What actually got us our first users (and what was a total waste of time)

We've been building Hintli for a few months and I just went back through everything we tried to get the first users. Figured I'd share the honest version, not the LinkedIn version.

What was a waste of time:

• Posting in a bunch of directories. Half of them want money before you have a single customer. Zero signups from any of them.

• Big "launch" posts. You get a spike for a day, then silence. Nobody sticks around.

What actually worked:

• Just talking to people one by one. 20 real conversations with people who clearly had the problem beat any broadcast post by a mile.

• Giving the product away free to the first few teams in exchange for them being brutally honest with us. Those became our proof and our best feedback at the same time.

• Hanging out in threads like this one and actually helping before ever mentioning what we do.

The hard part nobody tells you: it's slow. There's no post that flips the switch. It's 10 small things that each move you a little.

For context, Hintli is an AI guide that sits on your site, answers buyer questions and books demos — but honestly this post isn't about that, I just wanted to compare notes.

So — what got you your first 10 users? Curious if anyone found a channel that actually scaled past word of mouth.