](/strategy/hands-on) |
| I have cash and want customers fast: what do I do? | [Paid](/strategy/paid) |
| Where should I list my product? | [Directory submissions](/capabilities/earn-first-links/directory-submissions) |
| Where do I find my first 100 people? | [Find your first customers](/capabilities/find-customers) |
| When should I launch, and where? | [Launch circuit](/capabilities/earn-first-links/launch-circuit) |
| Which terms should I target? | [Research demand](/capabilities/research-demand) |
| What does ChatGPT say about my category? | [Check AI answers](/capabilities/check-ai-answers) |
| Who am I up against, and what works for them? | [Size up competitors](/capabilities/size-up-competitors) |
| Who writes my pages, posts and ads? | [Make content](/capabilities/make-content) |
| Can my agent post as me on LinkedIn, X and Reddit? | [Publish and post](/capabilities/publish-and-post) |
| Can I submit my domain for indexing? | [Get indexed](/capabilities/get-indexed) |
| How do I get my first backlinks? | [Earn first links](/capabilities/earn-first-links) |
| How do I reach the first 100 people on my list? | [Reach out](/capabilities/reach-out) |
| What would 500 clicks on my terms cost? | [Run ads](/capabilities/run-ads) |
| Is it working? | [Measure](/capabilities/measure) |
| What can my agents do for traction? | [Capabilities](/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](/strategy/paid) |
| Paid social | High | High; LinkedIn costs most | Clicks within a day | [Paid](/strategy/paid) |
| Search | High | Low: about $1.25 of data, then pages and links | Your brand name in days; impressions in weeks | [Passive](/strategy/passive) |
| AI answers | Medium, growing | Low | Weeks; robots changes land in about a day | [Passive](/strategy/passive) |
| Outreach | Medium; sending capacity caps it | Low: 100 checked emails for $1 to $3 | Replies in days | [Hands-on](/strategy/hands-on) |
| Network and warm intros | Low | About $0 | Days | [Hands-on](/strategy/hands-on) |
| Communities and launches | Low, plus a spike | About $0 | Launch day; threads in days | [Passive](/strategy/passive) |
| Stores and partners | Medium to high, borrowed | Low | Weeks, after the store reviews it | [A route](#routes) |

| 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](/strategy/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](/strategy/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](/strategy/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](/plays/marketplace-listings) | the product extends a platform that has a store |
| Agent registries | [Agent registries](/plays/agent-registries) | the product is an API, an MCP server or a package |
| House ads in a Studio | [House ads](/plays/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 |