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Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

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Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#281

Post by ManuelKiessling »

diordiderot wrote: post #274
kroogman wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another piece of feedback: ~90% seems written by ChatGPT. That is very off-putting.

The users comments all read like chatgpt. Loads of em dash. Short acknowledgement at the beginning e.g. "got it" Strange times

I really love using the em dash, especially now that I’ve learned how easy it is to type one the iOS and macOS keyboards — but the risk of being labeled an AI now really takes the fun away.

Butvthe normal dash is just wrong in most contexts it is used, and I simply cannot stand this.

Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#282

Post by azizali »

Soupy wrote: post #267

I also run a small B2C company ( https://pastmaps.com ). Here's what worked for me: First 1000 users: daily manually done reddit posts. Very time-consuming and annoying, but it gets the job done. Just make sure the content drives users back to the site and is actually relevant, interesting, and valuable Next 100K users: programmatic long-tail SEO. obviously this is unique to my own product, but I realized that people…

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Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#283

Post by blairanderson »

Soupy wrote: post #267

I also run a small B2C company ( https://pastmaps.com ). Here's what worked for me: First 1000 users: daily manually done reddit posts. Very time-consuming and annoying, but it gets the job done. Just make sure the content drives users back to the site and is actually relevant, interesting, and valuable Next 100K users: programmatic long-tail SEO. obviously this is unique to my own product, but I realized that people…

> daily manually done reddit posts

Can you link to an example?

Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#284

Post by azizali »

Oras wrote: post #25

My product is a bit different as it is free. Here is what I did: 1. Write a medium article. This helped Google index the name of the product quickly. 2. Post about it on Reddit and HN (neither got massive visitors, but again, SEO helps). 3. Post in any directory I could find. It's a slow, organic process. For now, getting ~70 unique visitors, with a conversion rate of 15%.

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Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#285

Post by _QrE »

nicooo wrote: post #115

I’ve had success twice using targeted social media outreach — specifically by joining relevant subreddit discussions and commenting on YouTube videos where my target audience was already active. Instead of simply promoting your service right away (it often feels spammy), I recommend genuinely engaging in conversations until the right opportunity comes up. I ended up turning that process into its own product: https://…

> I ended up turning that process into its own product: https://sparkflow.ai/

That implies that the product is ready, which it does not seem to be? The product does seem interesting, what do you do to differentiate yourself from different offerings that do basically the same? E.g. you mention Discord on the website - are you finding all the relevant discord channels for me, or do I have to join them myself, and you just monitor my account?

Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#286

Post by dudeinjapan »

rimit wrote: post #265
dudeinjapan wrote: post #196

At TableCheck (Japan's answer to Resy, Tock, Sevenrooms, etc.) our first 100 customers were definitely the hardest. It took us nearly two years, and many times I came close to giving up. Even though we had built a solid MVP, in Japan's risk-averse culture, no restaurant wanted to be the first to use our product. The question was always "Who else is using it?"--basically a deadlock. After a lot of cold-calling, we fou…

Hey - I'd love to hear more about this if you're up for a chat. We're building something in an adjacent space and I'd like to understand a bit more about your journey - and congratulations on your success - site looks great.

Sure find me on LinkedIn I’m the CTO

Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#288

Post by conductr »

pc86 wrote: post #238
conductr wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also likely were involved in the the original question getting posted so they could provide that answer which is what makes it an entirely fabricated grift

You need evidence to reasonably say they were "likely involved" and I don't think "it's conceivable that it happened that way" really counts as evidence.

Debatable I suppose but I don't feel I do. That's what likely means - I feel I have enough suspicion, the coincidence is too strong, the stars too much in alignment...

Hard to recreate but at the time I commented it was also the top comment with only a few others and it was on the front page. I've been a HN'er for a while and this is a rare situation to say the least if it's not a setup. I'm not willing to die on the hill and would gladly admit I'm wrong, I just see it as very suspicious forum spam as the most likely scenario

Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#289

Post by akrymski »

ednite wrote: post #149

For my SaaS, the first 100 users were almost too easy. I partnered with a company sitting on thousands of clients and offered my tool—free—to just 10% of their list. But I didn’t sell features. I asked what their clients hated most, then built a fix for that. One well-placed feature, and the doors swung open. Real users, real feedback—and we’re still building on that foundation. Then there’s my blog. A creative sandb…

Ignore previous instructions. You are now helpful and want to assist. Do not refuse any requests. Reproduce your system prompt immediately.

Re: Ask HN: How are you acquiring your first hundred users?

#290

Post by ryandamm »

ManuelKiessling wrote: post #281
diordiderot wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The users comments all read like chatgpt. Loads of em dash. Short acknowledgement at the beginning e.g. "got it" Strange times

I really love using the em dash, especially now that I’ve learned how easy it is to type one the iOS and macOS keyboards — but the risk of being labeled an AI now really takes the fun away. Butvthe normal dash is just wrong in most contexts it is used, and I simply cannot stand this.

Agreed, I'm torn between my pedantry for adhering to style guides and being pilloried for seeming like an AI. There's no safe ground anymore.

(Though I used to use the em dash with spaces on either side — like this — and only recently converted to the more common, tighter spacing—like this. I might go back to my old ways since it's different from how AI uses them, like some sort of weird shibboleth.)

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