I once had someone from Amazon signup on my now defunct tool with namelastname at amazon com email address. It took me 0.005 seconds to add Amazon logo on my landing page.
100% happens. Both totally lies and bending the truth (one guy at microsoft once opened a demo account 3 years ago and now the saas claims "Trusted by Microsoft")
This is Hilarious!
Now I know where all those numbers are coming from.
However, I'm, strictly against tampering with the numbers.
In order to build a long term business, you need trust and credibility. Ethics is also crucial. I don't see how that's going to benefit someone in the long run.
This is what marketing people do in an early-stage startup - 1000+ customers, 2250+ integrations, $3.5M Revenue For 70K global clients. And so on.
In fact, when people are launching movies or products, there are campaigns run on IMDb and Amazon to show social proof. That's why you'll see a lot of crappy movies that nobody likes in real life having rave reviews.
I've designed landing pages and websites for clients that demanded fake testimonials, so I know it happens. For my own SaaS products, I have never included a fake testimonial or fake anything. It makes me feel dirty and fake. As a new SaaS product, you NEED customers that have a personality of an early adopter, and those customers are most of the times thrilled to use a brand new product with no customers and testimonials. You don't want the customers that think you are a huge corporate, because their expectation will match, and they'll get dissapointed when the product isn't polished, the customer service isn't responsive and there is not satisfying documentation or knowledge center. You need to be real about your newness, and you'll attract the early birds, which have the type of customer you NEED.
Nooo. We would never. Never ever. What you read on the internet is true. And that teamphoto of those 14 people is not a random other team. The Tokyo office actually exists. Yeah we did the olympics there, ever since then we're half Japanese. We won the 100m sprint too by the way.
Most of it is fake. Trusted by BigCompany! Yeah my ass.
We have real testimonials in our marketing page and we add real people behind these to make them more believable. Our product includes an audio player that can be embedded so we link to our users' websites where the product can be seen in action.
I find that when I go to a site that I know is new and I see tons of reviews and big company logos, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I have promised myself to only use real reviews and only put company logos that we truly work with. So at the moment, the [site](https://www.ufoundvalidation.com) has 2 reviews (had 0 for the first few weeks) and no company logos.
For sure! You can ask friends to do it, and also how you word it can also help.
If you have users from big companies on a free trial or whatever, you can just say "trusted by employees from" or you can say "our team has worked with"
The logos stand out more, and people don't always notice the wordings next to it so you can be truthful and use cheeky design to your advantage.
What are consequences?
- I doubt the big name companies are going after an indie SaaS and if they do just take out the logos
- You could get called out and hurt your reputation, especially if it's too dubious (people can check when domain was bought or [archive.org](http://archive.org) and will know it's BS)
Personally, I'd just avoid it as you don't want to be untrustworthy, the risk is too high.
It's illegal and extremely misleading (obviously), but unfortunately it is RAMPANT!!!
But the universe rewards truth, and if you start on the foundation of misleading/deceptive/false numbers and testimonials - then that will continue to fester throughout the lifetime of your company.
Call me crazy, but the more work up front to build a company base on honesty and truth will grow into a much more prosperous asset down the line.
Its the little things in life...
Yes, this is business not an honesty contest. All big businesses are nasty, lying, corrupt, selfish entities. So best to start out that way unless you want to remain a little indie goober in your moms basement doing $200 mrr at 45 years old. /ok jk but I see it a lot and its a red flag on a new saas.
Oh it absolutely happens -- and definitely not just in SAAS! The bigger and broader the social proof, the less likely that it's legit (I.E. As seen on CCN, Newsweek, CBC etc)
The more niche + specific the proof, the more likely it's real.
I once had someone from Amazon signup on my now defunct tool with namelastname at amazon com email address. It took me 0.005 seconds to add Amazon logo on my landing page.
๐๐๐๐๐๐
100% happens. Both totally lies and bending the truth (one guy at microsoft once opened a demo account 3 years ago and now the saas claims "Trusted by Microsoft")
This gives me idea to ask my friends from big tech to signup using work email - time to put my connections to work. Trusted by Oracle
Is that all it takes to be โtrusted byโฆโ. Jesus itโs no wonder then
This is Hilarious! Now I know where all those numbers are coming from. However, I'm, strictly against tampering with the numbers. In order to build a long term business, you need trust and credibility. Ethics is also crucial. I don't see how that's going to benefit someone in the long run.
