How did you get your first 100 users?

Question

There are quite a few articles about it.
I was wondering if folks can share their stories on getting the first 100 users here.

This could serve as an inspiration and help for others get initial traction.

Alex Pelin · Accepted Answer

@maxwell_asper How long did it take you to break the 100 user mark?

Alex Pelin · Answer

@olha_trykush Thanks for sharing! Lenny's article is a solid guide.

Olivia Maurel · Answer

@maxwell_asper What techniques/platforms did you use to get a strong beta group?

Maxwell Asper · Answer

@alexpelin It took us about 6 weeks (4 weeks of beta)!

Maxwell Asper · Answer

@olivia_maurel We relied on a mixture of personal connections and online communities like Product Hunt.

SS M · Answer

It depends on what type of product it is. It is easier to get people to the site but converting them is another challenge. The first 100 are typically family, friends, and network. Between 100 and 1000 is real work in my experience. Either way, the product/service's value needs to be very clear, and visible and attractive so that conversion is easy. For that to happen, needs many iterations with a small group like others have pointed out.

Olga Trykush · Answer

Hey there, I refer to this article for inspiration on how to gain first users: https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-the-biggest-consumer-apps-got

Hope it'll help you as well 😅

Kai Oelfke · Answer

For my current project https://amicu.app - reminders to keep in touch with people - I posted on different places. Reddit, Indie Hackers, Makerlog, Twitter. I talk with people. I talk with friends, when they ask what I'm doing. It's slow, but it got me 5 customers and 113 monthly active users so far. I can't say that I found a perfect growth channel yet. But I think it takes time and hard work.

I still have to launch here by the way. This PH product is helpful:

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/the-top-150-places-to-post-your-startup

Abe · Answer

@alexpelin if there are enough people who are feeling the pain, it will probably work. Flyers are surprisingly effective.

Abe · Answer

For one of my projects, flyers in San Francisco :). It has a local element to it: https://padfever.com.

Muntasir Rashid · Answer

@alexpelin I launch in the forums where there is a marketplace section. They take a small listing fee and review the product before approving. Pretty straight forward process. Also a lot of the forums have beta testing or classified ads section where you can post your request. But considering your product's target persona, going door to door and pitching will be a really effective.

Muntasir Rashid · Answer

My go to method for finding first 100 customers is launching in niche forums. I simply open  sales thread and start selling. This gives us a very unique opportunity to have 1-1 chat/talk with each customer before and after sell. Niche forums are great places to identify first group of buyer persona.

Alex Pelin · Answer

@muntasir_rashid how do you not get the sales threads blocked on those forums? :) In my experience it's been really tough to do a direct product pitch on any online forum (we are launching a niche product for landlords and renters).

Alex Pelin · Answer

@muntasir_rashid that makes sense. It think we'll try that with a cominbation of small budget ads on platforms like nextdoor.

Alex Pelin · Answer

@abraham_elmahrek Thanks!

How did you get your first 100 users?

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