Skip to content

Get Your First 100 Users

Plan and run the manual outreach that gets a new product its first 100 real users, with a named target list, personal message templates, a channel plan and a tracking sheet. Use when a product just launched or has fewer than 100 users, or when someone asks "how do I get my first users", "nobody is signing up", "I launched and got no traffic", or "how do I find beta users".

Beginner⏱ 60 min to plan, then 30 min/day📂 launchv1.0.0

In an hour you will have a list of 100 specific people or places, three message templates and a daily routine. In 2–4 weeks of following it you should have your first 100 users.

Goal

Get the first 100 users by hand, one conversation at a time, and learn why each one signed up. At this stage what you learn from them is worth more than the number.

When to use

  • You just launched, or you have fewer than ~100 users.
  • Ads, SEO or ASO aren't working yet because nobody knows the product exists.
  • Not for: products that already have steady organic sign-ups. Use channel-specific skills instead.

Inputs

  • A one-sentence description of who has the problem, specific enough to find them ("freelance designers who send invoices monthly", not "small businesses").
  • The product must be usable today: a live link, a TestFlight or closed-test invite, or a store listing.
  • Your own network: contacts, followers, communities you already belong to.

Steps

  1. Write the "who" and the "where" (10 min). List 10 places where these people already talk about the problem: subreddits, Discord and Slack groups, Facebook groups, forums, hashtags, newsletters, meetups, people who publicly complained about a competitor. Be specific (r/freelance beats "Reddit").
  2. Build a list of 100 (20 min, finish during the week). Mix three rings:
  3. Ring 1: 20–30 people you know who have the problem.
  4. Ring 2: 30–40 people who publicly described the problem: posts, reviews of competitors, questions.
  5. Ring 3: 3–5 communities where you will post and answer questions, not just drop a link. Put them in a sheet: name | where found | what they said | contacted | replied | signed up | activated | notes.
  6. Write three messages (15 min). Use the templates below. Personal and short. Ask for feedback, not for a favour, and mention the specific thing they said.
  7. Daily routine (30 min/day). Send 10 personal messages. Answer 3 questions in communities without linking, unless someone asks. Reply to everyone who replied yesterday.
  8. Onboard people by hand. For the first 20 users, offer a 15-minute call or a personal walkthrough. Watch where they get stuck. Fix the top issue each week.
  9. Ask for the next user. After someone gets value, ask: "Who else do you know who has this problem?" One referral each doubles your list.
  10. Review weekly. Which ring and which channel produced activated users (not just sign-ups)? Double down there and drop what produced nothing after 2 weeks.

This is Paul Graham's "Do Things That Don't Scale" applied: manual recruiting is how most products get their start.

Prompt (copy-paste)

Replace everything in {{ }}.

You are helping me get my first 100 users by hand.

Product: {{what it does, link}}
Who has the problem (be specific): {{target user}}
The problem in their words: {{quotes from reviews, posts, conversations}}
My network: {{communities I'm in, audience size, notable contacts}}
Current users: {{number}}

1. List 15 specific places where these people discuss the problem (exact subreddit / group / forum names,
   hashtags, newsletters). For each, note its self-promotion rules if they are commonly known, and how to add
   value there without linking.
2. Give me 5 search queries I can use to find individuals who publicly described this problem.
3. Write 3 short outreach messages (under 80 words each):
   a) to someone I know, b) to a stranger who posted about the problem (reference their post),
   c) a community post that asks for feedback and shares a lesson, with the link only at the end.
   No hype, no "revolutionary". Ask for feedback, not favours.
4. A 14-day routine: daily actions, targets, and what to measure.

Example output

Illustrative example. Fictional product and numbers, shown for format.

Invoicely Lite, invoicing for freelance designers. 14 days, 30 min/day.

Ring / channel Contacted Signed up Activated (sent 1 invoice)
Ring 1: designer friends 25 14 9
Ring 2: people complaining about late payments on X 60 11 6
Ring 3: r/freelance feedback post 1 post 38 12
Ring 3: design Discord, answering invoicing questions 12 answers 9 5
Referrals from activated users — 17 11
Total 89 43

Stranger message that worked best:

Hi Mai, saw your post about chasing a client for 60 days 😩 I'm building a tiny invoicing tool for freelance designers that sends polite automatic reminders. Would you try it and tell me what's missing? Free while in beta.

Common mistakes

  • Posting a link and leaving. Communities ignore or ban drive-by links. Give an answer or a lesson first.
  • Mass-messaging templates. A message that could go to anyone gets answered by no one. Reference something the person said.
  • Counting sign-ups instead of activated users. 100 sign-ups who never used it teach you nothing.
  • Waiting for the product to be "ready". If it solves the core problem, start recruiting now and polish with feedback.

Credits

Written by @nvminhtu. Inspired by Paul Graham, Do Things That Don't Scale (2013).