Beyond Cold Outreach: How an Enterprise Auth Startup Acquired Its First 10 Customers

For enterprise SaaS founders, customer acquisition often feels like an insurmountable challenge. Long sales cycles, complex decision-making processes, and entrenched competitors create a daunting landscape. Wristband, a multi-tenant authentication provider for enterprise SaaS applications, has navigated this terrain successfully, but not through conventional methods.

What is Wristband?

Wristband positions itself as a competitor to established players like Auth0 and AWS Cognito, but with a specific focus on multi-tenant enterprise applications. The platform offers generous feature tiers designed specifically for the needs of companies serving enterprise clients, addressing pain points that generic authentication solutions often overlook.

The question of how Wristband acquired its first 10 paying customers reveals valuable insights for founders in the B2B SaaS space, particularly those targeting enterprise clients.

The Seven Marketing Tactics That Worked

In a candid interview with Wristband founder and CEO Jim Verducci, seven distinct marketing strategies emerged as the primary drivers of early customer traction:

1. Webinar Networking (1st customer)

Jim attended a TechStars webinar on Zoom where participants shared their LinkedIn profiles in the chat. He proactively connected with at least 25 people, researching each of their ventures. One company stood out, prompting Jim to reach out directly to their CEO. A two-hour conversation revealed the company's struggles with existing authentication solutions like Auth0 and Descope. This initial connection led to an introduction with their CTO, ultimately securing Wristband's first customer.

2. Paid Accelerator Networking (2 customers)

Joining a paid accelerator at the end of 2023 yielded two customers, though not immediately. One founder was paired directly with Jim during the program but didn't convert until recently, citing enterprise sales cycles and budget constraints. Another connection from the accelerator led to an invitation to a San Francisco coworking space, where Jim met someone who would become a significant case study customer. Both conversions took over a year, demonstrating the patience required in enterprise sales.

3. Slack Communities (2 customers)

Active participation in multiple Slack communities proved fruitful. One founder Jim met in a sales-focused Slack built a relationship through discussions unrelated to Wristband. When this founder later started his own company and needed authentication, Wristband was the natural choice. Another customer emerged after Jim referred business to a security firm, whose lead engineer became a vocal advocate for the platform.

4. Reddit SEO (2 customers)

A Reddit thread discussing multi-tenant identity providers featured a mention of Wristband. This thread consistently ranks highly in Google search results, attracting organic traffic. Two customers discovered Wristband through this thread, booked demo calls, and were invited to join the Wristband developer community. One conversion occurred over a year later when the customer's next project gained traction.

5. Word of Mouth/Referrals (2 customers)

A case study from an early customer led to additional business through unexpected channels. Months later, in an accelerator Slack community, a founder requested an affordable WorkOS alternative. The case study customer tagged Jim, resulting in another conversion. Separately, a technical founder discovered Wristband, recommended it to his client (who became a paying customer), and is now building a partnership to use Wristband across multiple client projects.

6. Reverse Cold Outreach (1 customer)

Jim refers to this tactic as "uno-reverso." A CEO cold-reached out on LinkedIn attempting to sell their solution. As the CEO explained their product, Jim flipped the script, inquiring about their authentication setup. This unexpected conversation led to a mutual customer relationship and a strategic partnership where both companies now name-drop each other when opportunities arise.

7. LinkedIn Posting (1 customer)

During Wristband's Product Hunt beta launch in summer 2024, Jim maintained an active presence on LinkedIn. A CTO he had previously worked for noticed this activity and reached out. This CTO had experienced poor service from Auth0 and Okta in a previous role and was seeking alternatives. Impressed with Wristband's apparent readiness, he brought the service on at his current company.

Four Hard-Earned Lessons for Enterprise SaaS Founders

Jim's journey reveals several critical insights for founders attempting to crack early customer acquisition in the enterprise space:

Lesson 1: Tapping Your Existing Network and Cold Outreach Is Overrated

Despite Jim's extensive background in Silicon Valley tech and consulting, only one of his first ten customers came from his professional network—and this connection materialized only after months of consistent LinkedIn content, not direct outreach. He also sent hundreds of cold emails and LinkedIn DMs, none of which converted. This challenges the conventional wisdom that networks and cold outreach are the primary paths to early customers.

Lesson 2: Community + Personal Follow-Up Works

Jim personally followed up with every single signup, either through email or by inviting them into Wristband's developer community. No conversion occurred without first building a human relationship. This approach emphasizes showing up in communities, being helpful, engaging in conversations unrelated to your product, and genuinely connecting with potential users.

Lesson 3: Enterprise Sales Cycles Are Brutally Long

Even companies actively seeking alternatives to their existing authentication solutions took 6-12 months to convert. The delays weren't related to integration complexity but rather to competing priorities, budget cycles, and complex organizational hierarchies. Jim's response was to focus on what he could control: improving onboarding, enhancing documentation, and strategically targeting SMBs with actual budgets and pain points, while continuing to serve early-stage startups who represent future enterprise customers.

Lesson 4: One Well-Placed Recommendation or Die-Hard Fan Can Keep Delivering

A single Reddit thread where someone recommended Wristband continues to drive customer signups. Two of Jim's customers referred two more. This underscores the importance of building a product that genuinely solves a problem with exceptional customer experience, creating advocates who become an extension of your marketing team.

The New Playbook for Enterprise SaaS Customer Acquisition

Wristband's experience suggests a fundamental shift in how enterprise SaaS companies should approach early customer acquisition. The traditional playbook of leveraging networks and aggressive cold outreach gives way to a more patient, community-driven approach.

For founders targeting enterprise clients, the implications are clear: focus on building genuine relationships within relevant communities, provide exceptional value beyond your product, and prepare for the long haul. Enterprise sales aren't transactions; they're relationships that require time, trust, and consistent demonstration of value.

As Wristband's experience shows, the most effective customer acquisition strategy may not be the one that's fastest, but the one that builds the most sustainable foundation for growth—one relationship, one community, and one genuine connection at a time.