The Biggest Mistake AI Entrepreneurs Make (And How to Fix It)
Starting an AI automation agency or building a SaaS product is exciting — but there’s one problem I see over and over again: no leads, no customers, no revenue.
I’ve made this mistake myself, and I’ve seen countless others waste months building products for an audience of zero. The solution? Lead generation must be your top priority.
Step 1: Dedicate Your Morning to Sales
Here’s a simple framework I follow every day:
Without leads, your product doesn’t matter. Money flows from sales, and sales are the lifeblood of your business.
Step 2: Understand Growth Channels
Not all marketing is equal. A chart from Nathan Lka helped me categorize strategies by cost and speed of growth. Here’s the breakdown:
Fast & Cheap
Cheap but Slow
Expensive but Effective
📹 Demo Video: See the full walkthrough in action: Watch the AI Agency Lead Generation Demo
Step 3: Learn from Mistakes (My Story)
Back in 2016, I built “Airbnb for food” in Germany. My co-founders and I spent almost a year perfecting the product.
Months of hard work taught me a critical lesson: product first, audience second, is a recipe for failure.
Step 4: Build a Repeatable Lead System
Every day, I focus on:
Cold outreach: LinkedIn + email campaigns.
Content for founder brand: Sharing insights, tutorials, and updates.
Marketing experiments: Free tools, Product Hunt launches, programmatic SEO.
The goal is simple: generate leads consistently so your product can grow and scale.
Final Takeaway
If you’re starting an AI agency or SaaS company, remember this: sales and lead generation come before everything else.
Without customers, your product is just an idea. With leads, you can hire engineers, improve your product, and grow sustainably.
Focus on leads first. Everything else comes second.
Next steps: I’m building a School Community to show exactly how to build AI automations and voice agents from scratch. Stay tuned — this is where the real learning begins.