Starting a Business With Almost Nothing: Sell First, Build Later
October 6, 2026 · 18 min read
Founders who began with a few hundred dollars or less describe getting a paying customer before spending on product, staff or offices. Their shared advice is to charge from the first day and let revenue fund the next step.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Get a customer to pay or commit before spending on anything else.
- Koerner: stop playing business; skip the company filing, plan and logo, and find a customer.
- Koerner: take a deposit of about half and buy the equipment with it.
- Koerner: mistakes made by starting early are tuition; avoid crushing commitments.
- Levels: launch a small version with a payment button within about two weeks.
- Levels: do the work by hand until volume forces automation; charge from the start.
- DeJoria: collect small orders first, then show them to a bigger buyer as proof.
- DeJoria: build extra margin so you can discount for payment on delivery.
- DeJoria: sell the reorder, so the product must be good enough to buy again.
- Cuban: ask a prospect to front the cost; friends and family are not a test.
- Cuban: with more to lose, save first and test on nights and weekends.
- Cardone: bring sales to an existing business, then ask for a share of new growth.
- Giertz: pre-selling a manufactured product risks long delays; test demand first.
- Taking money first only works if you can deliver; expect it to be slow.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.