Ask HN: Solo founders – how and when did you find your first users?
I'm curious how and when you found your first users. Did you start some kind of marketing or outreach via any specific channels? Did you wait until you were satisfied with the features you built or did you try to get users at the earliest point in time when you had a usable mvp? How did you determine that you had completed your mvp and were ready for showing to people? Did it all go well and what would you have done differently?
14 comments
When a product reaches a state where my main selling point is useable and obvious i consider it ready as MVP.
Marketing is always different. Usually I focus on getting into Google ASAP with some semi strong external Backlinks (your own sites, Reddit in the past, hackernews, etc). To be completely honest here, I pick one or two super relevant subreddits and buy a few (like 10 or 20) upvotes to get it started.
It's important to play the SEO game right, so I always have a few 'blog' articles on my sites that talk about solving an specific issue.
The following days I search the problem I am solving and plug my site everywhere. Blogs, q&a sites, forums, Reddit comments, no matter how old. Sometimes very subtle without link just the name or so.
At this point I usually have a good idea if this product is going anywhere. If it is it's time to focus on building out the MVP according to feedback, otherwise I give it another week or two and see where it's going.
Marketing is always different. Usually I focus on getting into Google ASAP with some semi strong external Backlinks (your own sites, Reddit in the past, hackernews, etc). To be completely honest here, I pick one or two super relevant subreddits and buy a few (like 10 or 20) upvotes to get it started.
It's important to play the SEO game right, so I always have a few 'blog' articles on my sites that talk about solving an specific issue.
The following days I search the problem I am solving and plug my site everywhere. Blogs, q&a sites, forums, Reddit comments, no matter how old. Sometimes very subtle without link just the name or so.
At this point I usually have a good idea if this product is going anywhere. If it is it's time to focus on building out the MVP according to feedback, otherwise I give it another week or two and see where it's going.
Thanks for sharing. TIL that Reddit has a marketing feature now for placing a sponsorship, I will definitely look into that!
Some of my earliest paying customers for OnlineOrNot were folks I talked about the problem with, before I even started writing code (from my professional network).
I was complaining that the existing website monitoring tools were too complicated and unusable, and I could probably do better in a weekend. It took seven days (https://onlineornot.com/building-saas-in-one-week-how-built-...), but I didn't have actual paying customers until I built a few more features.
At this point, I think the idea of MVP-based development is dead - you really need to look like a proper business before folks will buy, unless you're doing something completely unique. The way around this is probably to incorporate as a business with several products FWIW.
Almost three years later, I still find things to improve on a daily basis, so I guess I was wrong about that "better in a weekend" thing.
I was complaining that the existing website monitoring tools were too complicated and unusable, and I could probably do better in a weekend. It took seven days (https://onlineornot.com/building-saas-in-one-week-how-built-...), but I didn't have actual paying customers until I built a few more features.
At this point, I think the idea of MVP-based development is dead - you really need to look like a proper business before folks will buy, unless you're doing something completely unique. The way around this is probably to incorporate as a business with several products FWIW.
Almost three years later, I still find things to improve on a daily basis, so I guess I was wrong about that "better in a weekend" thing.
Hey, thanks for the response. I also really appreciate the link to your page. I read some of your posts documenting the journey and will read all of them. Really excited to learn from this, it's really valuable stuff! <3
Wow, what a coincidence... I just wrote a blog post that answers this very question (here's the link: https://www.justbeepit.com/post/starting-a-saas-startup-in-o...). I read through your list of questions and feel the article I linked here answers them sufficiently.
Unlike rozenmd though, it took us about a month to create the momentum we were looking for. But that eventual inertia was able to take us to being a part of TechCrunch, and then being selected to take part in a 500 Global Accelerator Program.
We found our first users when launching on Product Hunt alongside building our MVP. That's where we got more user feedback for further iterations. The MVP model still thrives in certain areas if you look hard enough.
I hope this helps!
Unlike rozenmd though, it took us about a month to create the momentum we were looking for. But that eventual inertia was able to take us to being a part of TechCrunch, and then being selected to take part in a 500 Global Accelerator Program.
