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[Pre-Seed Track - Session 03] How to turn a prototype into a paying customer in 30 days
The prototype works. At least two people have told you it's interesting. The gap between "interesting" and "paying" is where most pre-seed companies stall for months longer than they should.
WHAT THIS SESSION IS ABOUT
Getting a paying customer from a prototype is not a sales problem. It is a sequencing problem. Most founders approach it in the wrong order: they finish the product, write a deck, send cold emails, and wonder why nobody converts. The founders who close their first paying customer in 30 days do it by compressing the discovery-to-commitment cycle before the product is fully ready, not after.
That means having a specific conversation framework that moves a prospect from "tell me more" to "here is what I will pay for this." It means knowing how to structure a pilot that creates real commitment rather than a polite trial that drifts to nothing. And it means making an ask that is specific, time-bound, and easy to say yes to before the product is perfect.
This session runs a live working session on your current prototype and your best prospect. The output is a 30-day action plan: the exact conversations to have, in what order, with what ask at the end of each one.
Come with one specific prospect or customer type in mind. That is the raw material for the session.
WHAT YOU WILL WALK AWAY WITH
A 30-day conversation map: the exact sequence from first outreach to signed commitment
A pilot structure that creates real commitment rather than an open-ended trial with no end date
The pricing conversation framework for a product that does not have a pricing page yet
The three objections that kill pre-seed deals and the response to each one
One outreach to send before next Tuesday
AGENDA
0:00 – 0:03 Why "let me know what you think" kills pre-seed deals
0:03 – 0:10 The 30-day sequence: discovery, pilot, commitment in the right order
0:10 – 0:18 Live: building your conversation map on your actual prospect
0:18 – 0:23 The ask: how to price and close before the product is finished
0:23 – 0:25 One outreach to send before next Tuesday
0:25 – 0:40 Open Q&A
WHO THIS IS FOR
Pre-seed B2B SaaS and AI founders with a working prototype and at least one realistic prospect who have not yet closed a paying customer. If you are already past your first three paying customers, Wednesday's Seed track is your room.
TOOLS WE WILL WORK WITH
Live examples using the outreach, sequencing, and pilot management tools pre-seed founders are running to close first customers without a full product or a sales team. Come with one specific prospect in mind.
REGISTER FREE
Live on Zoom · Every Tuesday · 10AM PST 1PM EST 7PM CET
No application. No waitlist.
FSC mentor operators join select sessions throughout the year.
YOUR HOST
Yannick Kpodar spent 15 years as Global Lead, VP, and Portfolio CMO at B2B SaaS companies (LinkedIn, PayFit, Amenitiz, Groupe BPCE) before becoming General Partner at Aventra Capital and founding Full Stack CEO. The first paying customer is the moment that makes everything else real. He has watched founders close it in two weeks and founders spend six months never getting there. The difference is almost always the sequence. This session is built on what the fast ones do differently.
ABOUT FULL STACK CEO
Full Stack CEO is a live learning community for B2B SaaS and AI founders from first revenue to $25M ARR. Four stage-specific tracks, Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, and Series B, run weekly on Zoom, led by Yannick Kpodar. For founders ready to go deeper, the Labs run as intensive 12-week sprints three times a year.
TWO WAYS TO GO DEEPER
Join the CEO Operating Room. $99/month.
The private community where this work continues between sessions. Weekly office hours and live AMAs with operators from Goldman Sachs, Bain, McKinsey, Canva, Salesforce, Google, and LinkedIn, alongside exited founders backed by Antler, 500 Startups, and YC. Plus a stage-specific Slack, tip sheets, templates, and a full library of session replays. No application. Cancel anytime.
→ www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room
Apply for a Lab. From $997/startup.
A 12-week intensive sprint built for your exact stage: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, or Series B. Weekly working sessions on your actual GTM, metrics, and investor narrative, with specialist operators from the FSC bench matched to each sprint week. Small cohorts of 8–12 founders all at the same stage, so every conversation in the room is relevant to where you are right now. Demo Day in front of stage-matched investors at week 12. Applications reviewed within 48 hours.