# First 1000 case studies and field notes

First 1000 publishes a public search API over its indexed pages; the guide is at https://www.first1000.co/agent-access.

Source: https://www.first1000.co/blog/case-studies
Source observed: 2026-10-08T01:42:30.271Z
Last checked: 2026-10-08T01:42:30.271+00:00
Indexed: 2026-10-08T01:43:36.681+00:00

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# Find a case you can use

We publish case studies and essays about how companies found early customers and built initial distribution. This index contains **49 company-focused case studies**, **14 other essays and guides**, and **63 public blog entries in total**. It counts entries on our website, not every First 1000 newsletter issue.

A case is a company-focused article; a cross-company essay is listed separately. Our tags describe approaches discussed in each case, not a measured ranking of acquisition channels.

For a starting plan, read [Get a marketplace to its first completed transactions](https://www.first1000.co/blog/marketplace-first-transactions) or [Find the first customers for a developer tool](https://www.first1000.co/blog/developer-tools-first-customers).

Use the **Product type** and **Acquisition approach** filters to narrow the index. All 49 of 49 case studies are shown by default.

## Case studies

| Company | Product type | Approach | Read the case |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bloomberg | Enterprise | Direct sales | [Bloomberg Sold the Delivery Date Before the Product Was Finished](https://www.first1000.co/blog/bloomberg) |
| Postmates | Marketplace | Manual fulfillment | [Postmates Changed the Marketplace After Users Asked for Anything](https://www.first1000.co/blog/postmates) |
| Roam Research | Software | Community | [Roam Built for Power Users Before It Built the Hype](https://www.first1000.co/blog/roam-research) |
| Robinhood | Consumer finance | Waitlist | [Robinhood Made the Queue a Product](https://www.first1000.co/blog/robinhood) |
| Sketch | Software | Community | [Sketch Let the Community Build the Last Mile](https://www.first1000.co/blog/sketch) |
| Snapchat | Consumer app | Community | [Snapchat Found the Audience After the Product Failed to Spread](https://www.first1000.co/blog/snapchat) |
| Udemy | Marketplace | Supply creation | [Udemy Built the First Course Before Recruiting Instructors](https://www.first1000.co/blog/udemy) |
| Wayfair | Commerce | Niche stores | [Wayfair Turned Narrow Stores Into a Growth Portfolio](https://www.first1000.co/blog/wayfair) |
| Atlassian | Developer tools | Documentation | [Atlassian Turned Documentation Into a Sales Wedge](https://www.first1000.co/blog/atlassian-jira) |
| Calm | Consumer app | Acquisition product | [Calm Built a Viral On-Ramp Before It Built the App](https://www.first1000.co/blog/calm) |
| Canva | Software | Narrow initial market | [Canva Started With Yearbooks, Not Everyone](https://www.first1000.co/blog/canva) |
| Discord | Consumer app | Community | [Discord Found Its First Users in the Game Communities It Served](https://www.first1000.co/blog/discord) |
| Etsy | Marketplace | Community | [Etsy Borrowed Communities Before It Had a Marketplace](https://www.first1000.co/blog/etsy) |
| Mixpanel | Software | Direct sales | [Mixpanel Got Its First 100 Customers by Leaving the Office](https://www.first1000.co/blog/mixpanel) |
| Morning Brew | Media | Campus distribution | [Morning Brew Turned Campus Pitches Into a Distribution System](https://www.first1000.co/blog/morning-brew) |
| Reddit | Consumer app | Supply creation | [Reddit Had to Manufacture a Town Before It Had a Community](https://www.first1000.co/blog/reddit) |
| Calendly | Software | Recipient experience | [Calendly Made the Recipient the Growth Channel](https://www.first1000.co/blog/calendly-recipient-experience) |
| ConvertKit | Software | Migration service | [ConvertKit Sold the Switch, Not Just the Software](https://www.first1000.co/blog/convertkit-switching-cost) |
| GitHub | Developer tools | Community | [GitHub Gave the First User a Reason to Stay](https://www.first1000.co/blog/github-network-seeding) |
| Zapier | Software | Existing requests | [Zapier Started With Requests for Specific Integrations](https://www.first1000.co/blog/zapier-existing-demand) |
| Uber | Marketplace | Direct recruitment | [How Uber got its first customers](https://www.first1000.co/blog/uber-first-customers) |
| Stripe | Developer tools | Hands-on installation | [How Stripe recruited its earliest customers](https://www.first1000.co/blog/stripe-first-1000) |
| DoorDash | Marketplace | Manual fulfillment | [The First 200 Orders Were the Product](https://www.first1000.co/blog/doordash-first-200-orders) |
| Tinder | Consumer app | Campus distribution | [Tinder Used One Campus Channel Until the Loop Worked](https://www.first1000.co/blog/tinder-one-channel) |
| Zumper | Marketplace | Supply creation | [Zumper Built the Supply Side First](https://www.first1000.co/blog/zumper-supply-first) |
| Shopify | Software | Community | [Shopify Found Its First Product Demand in the Rails Community](https://www.first1000.co/blog/shopify-community-distribution) |
| Notion | Software | Collaboration invitations | [Notion Turned Flexibility Into a Distribution Loop](https://www.first1000.co/blog/notion-value-curve) |
| Linear | Software | Founder network | [Linear's First Users Came From Product Taste and Founder Network](https://www.first1000.co/blog/linear-network-community) |
| Airbnb | Marketplace | Event demand | [Airbnb Tested a Market One Weekend at a Time](https://www.first1000.co/blog/airbnb) |
| PageFlows | Software | Existing audience | [PageFlows Let Its Audience Find the Paid Wedge](https://www.first1000.co/blog/pageflows) |
| ClassPass | Marketplace | Product iteration | [ClassPass Changed the Metric Until the Product Worked](https://www.first1000.co/blog/classpass) |
| Product Hunt | Community | Community | [Product Hunt Seeded Culture Before It Chased Scale](https://www.first1000.co/blog/product-hunt) |
| Snackpass | Marketplace | Campus distribution | [Snackpass Built Campus Density Before Broad Awareness](https://www.first1000.co/blog/snackpass) |
| Spotify | Consumer app | Product experience | [Spotify Made Waiting Feel Worse Than Paying](https://www.first1000.co/blog/spotify-the-story-0-to-1-million) |
| Stitch Fix | Commerce | Manual service | [Stitch Fix Started With a Google Form](https://www.first1000.co/blog/stitch-fix) |
| Waze | Consumer app | Community | [Waze Let a Tiny Group Build the Map](https://www.first1000.co/blog/waze) |
| Cash App | Consumer finance | Product iteration | [Cash App Built a Startup Inside Square](https://www.first1000.co/blog/cash-app) |
| Cameo | Marketplace | Narrow activity | [Cameo Found the Marketplace by Shrinking the Activity](https://www.first1000.co/blog/cameo) |
| CarSwitch | Marketplace | Manual service | [CarSwitch Launched the Marketplace Before It Could Build the Whole Platform](https://www.first1000.co/blog/carswitch) |
| Mid-Day Squares | Commerce | Founder content | [Mid-Day Squares Made the Founders Part of the Product](https://www.first1000.co/blog/mid-day-squares) |
| Nike | Commerce | Direct sales | [Blue Ribbon Found Its First Customers at Track Meets](https://www.first1000.co/blog/nike) |
| Slice | Marketplace | Merchant outcomes | [Slice Sold More Orders Before It Sold the Platform](https://www.first1000.co/blog/slice) |
| Toucan | Consumer app | Existing habits | [Toucan Fit Language Learning Into the Habit People Already Had](https://www.first1000.co/blog/toucan) |
| Barstool Sports | Media | Local distribution | [Barstool Turned a Free Newspaper Into a Local Attention Business](https://www.first1000.co/blog/barstool-sports) |
| Instagram | Consumer app | Small launch cohort | [A launch works better when scarcity and listening do different jobs](https://www.first1000.co/blog/instagram-launch-small-cohort) |
| Journify | Consumer app | Acquisition product | [Build the smallest useful product before the product is ready](https://www.first1000.co/blog/acquisition-product-before-core-product) |
| Musical.ly / TikTok | Consumer app | Supply creation | [Creator products need content liquidity before they need creator scale](https://www.first1000.co/blog/content-liquidity-before-creator-scale) |
| Doopoll | Software | Direct sales | [An enterprise wedge can buy the time needed to find the product](https://www.first1000.co/blog/enterprise-wedge-buys-learning) |
| OnlyFans | Marketplace | Creator referrals | [A marketplace referral program should reward the supply you need](https://www.first1000.co/blog/marketplace-referrals-reward-supply) |