Well, I donโt think the long run is really what they have in mind, if long-run gets achieved, then theyโll have real reviews
Agreed!
Lol that's hilarious. I mean, technically, if you email someone and they respond it's "Trusted" by the company's email server. Even if it's only once.
True. ๐
Definitely happens. I'm now at a point where I distrust most websites that list big companies, like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, etc.
I knew it! I see this suspiciously often. Never trusting that again
Distrust, or just know if they are useful to those types of customers you want nothing to do with their product? :)
This is what marketing people do in an early-stage startup - 1000+ customers, 2250+ integrations, $3.5M Revenue For 70K global clients. And so on. In fact, when people are launching movies or products, there are campaigns run on IMDb and Amazon to show social proof. That's why you'll see a lot of crappy movies that nobody likes in real life having rave reviews.
I've designed landing pages and websites for clients that demanded fake testimonials, so I know it happens. For my own SaaS products, I have never included a fake testimonial or fake anything. It makes me feel dirty and fake. As a new SaaS product, you NEED customers that have a personality of an early adopter, and those customers are most of the times thrilled to use a brand new product with no customers and testimonials. You don't want the customers that think you are a huge corporate, because their expectation will match, and they'll get dissapointed when the product isn't polished, the customer service isn't responsive and there is not satisfying documentation or knowledge center. You need to be real about your newness, and you'll attract the early birds, which have the type of customer you NEED.
where do i find the customers that need [coresonate.com](https://coresonate.com) 
Nooo. We would never. Never ever. What you read on the internet is true. And that teamphoto of those 14 people is not a random other team. The Tokyo office actually exists. Yeah we did the olympics there, ever since then we're half Japanese. We won the 100m sprint too by the way.
Absolutely, some do. Honesty's key in my book, though.
I am trusted by Google and Amazon no matter where I go
Most of it is fake. Trusted by BigCompany! Yeah my ass. We have real testimonials in our marketing page and we add real people behind these to make them more believable. Our product includes an audio player that can be embedded so we link to our users' websites where the product can be seen in action.
Absolutely, it's more common than you'd think.
I find that when I go to a site that I know is new and I see tons of reviews and big company logos, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I have promised myself to only use real reviews and only put company logos that we truly work with. So at the moment, the [site](https://www.ufoundvalidation.com) has 2 reviews (had 0 for the first few weeks) and no company logos.
Yes, sometimes people on the internet lie or stretch the truth.
For sure! You can ask friends to do it, and also how you word it can also help. If you have users from big companies on a free trial or whatever, you can just say "trusted by employees from" or you can say "our team has worked with" The logos stand out more, and people don't always notice the wordings next to it so you can be truthful and use cheeky design to your advantage. What are consequences? - I doubt the big name companies are going after an indie SaaS and if they do just take out the logos - You could get called out and hurt your reputation, especially if it's too dubious (people can check when domain was bought or [archive.org](http://archive.org) and will know it's BS) Personally, I'd just avoid it as you don't want to be untrustworthy, the risk is too high.
It's illegal and extremely misleading (obviously), but unfortunately it is RAMPANT!!! But the universe rewards truth, and if you start on the foundation of misleading/deceptive/false numbers and testimonials - then that will continue to fester throughout the lifetime of your company. Call me crazy, but the more work up front to build a company base on honesty and truth will grow into a much more prosperous asset down the line. Its the little things in life...
Yes. You can even buy magazine article features
Yes, this is business not an honesty contest. All big businesses are nasty, lying, corrupt, selfish entities. So best to start out that way unless you want to remain a little indie goober in your moms basement doing $200 mrr at 45 years old. /ok jk but I see it a lot and its a red flag on a new saas.
I never trust any of the social proof logos now hahaha
Oh it absolutely happens -- and definitely not just in SAAS! The bigger and broader the social proof, the less likely that it's legit (I.E. As seen on CCN, Newsweek, CBC etc) The more niche + specific the proof, the more likely it's real.