Key Takeaways
Make sure the product solves a real problem for one narrow group of people before you start looking for users.
Users 1 to 10 come from people you can reach directly: friends who have the problem, personal messages and warm intros.
Users 10 to 50 often come from communities and building in public. Help people first, follow each community’s rules, and keep promotion a small part of your activity.
Users 50 to 100 may come from launch boards, directories and blog content. These channels are unpredictable or slow, so treat them as support for outreach, not a replacement.
Delay paid ads, press, referral programs, sponsorships and purchased email lists until the manual channels work. Never buy votes or use services that artificially boost engagement.
Pick one primary channel and give it time. Research on major consumer apps found that many got their first 1,000 users through one dominant strategy.
Before you start
Getting your first 100 users is a different problem from growth. Growth is about scaling something that already works. The first 100 is about finding out whether anything works at all, and it usually means doing work that feels too small to matter.
In this guide, “user” means someone who has started using your product and completed an action that shows real value. For a SaaS product, that might mean connecting an account or completing a workflow, not merely completing a free signup.
Everything below assumes your product addresses a real problem for a specific group of people. Pick one narrow audience, confirm that the problem matters to them, and make sure your product helps solve it. Then start acquiring users while continuing to test what you have learned.
The first 100 users are more than a number to hit. They show whether people will use the product, whether some will pay for it, and who seems to get the most value from it. They also supply the feedback that often decides what gets built next.
Some become early adopters who tell other people, and the happiest ones may provide testimonials that a new product has not had time to earn.
So how do startups get their first users? Usually through direct, founder-led work rather than ads or a single big launch. In Connor Beem’s informal survey of founders, 54% of respondents cited manual outreach as their source of first users, compared with 18% for social media and 10% for ads. Treat these figures as directional rather than representative: the survey was informal and self-selected.
Paul Graham of Y Combinator lists the "Big Launch" among the tactics that usually don't work.
Lenny Rachitsky's research on major consumer apps found that most got their first 1,000 users through a single strategy, and that early-user tactics are often different from the channels used later at scale.
This guide covers how to get your first 100 users in three stages, each ending with practical action steps:
Users 1 to 10: people you can reach directly as a founder.
Users 10 to 50: communities where your target users already spend time.
Users 50 to 100: launch platforms, directories and content, supported by what you learned from the first two stages.
How do you get your first customers? (Users 1 to 10)
The first ten users rarely find a new product on their own. The founder has to go and get them. Paul Graham calls recruiting users manually the most common unscalable thing founders do at the start, and argues that founders cannot wait for users to come to them.
Start with people you already know. Michael Seibel of Y Combinator advises that your first customers should be people who have the problem you solve, ideally people you know personally. Friends and former colleagues count, but only if they actually have the problem your startup solves. A friend who doesn’t need your product may give you polite feedback, but cannot tell you much about whether it solves a real problem.
Then go beyond your own contacts, one person at a time. Stripe's founders became known at YC for installing the product directly for early users. When someone agreed to try Stripe, they would set it up on the spot. Airbnb's founders went door to door in New York, recruiting hosts and helping them improve their listings. Graham says that roughly 30 days of this in-person work helped turn Airbnb around.
Cold email and DMs can work if the list stays small. Start with 10 to 20 people who fit what you're building and write each one a personal message. Mention something specific, such as a post they wrote or a problem they've talked about, and ask for feedback or a 15-minute chat about how they handle the problem today. Do not lead with a sales pitch.
Those conversations double as customer research. In 2026 vendor benchmarks, average reply rates were reported at around 3.43%, while smaller campaigns often performed better than large-volume campaigns. Treat these figures as rough planning estimates, not promises, because results vary widely by audience, offer, list quality and measurement method.
It also helps not to be a stranger. On LinkedIn or Substack, engage naturally with your prospects' posts before sending a message, so your name may already be familiar.
A warm intro can beat a cold message. Ask friends, colleagues and other founders if they know anyone who fits your target profile, and write a short blurb they can forward in one click. An introduction from someone they trust is more likely to get attention when it clearly explains why the person may be a good fit.
Action steps
List 20 people who clearly fit your target profile and are likely to have the problem your product solves.
Message each one personally and ask for 15 minutes of feedback instead of pitching.
Offer to help set the product up for them, the way Stripe did for early users.
Write down what each person says, including why they said no.
Going past your first 10 users (Users 10 to 50)
Once your personal network runs dry, the work shifts from finding individuals to finding places where your target users hang out. Again, Paul Graham suggests a simple method: watch which of your early users are most enthusiastic, understand what they have in common, and look for more people like them. Pinterest's Ben Silbermann noticed that many early users were into design, so he went to a conference of design bloggers to recruit more of them.
Online, that usually means communities such as subreddits, forums, Slack or Facebook groups, and Discord servers where people with your problem already ask for help.
Reddit is a common starting point for most founders, but it is also easy to misuse. Reddit’s self-promotion guidance gives 10% or less as a general rule of thumb for linking to your own content, not a universal quota. Every subreddit has its own moderators and rules, and some ban self-promotion outright. Talk to people in the comments, not only under your own links, and never ask people to upvote your post.
