The Terrifying Art of Finding Customers - by Collin Stewart (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From one of North America's top sales development leaders comes a powerful three-stage blueprint designed to guide startups to lasting profitability.

Are you a startup founder with a great product but no sales? Do prospective clients say your product is interesting, but no one's buying?

Collin Stewart, founder and CEO of Predictable Revenue, shares hard-earned lessons about navigating the chaos of a startup and the daunting task of finding your first customers. The Terrifying Art of Finding Customers is a straight-talking guide for founders focused on tackling the essential steps to growth in the right sequence.

This is an invaluable resource for any founder, organized into informative, practical sections covering the three major steps in a startup's journey: finding product-market fit, closing your first customers, and building a scalable revenue engine. It offers clear milestones, practical benchmarks, complete with real stories of successes and pitfalls to help founders learn from mistakes and make lasting impact. With advice that starts with the uncommon art of actually listening to prospective clients, Stewart leads you from measuring the strength of your product-market fit through to hiring your first sales rep, using language and techniques that will make sense to all regardless of their sales experience. Through step-by-step milestones and benchmarks, he demystifies the process of finding your first customers, empowering founders to move forward with clarity and confidence.

Review Quotes

"For any founder looking to get traction fast, this book is a game-changer. The section on customer development funnel, in particular, is gold for founders trying to find that elusive product-market fit. If you're struggling to get your first customers, this chapter will change the way you think about outreach, feedback, and refining your pitch. It nails the balance between strategic insight and hands-on tactics--exactly what you need in your early days." --Kris Rudeegraap, co-CEO, Sendoso

"Customers want outcomes, not products. As a founder, your first job isn't selling--it's understanding the outcomes your customers are looking for. Collin Stewart nails it: Before you build a repeatable sales engine, you must bring in those first customers and ensure they love your product enough to stay, pay, and shout about it from the rooftops. If you can't do that, no one else will." --Lloyed Lobo, cofounder, Boast.AI and Traction; Wall Street Journal-bestselling author, From Grassroots to Greatness

"The Terrifying Art of Finding Customers is a must-read for anyone starting a new business. Collin Stewart's wealth of experience and insights learned from helping founders find predictable revenue is as deep and valuable as you'll find. As I often say, nothing happens until someone sells something, and this book serves as the how-to guide to selling something." --Sean Sheppard, managing partner, FifthRow

"This is a must-read for entrepreneurs and aspiring founders. From finding product-market fit to securing early customers and creating a repeatable revenue engine with clarity and precision, Collin Stewart cuts through the noise with nine easy-to-read chapters. The Terrifying Art of Finding Customers is more than a good read--it's a reference book you'll pull off the shelf regularly." --Collin Cadmus, sales consultant and coach; founder, Collin Cadmus, LLC

"Collin Stewart's book is your roadmap to finding quality customers who'll actually fuel your growth, instead of burning cash building products nobody wants. After reading this, you'll transform those 'What the heck am I doing?' mornings into confident execution because you'll finally have a clear gameplay that works." --Morgan J. Ingram, founder and CEO, AMP Creative

"Having strong product-market fit magnifies the impact of every sales, marketing, and customer success motion you have. I wish more books treated it like the growth accelerant it is--this one nails it." --Max Altschuler, founder and general partner, GTMfund

"Being responsible for growth is terrifying because it never gets easier--just different. At first, you're clawing your way to $1M ARR, then suddenly you're water-skiing behind a boat you're still building. Collin Stewart doesn't just capture this chaos--he gives you the tools to survive it." --Cole Fox, operating VP, recruiting, GTM, and value creation, Growth Factors

"Collin Stewart has written the ultimate playbook for founders struggling to turn ideas into revenue. His brutally honest storytelling and actionable frameworks make this a must-read for anyone trying to crack the code of sales and product-market fit. If you're stuck pushing a wet noodle up a hill, this book will show you how to build momentum and turn prospects into paying customers." --Amir Reiter, founder and CEO, CloudTask

"Most business books are so theoretical and offer little in how their methods were developed. Collin Stewart does a fantastic job of showing how his self-proclaimed 'mistakes' and the learnings he gained led to better ideas and proven recommendations." --Jamie Scarborough, founding partner, Sales Talent Agency and The Great Canadian Sales Competition

"Finding customers can feel terrifying, especially when launching new products and services. But Collin Stewart turns that fear into confidence with a light, engaging, and incredibly practical guide. He breaks down the chaos of B2B sales into clear steps, making it easier--and even enjoyable--to land your first customers and scale revenue. A must-read for any sleep-deprived founder trying to crack the sales code." --Darius Lahoutifard, founder, MEDDIC Academy; bestselling author, Leadership by Cyrus the Great and Always Be Qualifying

About the Author

Collin Stewart is the founder and CEO of Predictable Revenue, specializing in helping B2B companies grow faster and achieve predictable results. After more than a decade building sales development teams for companies like Toptal and Vox Media, Stewart understands the issues that stop most companies from successfully making it to market and has the experience and proven techniques to help them thrive. From co-founding voltageCRM, a CRM that nobody wanted, to co-founding Carb.io, which rocketed from $0-$1m in a matter of months, Stewart has become one of North America's most trusted voices in sales development. His popular Predictable Revenue podcast has been running since 2017. Stewart lives in Vancouver, Canada. Learn more at predictablerevenue.com.