Before you chase users
Sending people to a product that breaks in the first minute burns them: they won't come back for the fixed version. Get a few strangers to go through it first and fix what they hit. Other makers are the cheapest strangers you'll find, and on a testing exchange they cost you time rather than money. (I built Makers Wall for that, so count me as biased.)
Then write down, in one sentence, who the product is for. Every channel below works better when you can say "this is for X who struggle with Y".
The first ten: by hand
- People you know who actually have the problem. Not everyone you know.
- Communities where your users already talk: subreddits, Discord servers, forums, Slack groups. Answer questions for weeks before you mention your product.
- People who complained about the problem in public. Search for the complaint, not the solution.
- One-to-one messages that say why you thought of them. Templates get ignored.
Ten to a hundred: repeatable channels
- Building in public on X, LinkedIn or Bluesky: what you shipped, what broke, the numbers.
- Launch directories and launch days: Product Hunt, BetaList and the long tail of smaller ones.
- A few pages that answer exactly what your users search for, written to be useful rather than to rank.
- Integrations and marketplaces where your users already are (a Chrome Web Store listing, a Shopify app, a Slack directory).
- Your users themselves: ask the happy ones who else should see this.
Keep the ones you get
A hundred sign-ups who leave after a day is worth less than twenty who stay. Talk to every early user you can, watch where new accounts stop, and fix that before adding a channel. The first hundred are as much a research sample as a user base.
How it works on the wall
- 1 · SubmitPaste your link and write what testers should look at.
- 2 · TestClaim someone else's project and write down what broke. That earns the credits that unlock your own reports.
- 3 · ReceiveMakers test yours and send a report, every problem listed with its severity.
- 4 · RateYou rate each other; both ratings unlock together.
Free, and based on reciprocity. The FAQ has every rule written out.
Questions
- How long does it take to get 100 users?
- It varies wildly with the product and the audience. What's consistent is that it comes from many small channels over weeks or months, not from one launch.
- Should I launch on Product Hunt to get my first users?
- It can bring a spike of makers and early adopters. Do it once the product survives a stranger's first session, and have your other channels running, because the spike fades in a day.
- Do beta testers count as first users?
- Some become users, most don't, and that's fine: their job is to make the product good enough that your first real users stay.