Showing up in the same places week after week is slow and unglamorous, and it takes the kind of discipline we cover in 5 skills and habits every successful bootstrapped founder needs. Over time, people may start to recognize your name before you ever mention your product’s brand.
Building in public is another channel worth trying here. It means sharing what you're working on, including wins, lessons and what isn't working, on X, LinkedIn or Indie Hackers. Social media was the second most common source of first users in Connor Beem's informal survey, at 18%.
People who follow your product story as it unfolds may become more familiar with your work, and some may try the product or mention it to someone who needs it. Share real updates, such as a feature you shipped, a number you hit or a mistake you made, and reply to people who respond.
Action steps
Find three communities where your target users already ask for help with the problem your startup solves.
Spend a week or two answering relevant questions there before you mention your product.
Read each community's self-promotion rules before posting anything.
Post short, genuine progress updates on one social account.
Follow up individually with people who show genuine interest, the same way you did in the first stage.
Growing your user base (Users 50 to 100)
By this stage you have a few dozen users and some proof that your product works. Now it makes sense to put it in front of strangers who are browsing for new things.
Launch platforms
Launch platforms and software directories are the obvious place to start. Hacker News has a dedicated Show HN format for projects people can try out. Its rules are strict: it has to be something people can actually use, landing pages and sign-up pages don't qualify, and asking friends to upvote is not allowed. Early-stage work is welcome, and it doesn't need to look polished.
Other launch boards and startup directories work on a similar idea, though each has its own audience, rules and features. Founders and early adopters browse them looking for new products, which can make them useful for feedback and a first handful of relevant visits or signups.
They don't guarantee sustained traffic, though, and no launch board replaces the outreach from the first two stages. Limereach has the same limits. It is new and its audience is still small, so a listing here is one more place to be found, not a source of hundreds of visitors. For a full breakdown of what each one costs and who it suits, see our comparison of Product Hunt alternatives.
Things to remember: Make the product easy to try, answer every comment you receive and treat each listing as a way to start conversations, not as a one-off announcement.
Action steps
For starters, pick two or three launch platforms or directories that fit your audience, and skip the rest.
Prepare a short description, a couple of clear screenshots and a link anyone can open without signing up.
Stay in the comments for the first day after posting and reply to everyone.
Blog content and SEO
Content and SEO belong in the plan too, but expect them to be slow. Ahrefs published a report showing that only 1.74% of newly published pages reach Google's top 10 within a year, down from 5.7% in 2017. Pages that rank also tend to be old, with 72.9% of top 10 results more than three years old. A post you publish today won't fill your first 100 users. It may start working in the background while you do the manual work.
Starting small and specific gives a new site the best chance. Ahrefs' earlier study found that low-volume keywords can rank within a short time, while high-volume ones take almost a year. So pick a specific question your target users already type into Google, such as "how do I get my first customers" and not "startup marketing", and answer it completely in one post.
As for length, there is no ideal word count. Google's Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, said in 2023 that the best word count for Google Search is "not a thing" and that you should write as long or short as your readers need.
For reference, Orbit Media's 2025 survey of 808 content marketers found the average post is 1,333 words, and only 9% publish posts over 2,000 words. Of those who do, 39% report strong results, against 21% overall. That is self-reported, so it shows a link and doesn't prove that length causes results. A practical rule is to look at what currently ranks for your question and cover everything those pages cover, without padding.
Publishing frequency works the same way. Google doesn't publish a recommended schedule. In Orbit Media's survey, only 39% of bloggers post at least weekly, and those posting several times a week were more likely to report strong results, again self-reported. A solo founder is better off with a schedule they can keep up, whether that's weekly or twice a month, than with a burst of posts followed by radio silence.
Linking your posts together helps too. Internal links are links from one of your pages to another. Google finds new pages by following links, and readers use them to move on to the next relevant post, so link each new post to related older ones and link older posts back to the new one. Google's guidance is that anchor text, the clickable words, should be descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to both pages.
Finally, set up Google Search Console, Google's free tool for seeing how your site performs in search. Verify your site, submit your sitemap, and use these two features:
The Performance report - shows clicks and impressions by query, page and country. Pages that receive impressions but rank near the bottom of page one or on page two can reveal opportunities for improvement.
The URL Inspection tool - shows whether a specific page is indexed and lets you ask Google to crawl it after you publish or update it. A request does not guarantee immediate crawling or inclusion in search results.
You do not need to log in daily. Keep email notifications enabled for new issues, and check Search Console about once a month or after important changes to your site.
Action steps to add
Write down five specific questions your target users search for, and turn the easiest one into a post.
Choose a publishing schedule you can keep for three months.
Link each new post to at least two related posts, with descriptive anchor text.
Set up Search Console, submit your sitemap, and put a monthly reminder in your calendar to check it.
