How did Zapier find its first users?
By answering people who were already asking for integrations. Zapier was founded in 2011, according to its Y Combinator company page. Its co-founders, Wade Foster, Bryan Helmig and Mike Knoop, built the first prototype in two days at a Startup Weekend event in Columbia, Missouri, then kept their day jobs and worked on it at nights and weekends. Helmig and Knoop were the developers; Foster, now Zapier's co-founder and CEO, came from marketing and took on finding customers.
Foster described the method in a post on Zapier's blog dated 25 June 2012. The team went through as many SaaS product forums as it could find and searched Google for integration combinations. On the 37signals forums people were asking for a Google Contacts integration; on Salesforce's, for Evernote. Foster called it a gold mine.
Every early number in this story is company-reported, recalled by Foster in a post or an interview, and the sections below say which source each figure comes from.
What did Foster's forum replies say?
They helped first and mentioned Zapier second. In a 2015 interview with Groove (a Wayback Machine copy, since Groove's original page no longer loads), Foster explains the replies. If you could code, here were the API docs for the two services and how to connect them. If not, Foster was working on a project that would build the integration, and there was a link to find out more.
The requests were specific. Foster's examples were people who loved Evernote and wanted it to work with Dropbox, or loved MailChimp and wanted a Wufoo integration. Customers couldn't yet set up an integration on their own, so Foster got on Skype calls, asked people which products they wanted to connect, and set the integrations up for them.
The replies also opened a second channel. Foster told Groove that staff at some of the companies hosting those forums saw the product and asked about working together, which Foster calls the beginning of Zapier's partnerships.
How many visitors did each forum reply bring?
Ten to twenty, by Foster's account. Foster told Groove that the forum links didn't send much traffic, 10, 15 or 20 visitors from each, but that of those visitors "around 50% would convert and say 'yes, I really want this.'"
Read that figure for what it is. It is a founder's recollection, given in 2015, of Zapier's earliest days, with no count of how many replies were posted. Convert here means a visitor said they wanted the product; Foster does not say they paid. Contrary Research's report on Zapier (updated 5 October 2023) quotes the same line and cites the Groove interview, so it is a retelling of the same source, not a second one.
| Source and date | What it reports (paraphrased, company-reported) |
|---|---|
| Andrew Warner's tweet, 2 December 2011, embedded in Foster's 2012 post | Paid Zapier $100 for a product that hadn't launched |
| Foster, Zapier blog, 25 June 2012 | Found integration requests in SaaS forums and on Google, emailed the people asking, and occasionally they joined the beta |
| Foster, Groove interview, 20 August 2015 | 10, 15 or 20 visitors per forum link; around 50% of them said they wanted the product |
| Foster, Groove interview, 20 August 2015 | Beta access cost $100 for the first few people, went as low as $1, and settled at around $5 or $10 |
| Foster, Groove interview, 20 August 2015 | At the second Y Combinator application: about 1,000 people had paid for the beta, 10,000 were on a launch list, and about 25 integrations were live |
| Y Combinator company page, checked 20 October 2026 | Founded 2011; Summer 2012 batch |
How did a forum request become Zapier's first sale?
Through one old question and a polite email. In the 2012 post, Foster describes searching Google for Highrise and PayPal and finding a question on Stack Exchange from Andrew Warner, founder of the interview site Mixergy, asking how to import PayPal contacts into Highrise. The question was about eight months old. Foster emailed anyway, asking whether Warner had found a solution, and deliberately didn't pitch.
Warner had already solved that problem but needed a Wufoo to AWeber integration, which Zapier didn't have. Foster asked Helmig and Knoop to build it, it was done in a few days, Foster quoted $100 for access to the beta, and Warner agreed straight away. Warner's tweet, dated 2 December 2011 and embedded in the post, says Warner had just paid $100 for a product that hadn't launched. Foster writes that the tweet sent more traffic in an hour than Zapier had ever had.
Foster's own verdict, in the same post, is that this was not a repeatable sales process, especially at $100. After the first sale, Foster ran the loop again: find someone in a forum with a need, email to ask whether it was still a problem, and occasionally that person joined the beta.
Why does this count as signal-based selling?
Because every reply started from something the buyer had already said in public. A forum post asking for an integration names the problem, the tools involved and the person who has it. Foster didn't guess who might want Zapier; the people asking had written it down.
The same signals exist in 2026, in more places: posts asking for a tool, threads comparing options, people looking for an alternative to a product they already use, and feature requests on vendor idea boards. Our guide to 15 free buying signals covers the wider list.
Siela's AI SDR looks for signals like these, including people asking how to solve the problem you solve, comparing tools or looking for a competitor alternative, and it can track keywords and competitors you choose on LinkedIn and X. Each lead is scored hot, warm or cold with a one-line reason. For forums, communities and Q&A sites, use the manual method below.
