Macy Mills, head of GTM at a16z speedrun, lays out seven common missteps founders make when hunting their first customers—and how to course-correct quickly. First, stop polishing your product or deck in secret. Treat selling as a learning exercise: pitch early, gather feedback, tweak. Charge a price that feels a bit scary rather than undercutting yourself at $1K–$2K per month. If prospects balk, ask what they’d pay. Often they’ll surprise you. And don’t mistake an enthusiastic user for the person who signs the checks—identify the true budget holder by asking, “Whose approval does this need?” or “Which budget line covers this?” Mills also stresses listening over talking: spend 80% of calls asking open questions like “How urgent is solving this right now?” and jot down exact customer language. Run several design-partner conversations in parallel instead of banking on one big logo. Each “no” frees you to chase better fits. After every pitch, spend a minute noting what resonated and what fell flat, then tweak your story. Finally, hold off on hiring a salesperson until you’ve closed repeatable deals yourself. No one can refine the sales playbook faster than the founder—plus, customers take you more seriously when they hear the vision straight from you.