URL: /strategy/hands-on · Id: `page:/strategy/hands-on`

# Hands-on: fast and nearly free; your agents do the legwork, you take the calls

> Outreach from your own inbox: about $2 for 100 checked emails, replies in days, and the calls are yours.

I have hours, not cash: where do I start? Describe your customer; your agent builds the list, and you send from your own inbox and take the calls.

```text title="Your first three moves · Ask"
We would rather pay with our hours than cash. Get our first customers by reaching out ourselves.
We sell to property managers with 20 to 400 units who still run rent on spreadsheets. Show me my first three moves.
```

```ts title="Your first three moves · SDK"
import { $ } from 'startup-builder'

const budget = await $.DemandBudget.create({ amount: 0, tier: '$0', target: 'first 10 paying customers', stopRule: 'week 8 readout' })   // what you would rather pay with: your hours
const icp = await $.ICP.create({ description: 'US property managers with 20 to 400 units still running rent on spreadsheets' })   // your customer, in one sentence
await $.PlayMix.compile({ startup: 'leaseline.app' }, { mode: 'try' })   // kickstart running, the first batch waiting on your approval
const rows = await $.Prospect.find({ icp, question: 'Do they still track rent in spreadsheets?', save: 50 })   // the 50 accounts you approve, with the person at each · Not live yet, gaps #2
```

```json title="Your first three moves · Response · sample"
{
  "$type": "PlayMix",
  "from": "hypotheses/hypothesis_8",
  "approach": "Cold email and LinkedIn from your own accounts bring the first 10; founder voice and customer referrals keep them coming.",
  "firstMoves": [
    {
      "move": "Describe your customer in one sentence",
      "who": "you",
      "minutes": 2,
      "cost": "$0.007"
    },
    {
      "move": "Approve 50 accounts worth a conversation",
      "who": "you",
      "minutes": 15,
      "cost": "$0"
    },
    {
      "move": "Approve the first batch of 20 to 30",
      "who": "you",
      "minutes": 10,
      "cost": "$0.60"
    }
  ],
  "kickstart": [
    {
      "play": "cold-email",
      "status": "running"
    },
    {
      "play": "linkedin-outbound",
      "status": "running"
    }
  ],
  "engine": [
    {
      "play": "founder-voice",
      "status": "gated",
      "gate": "first five calls"
    },
    {
      "play": "customer-referrals",
      "status": "gated",
      "gate": "first paying customer"
    }
  ],
  "sample": {
    "organization": "Northgate Rentals",
    "units": 140,
    "fit": "strong",
    "whyNow": "posted a leasing coordinator role on 2026-10-21",
    "person": "Owner",
    "email": "verified"
  }
}
```

| Fits when | You spend | First customer | Number to watch |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| You can name the buyer in one sentence, and a deal is worth a conversation: b2b at about $1k a year or more. | about 25 minutes of approvals in week 1, then the calls, about $2 per 100 checked emails, under $25 a month | First calls in weeks 1 to 2; the first paying customer in weeks 4 to 8, or the full 90 days when a deal needs a pilot | Positive replies per 100 sends; Calls with people who fit; Customers from outreach |

## Week by week
**Start here:** [Describe your customer in one sentence](/capabilities/find-customers#describe-your-customer). Cold email and LinkedIn from your own accounts bring the first 10; founder voice and customer referrals keep them coming.

