did your network help you find customer #1, or just make you feel like you had one?

No first paying customer here yet, so this is less a story and more a suspicion I want to test.

When you start out, the first people you talk to are usually people who already like you. They’re warm, they “totally get it,” and they say they’d use it.

I’m starting to think those conversations are great for learning and terrible for validating. People who like you are bad at telling you they won’t pay.

For those of you past this stage- did your first paying customer come from your network or from a stranger? And which “yes” from someone you knew turned out to be a polite no?