The short answer
Choose a channel where your intended buyer encounters the problem and where you can show a credible path to your product. Test it against the product action you need, not reach alone.
Match the channel to your buyer
- When your buyer…
Buyers search for a specific task
ConsiderSearch page or video walkthrough
Your first testShow the task, its result and a clear route to try your product.
1 source behind this suggestion
A speaker in a Fomin Unscripted video demonstrated payment and the resulting reservation on screen.3
Behind this tip1 source · Select to explore - When your buyer…
Buyers ask peers for help
ConsiderHelpful community answers
Your first testAnswer a relevant question and give interested people a route to try.
1 source behind this suggestion
Pierre-Eliott Lallemant reports adding educational Reddit posts after starting with outbound.2
Behind this tip1 source · Select to explore - When your buyer…
You can identify relevant prospects
ConsiderDirect outreach
Your first testConnect a specific offer to the problem the prospect is describing.
1 source behind this suggestion
Lallemant says his early outbound reached people showing intent and started conversations.2
Behind this tip1 source · Select to explore - When your buyer…
Buyers rely on trusted specialists
ConsiderPartner introductions
Your first testTrack whether referred opportunities become customers at a sustainable cost.
1 source behind this suggestion
Ryan Murray reports stronger close rates for trade-partner referrals than paid leads in his window-treatment business.4
Behind this tip1 source · Select to explore
Your channel experiment
Buyer and channel: [who you can reach, and where] Offer: [what they will see or receive] Meaningful action: [what they should do in the product] Cost or effort limit: [what you can afford to test] Observed result: [what happened] Decision: [continue, revise or change]
Continue
The right people take the intended action at a cost you can sustain.
Revise
People engage but do not reach or use the product. Change the offer or product path.
Change
You cannot find a credible route from buyer to product. Test another channel.
Detailed reasoning and examplesThe full playbook, source comparisons and related questions
Use this when
Use this if you have a product people can try or buy and need to decide where to focus distribution effort.
You’ll leave with
Leave with a channel decision worksheet containing a buyer path, candidate comparison, test, observed actions and continue-or-change decision.
Your playbook
Map how your buyer encounters the problem
- Do
Write down the intended user, the problem they recognize, where they seek help and who can credibly introduce your product. If buyer and user differ, record both paths.
- Make
Add a buyer-and-discovery path to your channel decision worksheet.
- Check
If you cannot name an observable place or introduction path, investigate buyer behavior before selecting a channel.
Preview the template
Intended user: [user] Buyer, if different: [buyer] Problem they recognize: [specific problem] Where they seek help: [place or search] Who they trust: [person or group] Product action to observe: [meaningful action] Candidate channel: [channel] Offer and product path: [what they will encounter] Observed actions and costs: [what happened] Decision and next change: [continue, revise or stop]
Why this step is in the plan
Compare channels against the buyer path
- Do
Shortlist plausible channels. For each, note evidence of buyer intent, an offer you can deliver, the route to the product and how you would observe the intended action. Choose the candidate with the clearest testable path.
- Make
Add a compared channel shortlist and a provisional choice to the worksheet.
- Check
If a candidate offers reach but no plausible route to the product action, revise it or choose another.
Why this step is in the plan
Run a product-relevant test
- Do
Publish or deliver an offer suited to your chosen channel. Show how the product addresses the stated problem and give interested people a clear route to try it or inquire.
- Make
Add the live test, its offer and the intended product action to the worksheet.
- Check
If people engage but cannot see or reach the product, change the offer before judging the channel.
Why this step is in the plan
A guest in a Starter Story Build video describes an entertainment skit that received about 15 million views but converted poorly; the product appeared late in the video.5
Trace what the channel actually produces
- Do
Record where responses came from and whether they became meaningful product actions. For a paid test, also record spend and the value of resulting customers rather than treating clicks as customers.
- Make
Add attributed responses, product actions and applicable costs to the worksheet.
- Check
If attention arrives without the intended action, revisit buyer fit, offer and product path before increasing effort.
Why this step is in the plan
The Starter Story guest says adding paid advertising changed the question from gaining traffic to comparing customer acquisition cost with likely customer value.7 Ryan Murray compares paid leads and trade-partner referrals using contribution margin; he reports that referrals close around 80%, versus 50 to 60% for paid leads, in his window-treatment business.4
Keep, revise or replace the channel
- Do
Compare the test's product actions and effort with other viable options. Keep a working channel active while improving its offer; revise a weak test or try another channel if the buyer path remains credible.
- Make
Add a continue, revise or stop decision and the next change to your worksheet.
- Check
Continue when the channel produces the intended action at a cost you can sustain; otherwise change the offer or channel.
Why this step is in the plan
Pierre-Eliott Lallemant reports adding Reddit, content, partnerships and paid acquisition after starting with outbound, while keeping earlier channels active.2 Murray says historical advertising returns do not predict the return on the next investment; his proposed partner-development hire had not yet proved its projected economics.4
When this works
- Use this approach when you can observe how prospects reach the product and what they do next.
When to avoid
- Do not select a channel solely because its audience is large or another startup reports a strong result there.
Compare the real examples
What 3 sources did and reported Explore examples ↓
- X
Pierre-Eliott Lallemant
He reports reaching 4,000 customers in less than 1 year.
Used outbound, then added Reddit, content, partnerships and paid acquisition without stopping earlier channels.
- X
Tanay Kothari
He reports that its first launch, two months after the pivot from hardware to Flow, received millions of views and reached #1 on Product Hunt for the day and week.
Focused Wispr Flow on developers who share tools and founders who can introduce tools to teams.
- YouTube
Fomin Unscripted
The speaker says some viewers clicked through and bought a reservation.
A speaker in the channel's video targeted a relevant search and showed the site's payment and resulting reservation on screen.