You've already developed the product. Now you need customers. But when you're starting from scratch, you might not have a marketing budget, a established brand, or a sales team to help you find them. So, how can you get those first 1,000 people to be willing to try what you've created?
On TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Gamma Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Grant Lee, Engine Founder and Chief Executive Officer Elia Wallen, as well as GV (Google Ventures) General Partner Crystal Huang will take the stage at Builders Stage to participate in a discussion titled “The Zero - to-1K Playbook : How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers Without a Marketing Budget”.
They will break down how the founders found those crucial early customers through community building, product-driven growth, founder-led sales, targeted outreach, and word-of-mouth marketing.
If you're still working hard to acquire the first 1,000 customers, purchase a ticket for Disrupt now and save up to $100. Learn how the founder managed to find early customers when there was no budget, brand, or scale in place. Bring along co-founders, colleagues, partners, or peers, and you can also enjoy a 50% discount on the ticket price.
From early users to nearly 100 million users
Lee It's quite clear that to expand business beyond the initial group of customers, certain capabilities are required. Before co-founding Gamma, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of ClearBrain; after ClearBrain was acquired by Amplitude, he also held the position of Chief Financial Officer for Optimizely. Lee graduated from Stanford, has engineering training, and possesses experience in finance and operations; over the years, he has been creating presentations, and it was these experiences that inspired him to rethink how people create and share ideas.
Thereafter, the business of Gamma far exceeded the scope of a simple presentation. In March 2026, TechCrunch reported that this visual communication platform, driven by AI, had achieved annual recurring revenue of 100 million US dollars in 2025, and its user base had approached 100 million. The company then continued to expand into websites, social media content, and marketing materials generated by AI.
For the early founders, the most interesting part of this story occurred before they reached 100 million users: how did you convince the first group of users who had never heard of the company to try the product, and how did you turn this early traction into a driving force for growth?
Buy a ticket for Disrupt and listen to Lee share what is needed to build a customer base from scratch. You can save up to $100, and you can also purchase a second ticket at a 50% discount.
Starting a business without a mature brand
Wallen brought another chapter to the founder's experience. In 2008, he founded Travelers Haven and developed it with his own funds into one of the largest corporate housing companies in the United States. In 2019, he secured the first external capital for Engine, and subsequently devoted all his efforts to this travel platform.
Today, Engine has served over 30,000 enterprises and 1 million travelers, and has achieved a positive cash flow. In July of this year, Engine acquired the tourism management company Options Travel, which has a history of more than 30 years, as well as its group air ticket product TempoTrip, and its growth continues to advance.
If your startup needs customers before you have a large marketing team, why not add this Builders Stage discussion to your Disrupt agenda? Register now to save up to $100, and the second ticket is available at a 50% discount.
How do investors view early customers? traction?
Huang brings the perspective of an investor. As a general partner of GV, she focuses mainly on SaaS, infrastructure, and AI, with a particular interest in product-driven and developer-driven adoption strategies. Before joining GV, she invested in NEA and Notable Capital, and began her career in technology mergers and acquisitions at Blackstone Group.
She will also serve as one of the judges for this year's Startup Battlefield 200 event, personally evaluating startups on-site at Disrupt.
Huang will also provide the investor's perspective: how early-stage companies can drive growth by focusing on their products when they do not yet have the resources of mature enterprises.
Want to hear about the founders' early market entry strategies from both perspectives? Purchase a Disrupt ticket to listen to the experiences of founders who have already built a customer base, as well as investors who evaluate the company's growth methods. You can save up to $100, and you can also purchase a second similar ticket at a 50% discount.
Establish more early connections at Disrupt.
“The Zero - to-1K Playbook : How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers Without a Marketing Budget” is one of over 200 events organized by Disrupt. The event Disrupt will be held in San Francisco from October 13th to 15th, covering six industry stages, roundtable discussions, and group exchanges. It is expected that more than 10,000 founders, investors, operators, and technology leaders will attend, along with over 250 speakers and more than 300 startups participating in the exhibition.
For those who are looking for customers, investors, partners, or simply want to connect with others who understand the hardships of building something from scratch, the networking after the conference doesn't stop there. Pairing sessions, deal matching, and impromptu social interactions will provide attendees with opportunities to establish connections that can help push young companies forward.
You may not yet have a large marketing budget, but at Disrupt, you can hear from the founders about how they found early customers through strategies that don't rely on budgets, and how they met with thousands of people who are building, funding, and purchasing future products. Explore the ticket options and lock in a discount of up to $100. In addition, the second ticket is available at a 50% discount.