| When | Step | The job | Who | Your time · cost | Kind |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monday, week 1 | Describe your customer in one sentence | [Describe your customer](/capabilities/find-customers#describe-your-customer) | You | 2 min · $0.007 for 10 rows | kickstart |
|  | Count the market | [Market size](/capabilities/find-customers#market-size) | Agent | none · free | kickstart |
|  | Approve 50 accounts worth a conversation | [People list](/capabilities/find-customers#people-list) | ★ You approve | 15 min · free | kickstart |
|  | Add who just raised | [Who just raised](/capabilities/find-customers#who-just-raised) | Agent | none · $0.04 a row | kickstart |
|  | Add who is hiring for the job you do | [Who is hiring for the job you do](/capabilities/find-customers#whos-hiring) | Agent | none · $0.0005 a row | kickstart |
|  | Find who is asking about the problem | [Problem posts](/capabilities/research-demand#problem-posts) | Agent | none · under $0.002 a search | kickstart |
|  | Add the people engaging with posts in your category | [Post engagers](/capabilities/find-customers#post-engagers) | Agent | none · $0.003 a post | kickstart |
|  | Find each work email | [Work email](/capabilities/find-customers#work-email) | Agent | none · 1 to 3¢ a found address; misses are free | kickstart |
|  | Check every address before the first send | [Email check](/capabilities/find-customers#email-check) | Agent | none · $0.00178 an address | kickstart |
|  | Approve the first batch of 20 to 30 | [Email and inboxes](/capabilities/reach-out#email-and-inboxes) | ★ You approve | 10 min · free from your inbox | kickstart |
|  | Connect on LinkedIn as you | [LinkedIn](/capabilities/reach-out#linkedin) | Agent | none · $0.016 a step | kickstart |
| Week 2 | Take the first calls | [Phone](/capabilities/reach-out#phone) | You | 30 min a call · free | kickstart |
|  | Send the next batch, 20 to 30 a day | [Email and inboxes](/capabilities/reach-out#email-and-inboxes) | ★ You approve | 10 min a day · free from your inbox | kickstart |
|  | Post twice a week as you | [Post by API](/capabilities/publish-and-post#post-by-api) | ★ You approve | 10 min · free | engine |
| Week 4 | Find more companies like your first yes | [Lookalikes](/capabilities/find-customers#lookalikes) | Agent | none · $0.04 a row | kickstart |
|  | Turn the list into an ad audience | [Saved lists](/capabilities/find-customers#lists) | Agent | none · free; the ad spend is yours | kickstart |
| Week 6 | Map the people at your best accounts | [Decision makers](/capabilities/find-customers#decision-makers) | ★ You approve | 10 min · $0.0005 a row | kickstart |
| Week 12 | Ask your first customers for an intro | [Email and inboxes](/capabilities/reach-out#email-and-inboxes) | ★ You approve | 10 min · free from your inbox | engine |
| Switch | Replies but no calls by week 4: rewrite the customer sentence. No first customer by week 8: keep the list working and add Passive. | [Every strategy](/strategy#strategies) | The readout | — | switch |

★ marks the approvals. Everything else runs under the Mandates you grant once, and each Mandate you grant takes an approval off your week.

A conversation is the quickest way to learn whether the product sells, and who it sells to. Your agents do the legwork: they find the people, the reason to write this week and a checked address, and they draft each send in your voice from your own inbox and your own LinkedIn account. You approve the batch and take the calls. Every call sharpens the customer sentence, and the next list is built from the sharper sentence.

If your product shows in under a minute, the launch kickstart in [Passive](/strategy/passive) is faster: people can try it the moment they see it, and the launch earns links that keep working while you reach out.

## Plays it runs
| Play | Role | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Cold email](/plays/cold-email) | Kickstart: the first 10 | Writes first to people at companies that showed two fresh public reasons to talk, three short emails at most, and answers every reply by kind. |
| [LinkedIn outbound](/plays/linkedin-outbound) | Kickstart: the first 10 | Picks each day’s People on LinkedIn, drafts the connection note and the Messages, and queues them in your send tray; you press every send. |
| [Community answers](/plays/community-answers) | Kickstart: the first 10 | Finds public questions about the problem you solve and your rivals, and gets a labeled, sourced answer posted within hours, fitted to each room. |
| [Paid social](/plays/paid-social) | Kickstart: the first 10 | Runs 10 to 15 distinct ad concepts at a time, each paused until approved, and spends more only after a holdout shows added sales. |
| [Buying committee](/plays/buying-committee) | Kickstart: the first 10 | Writes to 3 or more roles at each named company, one a week, and hands each engaged company to your AE within a day. |
| [Founder voice](/plays/founder-voice) | Engine: what keeps them coming | Founder voice drafts your LinkedIn and X posts from views you stated and facts on record, invents nothing, and leaves every post to your press. |
| [Customer referrals](/plays/customer-referrals) | Engine: what keeps them coming | Asks Customers to invite a peer right after they get the result they came for, and rewards both once the peer’s first payment clears refunds. |

## Reference
| Tool | Runs today |
| --- | --- |
| <Op verb="ICP.create" /> | Coming |
| `Prospect.find` (Not live yet, gaps #2) | Coming |
| <Op verb="Message.schedule" /> | Coming |
| <Op verb="Meeting.book" /> | Coming |
| <Op verb="PlayMix.compile" /> | Coming |