How We Grew from 0 to 150+ Customers

Most people imagine that startups scale in a straight line: launch a product or service, raise money, and grow exponentially. But the reality? It’s messy. At Alma, every stage of growth has been an experiment in figuring out what works, what doesn’t, and how to double down on successful strategies.

At Alma, we’ve navigated three distinct phases of customer acquisition: referrals (0-10 customers), inbound and outbound (10-50 customers), and structured GTM experimentation (50-150+ customers).

0-10 Customers

Our first 10 customers came through our network and warm referrals. Trust played a huge role in the early days. Our friends believed in us, and those initial customers were willing to take a bet on Alma. Every interaction was personal—answering questions, refining messaging, and making sure our customers felt confident in our service. We quickly realized that happy clients became our biggest champions, referring new users organically. Those early referrals validated that we were solving a real problem and helped us establish credibility faster than any marketing campaign could.

10-50 Customers

Once we had initial traction, we expanded our reach through inbound marketing, referrals, and manual outbound efforts. Social media became a key driver—we shared customer success stories, educational content, and insights that positioned Alma as a trusted brand. At the same time, we tapped into startup and professional communities, leveraging industry networks for introductions to potential customers. This stage was still messy. There were no formal processes, just me and our Chief of Staff, running scrappy marketing campaigns and reaching out manually.

The biggest shift in this phase was realizing that how we were running was not scalable enough. As a founder, I spent 60-70% of my time on sales but managing leads became overwhelming. Initially, I tracked everything in Notion, but as inbound interest grew, we adopted a CRM to structure and manage follow-ups.

50-150+ Customers:

Scaling past 50 customers required us to rethink our approach. Every channel needed to be mapped, tested, and optimized. One of the most important lessons we learned was that relying on a single channel is a mistake. No one channel will sustain growth forever—some lose effectiveness over time, others take too long to yield results, and some work well only for specific audience segments. We realized that a growth strategy should resemble a well-balanced portfolio rather than a single bet.

Inbound and SEO provided a strong foundation, but they needed time to compound. Outbound helped us generate traction quickly, but without a strong ICP definition, the results were inconsistent. Community-driven growth through events and partnerships introduced high-quality leads, but scalability was a challenge. Instead of treating these as isolated efforts, we started layering channels together—using inbound content to nurture leads, outbound to reach high-intent prospects, and events to create meaningful touchpoints with our audience.

Another realization was the importance of timing and sequencing channels correctly. Not every channel is useful at every stage. Early on, outbound was essential to kickstart growth, but as our inbound channels gained traction, the focus shifted toward optimizing content and referral loops. Experimentation was critical—tracking each channel’s performance and adjusting based on what worked allowed us to stay agile.

We also saw diminishing returns in certain areas. Some outbound campaigns had great early results but plateaued as the initial batch of high-intent prospects was exhausted. SEO worked well for evergreen demand but didn’t drive immediate growth. Events and partnerships required heavy lifting but proved invaluable for high-quality, long-term conversions. The key takeaway? Growth is not about chasing the latest trend but about continuously refining and optimizing what works.

Final Analysis: What We Learned Scaling to 150+ Customers

One of the biggest realizations was that customer trust drives everything. Our strongest channel has been word-of-mouth referrals, and that’s a direct result of delivering an outstanding experience. Another key learning was that sales is a process, not just a skill. Implementing a structured sales approach—CRM tracking, ICP refinement, and clear hand-offs of clients between teams—helped us transition from founder-led sales to a repeatable system.

But the biggest takeaway? GTM is never ‘set and forget.’ We continue to test acquisition strategies, refine messaging, and adapt based on customer behavior. Growth doesn’t come from a single breakthrough moment—it’s built from hundreds of small, deliberate iterations.

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