Recruit Users Manually

Startups aren't launched, they're cranked, like car engines before electric starters. The most common unscalable thing founders must do is recruit users by hand, one at a time.

Founders resist this out of shyness, laziness, and because the absolute numbers feel pathetic. That last one is a math error: 10% weekly growth from 100 users is 14,000 users in a year, and 2 million in two.

Airbnb's founders went door to door in New York with rolly bags recruiting hosts and photographing listings. Stripe's Collison brothers did 'Collison installations': when someone agreed to try Stripe, they'd say 'right then, give me your laptop' and set it up on the spot.