HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Mine Competitors' Customer Lists With BuiltWith

Mine Competitors' Customer Lists With BuiltWith is a cold outreach tactic for getting your first users: Rhys repeatedly pointed founders to BuiltWith: search for a technology your competitor uses (Shopify, Zendesk, a rival script) and you get a ready-made list of the sites running it, which is effectively your competitor's customer base, to cold-outreach.

It's a strong fit for B2B SaaS and E-commerce / DTC teams, and works especially well for B2B SaaS targeting users of a known competitor or tech. As a cold outreach play, plan for medium effort and expect results to arrive at a steady pace, all grounded in 1 linked primary source.

Cold outreachMedium effortMedium

Why does cold outreach work for this?

It hands you a pre-qualified list of companies already paying for your category, so they need no education on the problem.

The exact steps (4)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

Unlock the steps · $29 oncePlus all 3,000+ tactics and the new ones we add weekly.

Sources

Works for
B2B SaaSE-commerce / DTC

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Mine Competitors' Customer Lists With BuiltWith" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for B2B SaaS and E-commerce / DTC — pick it when your product looks like one of those, since the play is shaped around how those users find new tools.
How is the "Mine Competitors' Customer Lists With BuiltWith" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 1 primary source — a real founder write-up or interview, not generic advice. It is linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original account yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be medium.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Source — IndieHackers, is in the paid library.

Related tactics

Cold outreachMedium effort· Medium

Attach a Free Trial to Cold Emails to Prove Competence

A small batch of carefully written cold emails offering the service as a white-label solution with a free trial attached landed a meeting after months of ignored generic outreach.

Read the steps →
Cold outreachLow effort· Fast

The Compliment-Help-Ask Cold DM Formula

A three-line cold DM: open with a specific compliment on their work, state in one line how you help, close with a yes/no question.

Read the steps →
Cold outreachHigh effort· Slow

Build a Beta List by Hand With Direct Outreach First

A founder (Imvidu) shares that before anything scalable, manual one-to-one outreach is the best way to land first users and build real relationships, using Facebook groups carefully and LinkedIn, while avoiding the spammy automated-bot approach that's flooding the channel.

Read the steps →
Cold outreachMedium effort· Slow

Mine Buying Signals to Build Your List

Sourcing outreach targets from places that reveal intent or budget, so your list is full of people already primed for what you sell, then layering channels and persistent follow-up to reach them.

Read the steps →
Cold outreachMedium effort· Slow

Follow Up Three or Four Times, Adding Value Each Touch

A structured sequence where each follow-up delivers something new instead of just nudging, landing in the sweet spot of persistent without becoming annoying.

Read the steps →
Cold outreachMedium effort· Slow

Build the Sourcing-and-Sending Stack Right

The operational backbone of outreach: where you find good-fit leads, how you contact them across channels, and how you protect deliverability so your messages actually arrive.

Read the steps →

Get all 3,000+ tactics in one place

Filter by your product and channel, follow the exact steps, and get the new tactics we add every week. One payment, yours for good.

Unlock for $29 onceBrowse by channel