Growth at Zero Is Different

Every growth article online assumes you have product-market fit, a marketing budget, and a team. When you're on a founding team at zero, none of that applies.

Growth at zero is fundamentally different: - You don't have enough data for A/B tests - Your ICP is still a hypothesis - Every user conversation is a research opportunity - Distribution channels are unproven

What actually works at zero: 1. Talk to every single user personally 2. Measure activation, not vanity metrics 3. Find one channel that works before trying five 4. Make your landing page do the selling so you can focus on product

At Sonic Linker, our early growth came from direct outreach and content, not paid ads or viral loops. The insight was that our ICP (marketing teams at B2B companies) needed education about AI visibility before they needed a tool. We had to teach the category before we could sell the product.