How do you find and answer 20 threads in 2026?
Search for the words people use when they ask, keep only the threads you can genuinely help, and answer in full before you mention yourself. Google's search help page documents the operators below: quotes for an exact phrase, site: for one site, a minus sign to exclude a word, and after: for pages updated after a date. Square brackets mark the parts you fill in. The steps are our advice for 2026, not a record of what Zapier did, and about 30 minutes a day for a week is our suggestion, not a benchmark.
Write five asking phrases
List the ways a buyer asks for what you sell, for example: is there a tool that, how do I connect [app] to [app], alternative to [competitor], can anyone recommend a [category], how do you [job] without [cost or hire].
Search communities with Google
Try queries such as site:reddit.com "alternative to [competitor]" after:2026-07-01, then "is there a way to" "[your problem]" -jobs after:2026-07-01, then site:stackexchange.com "[your problem]". Google may also show a Forums filter below the search bar.
Search the forums your buyers' tools run
This is Foster's original hunting ground. Try site:community.[tool].com "[your problem]" and "[tool]" "feature request" "[your problem]" for the tools your buyers already pay for.
Search LinkedIn and X posts
Use each site's own search for phrases like "looking for a tool" or "anyone know a" with your category, and sort by latest.
Keep 20 that pass four tests
The asker describes a problem you solve, the thread is recent (we suggest the last 90 days), replies are still open, and the community's rules allow vendors to answer. Read the rules before you post.
Answer properly
Solve the problem in the reply first, with steps or a workaround that needs nothing from you, as Foster did with API docs. Then say who you are and add one link. Stack Overflow's help centre, for example, says that if you mention your product you must disclose your affiliation, and to include links only to support what you've written.
Log, follow up and count
Use a separate link for each thread (for example ?ref=thread-07) and log the thread, date, question, your reply, visits, replies and sign-ups. Offer to set things up for anyone who answers, as Foster did on Skype. Compare your visits per reply with Foster's 10 to 20, remembering that figure is one founder's recollection.
If a thread turns into a conversation, our founder-led sales routine shows how to keep it moving in 30 minutes a day.
Frequently asked questions
How did Zapier get its first customers?
Zapier's co-founder and CEO Wade Foster searched other products' forums for people asking for integrations, replied with help and a link, and emailed people who had asked. Foster told Groove in 2015 that forum links drew 10 to 20 visitors each. The first paying customer, Andrew Warner, paid $100 for beta access in December 2011.
Who was Zapier's first paying customer?
Andrew Warner, founder of the interview site Mixergy. Wade Foster found an old Stack Exchange question from Warner about PayPal and Highrise, emailed to ask whether it was still a problem, then had Zapier build the Wufoo to AWeber integration Warner needed. Warner paid $100 for beta access and tweeted about it on 2 December 2011.
Did Zapier charge for its beta?
Yes. Wade Foster told Groove in 2015 that the first few beta users paid $100, the price later went as low as $1, and it settled at around $5 or $10. Foster said the fee was there to attract people who cared enough to pay and give feedback, rather than people just trying it for fun.
What conversion rate did Wade Foster report from forum replies?
In a 2015 interview with Groove, Foster said each forum link brought 10, 15 or 20 visitors and around 50% of them converted. Foster described converting as saying they really wanted the product, and did not say they paid. It is a recollection of Zapier's earliest days, with no count of how many replies were posted.
Can you mention your own product when answering forum questions?
It depends on the community, so read its rules first. Stack Overflow's help centre says you must disclose your affiliation if you mention your product, warns that overt self-promotion gets flagged as spam, and says links should only support what you've written. Its tips start with always solving the asker's problem, so answer in full before any mention.
When did Zapier join Y Combinator?
Zapier was in Y Combinator's Summer 2012 batch, according to YC's company page. Wade Foster told Groove the founders were rejected the first time. When they applied again, about 1,000 people had paid for the beta, 10,000 were on a launch list and about 25 integrations were live.
Sources
- Zapier blog: The Anatomy of Sales at a Startup or How Andrew Warner Became Our First Paying Customer (Wade Foster) (published 25 Jun 2012)
- Groove: How Zapier Went From Zero to 600,000+ Users in Just Three Years (Alex Turnbull), Wayback Machine copy (published 20 Aug 2015; archived 22 Aug 2015)
- Contrary Research: Zapier business breakdown and founding story (updated 5 Oct 2023)
- Y Combinator: Zapier company page (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Mixergy: About (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Stack Overflow Help Center: How to not be a spammer (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Google Search Help: Refine Google searches (checked 20 Oct 2026)