We found our first users when launching on Product Hunt alongside building our MVP. That's where we got more user feedback for further iterations. The MVP model still thrives in certain areas if you look hard enough.
I hope this helps!
Awesome post and full of valuable recommendations, thanks a lot for sharing. I'm really glad you saw my submission so soon after your post was written. That's serendipity!
Serendipity indeed. I'm glad to have helped! All the best!
This is wrong question (in the headline). Unfortunately many founders begin with it and have problems (mostly, stuck inside circle of first users), because local bubble users (first users) are absolutely different from other users.
And first users are so different from rest users (lets name them Second users), that considering first users in business decisions could scare away Second users, limit business on local bubble.
Yes, you may need first users, like car gas engine need starter to make first turn, or better analogy kick-starter in motorcycle. But these additions in most cars and cycles considered only for cold start, and 100% other time they are just expensive load.
The best paradigm I seen on this problem, just start business without first users, start from second users.
What this mean, you not start making MVP for nowhere, you start with find large community, who will just buy ready product.
For example, you could start with making some additions (mods) to existing product, make your respectable brand name, and once just present your own product, instead of additions.
Most known for me example, Counter Strike started as mods to Half-life game (may be, this legend not exact, but very close to reality), its First clients was from HL community, and once people release, around CT created NEW community, and CT have enough SECOND clients, to be independent subject and they separated it to different business entity.
And first users are so different from rest users (lets name them Second users), that considering first users in business decisions could scare away Second users, limit business on local bubble.
Yes, you may need first users, like car gas engine need starter to make first turn, or better analogy kick-starter in motorcycle. But these additions in most cars and cycles considered only for cold start, and 100% other time they are just expensive load.
The best paradigm I seen on this problem, just start business without first users, start from second users.
What this mean, you not start making MVP for nowhere, you start with find large community, who will just buy ready product.
For example, you could start with making some additions (mods) to existing product, make your respectable brand name, and once just present your own product, instead of additions.
Most known for me example, Counter Strike started as mods to Half-life game (may be, this legend not exact, but very close to reality), its First clients was from HL community, and once people release, around CT created NEW community, and CT have enough SECOND clients, to be independent subject and they separated it to different business entity.
Thanks for the interesting perspective. I’ve not yet thought about how first users vs second users vs n users could affect roadmap and product design. I really appreciate your comment!
For Notion Backups, it was a mix of Hacker News and SEO, if my memory serves me well. These days, it is mostly SEO, with some word of mouth/directories (SEO is hard to replicate if you are in a crowded market or don't have any unfair advantages).
I'm on the team "start talking about your product early on, even if you don't have the mvp ready". Don't worry about someone stealing your idea.
If the product can solve someone's problem, it is good enough, even if it won't solve all the problems your potential customers might have.
I'm on the team "start talking about your product early on, even if you don't have the mvp ready". Don't worry about someone stealing your idea.
If the product can solve someone's problem, it is good enough, even if it won't solve all the problems your potential customers might have.
Thanks for the input. I saw on your profile that you sold a company before. That’s super cool, especially since it contrasts nicely with what you said about not being afraid of talking about your products or showcasing them early on. I’m still working on being comfortable with that concept but I’d love to get there. Especially since it’d be cool to talk tech with new tech friends irl, who would probably be more inclined to do so if they knew more about my own project…
Take one step at a time — it will get easier with time. The fact that you started this thread is already a step in that direction.
Regarding selling a company: I sold it because it wasn't very successful and I couldn't find a reliable distribution channel, so it wasn't going anywhere. I let it go for very low five figures, which wasn't a lot, but better than nothing.
Regarding selling a company: I sold it because it wasn't very successful and I couldn't find a reliable distribution channel, so it wasn't going anywhere. I let it go for very low five figures, which wasn't a lot, but better than nothing.
I made a landing page and a YouTube channel. People found the product via Google and then usually emailed.
That’s cool that people email. I was thinking of using a Discord server for “contact the dev” types of questions but the automation potential of email seems better. I’ve done some gmail api toying around in the past and it was really easy to set up.