Starting a business from 0 to 1 requires doing things that cannot be scaled

The key to entrepreneurial success is not that 'the product is good enough, and users will come on their own,' but rather the early-stage tasks that seem clumsy and unscalable, the 'dirty and tiring work.' This is the hidden leverage of startups.

Author Paul Graham points out that founders must manually start growth, like cranking a car by hand. There are two core methods:

1. Manually recruit and delight users.

Abandon the fantasy of 'waiting for users to come to you,' and take the initiative to go out. The founders of Stripe once installed software for users on the spot; Airbnb went door-to-door taking photos for homeowners. Don’t be discouraged by a small number of early users; a 10% weekly compound growth rate is enough to accumulate a million users in two years. Provide an experience that exceeds expectations, such as handwritten thank-you notes, turning early users into the most loyal advocates. This extreme investment is not only a means of customer acquisition but also the best feedback loop for improving the product.

2. Ignite a flame from a very small market.

Rather than casting a wide net, it is better to initially focus on a very narrow area to create user density and word-of-mouth. Facebook initially targeted Harvard students, achieving a breakthrough at the critical point in this manner.

Successful entrepreneurship should be seen as a vector that includes 'product' and 'unscalable startup methods.' These early investments, though time-consuming and labor-intensive, will ultimately internalize into the company’s customer-centric cultural gene, becoming a solid foundation for its long-term development.