No Case Studies, No Business

You need to realize that you’re not building a startup for yourself.

You’re writing fiction for others.

Until you have 5–10 real, tangible case studies, your startup doesn’t exist in the market’s eyes. Nobody believes your claims. Nobody cares about your product. Nobody trusts you.

They trust proof.

Your first milestone is simple:

Get 5–10 companies who:

• Match your ICP
• Used your product
• Got a clear result
• Said, “Yes, this changed [this, this and this] for us”

That’s your signal that something’s working.

And those case studies? They’re not just “nice to have.” They are 100x more powerful than anything you can write or say.

They’re the most underutilized go-to-market weapon early-stage founders have.

Why they matter:

Because you can say “we help reduce churn” all day long.

But when your customers say it, and show the receipts, your credibility 100x.

It becomes undeniable. Social proof sells.

Where case studies go to work:

• On your landing page → to convert more visitors
• In outbound → to make prospects lean in
• Inside your decks → to close faster
• On social media → to drive qualified interest
• In press and PR → to give your startup legitimacy
• In retargeting ads → to drive high-intent leads

They’re not content.

They’re sales and marketing assets.

The very best ones.

And you need them everywhere.

When they become mission-critical:

If your solution drives clear revenue or cost impact, great. Case studies are the cherry on top.

But if your value is harder **to measure (employee happiness, culture, collaboration, retention, etc.) case studies aren’t just helpful. They’re essential.

Why? Because causality is fuzzy. So you need correlation.

You’ve got two ways to bridge the gap:

Option 1: Third-party data

Example: “Our platform increased employee happiness by 30%.”

Then use outside studies to say:

• “10% more happiness = 5% more retention”
• “More retention = less hiring cost, faster ramp, better output”

This is good. But it’s still academic. You’re telling.

Option 2: Customer voice

Instead, show 10 HR or Engineering leaders saying:

“This platform made our team 10x happier and directly cut turnover by 10%. Considering the cost of attrition ($XXX per employee) and hiring/onboarding a new engineer ($XXX per employee), we are saving $150k+ per year.”

Now you're proving it.

The market listens to customers more than it listens to you.

That’s how you create belief. That’s how you sell transformation.

TL;DR: If you don’t have case studies, your #1 job is to go get them.

Forget new features.

Forget PR.

Forget big launches.

Find 5–10 early customers. Deliver hard results. Document the transformation. Make their success stories public.

That’s your path from fiction to traction.

Stay pragmatic

— Guillaume

P.S.: That’s also what I do. I'm not looking to convince people with my voice. The founders I help are speaking about their experience in their own words: https://www.guillaumeduvaux.com/testimonials-guillaume-duvaux