The First Customers Challenge (3x Tues pm sessions)
Great idea. Now who’s buying?
(This event is FREE for Compass Plus members - sign in or join now at https://startupcompass.tech/plans and get your code!)
The First Customers Challenge
Three weeks to find your potential customers, shape an offer and put it to the test.
You’ve got an idea, a product or a service. You might even know exactly who your customers are. But do you know what they’ll actually pay for?
The First Customers Challenge is a practical, three-week online program where you’ll identify your most promising buyers, develop an offer that speaks to their needs and test it with real potential customers.
Each week, you’ll join a live session with Scotty Allen, work through a practical challenge and put what you’ve learned into action. You’ll bring your results back to the group, get feedback and work out what to try next.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or have already been talking to potential customers, you’ll spend three weeks testing your assumptions and getting a clearer picture of what it takes to turn interest into a buying decision.
How it works
Three live sessions. Three practical challenges. Real feedback from potential customers.
We meet online for 75 minutes each Tuesday evening. All session recorded if you can't attend live. Every session gives you something practical to work on and a challenge to complete before the following week.
Week 1: Who’s buying?
Tuesday 17 November
We’ll work out who your most promising customers are, what problems they’re trying to solve and what makes them worth targeting.
Already know your audience? We’ll help you challenge your assumptions and identify which potential buyers are worth focusing on first.
Your challenge: Identify and prioritise potential buyers, then test your assumptions through research or conversations.
Week 2: What’s your offer?
Tuesday 24 November
Knowing who might buy is a good start. Now you need to give them something worth paying for.
We’ll work on shaping a clear, compelling offer around your customers’ needs, including what you’re offering, the value it provides and how you’ll present it.
Your challenge: Develop or refine your offer and put it in front of potential buyers to see how they respond.
Week 3: Will they buy it?
Tuesday 1 December
We’ll review what happened when you tested your offer, what customers responded to and what might be holding them back.
You’ll learn how to interpret feedback, recognise genuine buying signals and decide what to change, test or follow up on next.
Your challenge: Refine your offer based on what you’ve learned and take the next step in testing it with potential buyers.
Throughout the challenge, you’ll be working alongside other founders, sharing experiences, getting feedback and keeping each other accountable.
Who’s it for?
The First Customers Challenge is for founders who want to get clearer about who their customers are, what they’ll pay for and how to reach them.
You might be preparing to launch, developing an offer for a new product or service, or already talking to potential customers without getting the response you’d hoped for.
You don’t need a finished product or previous sales experience. You just need an idea, product or service you want people to pay for, and a willingness to test your assumptions with real potential buyers.
What you’ll walk away with
After three weeks, you’ll have:
A clearer picture of your most promising potential customers.
An offer shaped around what those customers need and value.
Real feedback from testing your offer with potential buyers.
A better understanding of what generates interest and what might lead to a buying decision.
A practical plan for refining your offer and continuing to find customers.
You’ll also have access to the worksheets, templates and session recordings in Startup Compass to help you keep going.
The details
When: Tuesdays 17 November, 24 November and 1 December 2026
Time: 7pm to 8:15pm AEDT
Where: Online, through Startup Compass
Price: $79 early bird until Sunday 8 November, then $99
Compass Plus members: Included in your membership ($39/month)
Registrations close: Monday 16 November
All sessions are recorded, so you can catch up if you miss one.
Meet your host
Scotty Allen | Founder, The Product Bus
Scotty has spent his career helping people figure things out, from primary school classrooms to EdTech, product leadership and working with startup founders.
He’s worked on products that took off and plenty that didn’t. Those experiences shaped his approach to helping founders: test your assumptions, learn from real customers and make better decisions before spending a fortune building something.
Today, he runs The Product Bus from Stone & Chalk in Melbourne, helping founders turn ideas into viable businesses through practical advice, research and hands-on support.
He’s also the host of The Bootstrap podcast.
Ready to find out who’s buying?
Join us for three weeks of practical challenges, real customer conversations and hands-on work developing and testing your offer.
Early bird: $79 until 8 November | Standard: $99
Register on this page and we’ll send you everything you need to get started in Startup Compass.
Already a Compass Plus member? The challenge is included in your membership.
Not a member yet? Compass Plus is $39/month and includes this challenge, alongside ongoing coaching, practical tools and member programs.