What channels to skip (and why)
A new startup runs on a tight budget and borrowed hours, so a good skip list is worth as much as a good plan. These channels are not necessarily bad, but they are often premature before you know who gets value from your product and which message works. Delay them for now and revisit them once the manual channels are working:
Paid ads: They cost money before you know who your buyer is, which message works or what conversion event matters. In Connor Beem's informal survey, 10% of respondents said ads were their source of first users, but treat that figure as directional rather than representative.
Press and PR: A broad launch aimed at publications may create attention without producing relevant users. Early customer results and a specific story are usually more useful than a one-day traffic spike.
Referral programs: They work best once users consistently experience value and have a natural reason to recommend the product.
Influencer and newsletter sponsorships: You'd be paying for reach before you know your message lands.
Mass cold email from bought lists: Small, personal lists are generally safer to test than large bought lists, which can produce low-quality replies and damage your sender reputation. Start with people who are relevant to your target profile and contact them personally.
Upvote-buying services: Do not use them. Artificial voting and coordinated engagement can violate platform rules and lead to posts or accounts being restricted. Hacker News explicitly says not to ask friends to upvote or comment.
Common mistakes founders make when trying to get their first users
Most first-user mistakes come from wasted effort rather than from a bad product. Founders spend weeks on things that feel productive but never put their product in front of a real person, or worse, they put it in front of the wrong people. The mistakes below show up again and again in the first weeks, and each one is easy to avoid if you spot it early:
Building too long before showing anyone: Your first version will be off in ways you can't see yet, so put it in front of users the moment it does something useful and watch how they actually use it.
Pitching instead of asking: People give honest feedback when you ask about their problem, and polite excuses when you sell to them. Remember that.
Counting friends who don't have the problem: They're nice to have around, but they're being kind, not honest, so their feedback can't show whether the product solves a real problem.
Dropping links in communities: Reddit's guidelines give 10% or less as a general rule of thumb for linking to your own content, but individual communities may have stricter rules or ban self-promotion.
Betting everything on one launch: A launch can bring a spike of visitors, but how well you do months later depends on how happy you made your first users.
Disappearing after signup: Silence after signup tells a new user nobody is paying attention. Wufoo, an online form builder, sent each new user a hand-written thank-you note, showing how personal attention can make an early product feel human.
Trying every channel at once: Many major consumer apps got their first 1,000 users through one dominant strategy, so pick one, stick with it and give it time.
Frequently asked questions about getting your first users
Founders tend to ask the same few questions once the product is built but nobody is using it yet. These are the ones that come up most, with short answers based on everything we touched on in this article:
How do startups get their first customers?
Usually through direct, founder-led work: personal outreach, warm introductions, one-to-one onboarding and conversations in communities where the target users already spend time. The right order is not universal, but most founders should learn from a small group of users before investing heavily in scalable distribution strategies.
How do I get my first customers with no marketing budget?
Most of the channels that work early cost time, not money: personal outreach, answering questions in communities, a launch board post, and a blog article built around a specific question. Paid ads and sponsorships are usually worth delaying until you know who your buyer is and which message produces meaningful action.
How do I find early users if I don't know anyone in my target market?
Go to where they already talk. Look for the communities, forums and groups where people ask about the problem you solve, and be useful there before you mention your product. Once a few people sign up, watch which ones are most enthusiastic and look for more like them, the way Pinterest's founder did with design bloggers.
Can Reddit and online communities really bring in your first users?
Yes, but only when participation comes before promotion. Read each community’s rules, answer relevant questions and disclose your connection to the product. Some communities allow limited self-promotion; others prohibit it completely.
Is Product Hunt the only place to launch a new startup?
No, there are many other launch boards and directories, each with its own audience and costs. None of them guarantees sustainable traffic, so pick two or three that fit your audience. Our comparison of Product Hunt alternatives breaks down what each one offers.
Does blogging help a new startup get users?
Yes, but slowly. Ahrefs found that only 1.74% of newly published pages reach Google's top 10 within a year. Posts that answer one specific question give a new site a better starting point, and they may keep working in the background while you do the manual outreach. Think of a blog as support for the first 100 users, not the main way to get them.
How long does it take to get your first 100 users?
There is no reliable benchmark. It depends on your product, how clearly you know your audience, and how much outreach you do each week. Instead of aiming at a date, track what you control: how many people you contacted, how many conversations you had, and how many users signed up.
What should founders avoid in the first few weeks?
The most common mistakes are building too long before showing anyone, pitching instead of asking for feedback, counting friends who don't have the problem, dropping links in communities, betting everything on one launch, going quiet after signup, and trying every channel at once. Each one is covered in the common mistakes section above.
A hundred users, a hundred lessons
Reaching 100 users doesn't mean you've figured out distribution and marketing. It means you finally have enough people to learn from. Look at who kept using the product after the first few weeks, where they came from and what they told you along the way, because those answers help you decide what to build next and which channel gets more traction.
You don't need a perfect plan to get there. Your tactics will change as the product grows, and what carries over is knowing who your users are and showing up for them consistently.
If you're ready to put your product in front of other founders, submit your startup to Limereach and start collecting real feedback.