## Other essays and guides

- [Get a marketplace to its first completed transactions](https://www.first1000.co/blog/marketplace-first-transactions)
- [Find the first customers for a developer tool](https://www.first1000.co/blog/developer-tools-first-customers)
- [TL;DR: 53 Ideas to Get Your First Customers](https://www.first1000.co/blog/first-1000-customers)
- [TL;DR: Uber, Snapchat, and Walmart Preselected Annual Plans](https://www.first1000.co/blog/uber-snapchat-walmart-annual-plans)
- [TL;DR: 12 Go-To-Market Motions from 100 Unicorns](https://www.first1000.co/blog/12-gtm-motions)
- [A Waitlist Should Ask for the Action You Want Later](https://www.first1000.co/blog/a-waitlist-should-ask-for-the-action-you-want-later)
- [When a Boring Signup Screen Is the Right Tradeoff](https://www.first1000.co/blog/when-a-boring-signup-screen-is-the-right-tradeoff)
- [A Welcome Email Should Have One Job](https://www.first1000.co/blog/welcome-email-one-job)
- [The Feed Default Is a Product Decision](https://www.first1000.co/blog/feed-default-friends-or-strangers)
- [The Hard Problem Is the First Version of a Moat](https://www.first1000.co/blog/hard-problem-before-moat)
- [AI Makes Output Cheap. Founders Still Own the Outcome.](https://www.first1000.co/blog/ai-output-cheap-founders-own-outcome)
- [Default alive is a sales system before it is a finance metric](https://www.first1000.co/blog/default-alive-brute-force-sales)
- [A price test should change the decision, not just the number](https://www.first1000.co/blog/pricing-test-decision-not-number)
- [Trust is a product requirement before it is a brand asset](https://www.first1000.co/blog/trust-before-track-record)

## First 1000

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