How did you get your first 100 users?

Alex Pelin
17 replies
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.

Replies

Maxwell Asper
At Phlywheel we worked really hard to get a strong, loyal beta group that would really dig into our platform and services. We listened to their comments, concerns and tried our best to be as responsive as possible. As a result, most of them continued on to be valued members of the community. We were able to break the 100 mark through their referrals and testimonials. Hope this helps!
Alex Pelin
@maxwell_asper How long did it take you to break the 100 user mark?
Olivia Maurel
@maxwell_asper What techniques/platforms did you use to get a strong beta group?
Maxwell Asper
@olivia_maurel We relied on a mixture of personal connections and online communities like Product Hunt.
Maxwell Asper
@alexpelin It took us about 6 weeks (4 weeks of beta)!
Olga Trykush
Hey there, I refer to this article for inspiration on how to gain first users: https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p... Hope it'll help you as well 😅
Alex Pelin
@olha_trykush Thanks for sharing! Lenny's article is a solid guide.
SS M
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.
Kai Oelfke
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/post...
Muntasir Rashid
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
@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).
Muntasir Rashid
@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.
Alex Pelin
@muntasir_rashid that makes sense. It think we'll try that with a cominbation of small budget ads on platforms like nextdoor.
Abe
For one of my projects, flyers in San Francisco :). It has a local element to it: https://padfever.com.
Alex Pelin
@abraham_elmahrek that's cool, I was thinking to set up a info table next to a lake with some flyers and a big sign addressing a challenge for our potential users.
Abe
@alexpelin if there are enough people who are feeling the pain, it will probably work. Flyers are surprisingly effective.