I was trying to create a newsletter about upcoming IPOs and manage all the content within Airtable. I wanted to import financial API data into Airtable, and couldn't find a quick way to do it.
A couple of months later, having given up on the newsletter idea, I stumbled upon 'API Connector', a Google Sheets addon, on Product Hunt. I decided to build the same thing for Airtable.
It was perfect timing, as Airtable had just opened up their app marketplace to third-party developers.
MicroFounder
How did you find your first customers?
Andy
Most of the initial customers just came from being very early to Airtable's marketplace. I also did all the standard one-time launch things: Product Hunt, Reddit and a few Facebook groups.
I also went on a few podcasts, both Airtable-specific and more general bootstrapping ones. It's hard to track conversions from these, but several customers have mentioned they first heard about the app on a podcast.
MicroFounder
How are you finding your customers today?
Andy
The majority of people still just find Data Fetcher in the marketplace. But the other big one is content marketing. About 40% of new customers now find the Data Fetcher through our blog or YouTube channel.
Each blog post/ video shows an example use case for Data Fetcher, e.g. import stock prices to Airtable. The traffic/ view numbers are low, but the intent is really high, so these pieces of content convert really well.
MicroFounder
What's your advice for other microfounders who want to get started?
Andy
A good way to find relatively low-competition ideas is to copy existing tools for a new, growing platform. Then put your ideas through the Tyler Tringas meat grinder (https://tylertringas...) to validate them.
Build with whatever tech stack you know.
Find a handful of customers via launching publicly. After that, find one scalable marketing channel and absolutely rinse it.
