We watched 50 founder interviews on Starter Story and extracted exactly how they got their early users. No theory. Just what worked.
Last month, I sat down and watched every Starter Story interview from the past year. Fifty founders. Everything from $10K/month solo apps to $10M/year SaaS companies.
What surprised me: the same strategies kept coming up. Not vague advice like "build a great product" but specific tactics. Post on this subreddit. Structure your tweet like this. Launch here first.
I pulled out every acquisition strategy mentioned, grouped them by frequency, and ranked them by results. The founders generating $50K+/month almost always combined 2-3 of these approaches.
Here's what actually works to find your first customers.
"I used Reddit to hit $17K MRR with zero audience." — Diego, App Alchemi
This came up more than any other strategy. Diego grew App Alchemi to $17K MRR entirely through Reddit. Pat Walls built Starter Story's initial audience the same way. Ben got 2 million organic visitors to Tech Lockdown through Reddit-style content marketing.
The approach that works isn't what you'd expect. You can't just drop links — moderators will remove them instantly. Instead, these founders created genuinely useful posts where the product gets mentioned naturally at the end.
Ben from Tech Lockdown had a specific tactic: he wrote a comprehensive guide on "how to turn an iPhone into a dumb phone" and posted it to relevant subreddits. That single piece of content drove the majority of his early traffic.
What Pat Walls learned the hard way:
"Instead of direct link posts, create valuable content directly on Reddit, embedding a small link at the end. This bypasses the rules and leads to significant engagement."
One crucial step: convert Reddit traffic to an email list immediately. Reddit traffic is temporary. Pat nearly got banned, but by then he'd already built a substantial email list that couldn't be taken away.
"I hit $1M ARR in 117 days from a single tweet to my 16 followers." — Yaser, Chatbase
Yaser started with 16 Twitter followers. His first tweet about Chatbase went viral, and the company hit $1 million ARR in 117 days. Alex Finn made $100K in ARR within 15 minutes of launching Creator Buddy to his Twitter audience. CJ grew CodeGuide to $42K/month using what he calls "tutorial marketing."
Building in public isn't just about posting progress updates. The founders who succeed treat every feature release as a mini-launch.
Yaser broke down the elements of his viral tweet:
CJ from CodeGuide has a specific framework. He creates threads and long-form posts that explain a problem, walk through the solution, and position his SaaS as part of that solution. It's teaching first, selling second.
All his traffic comes from Twitter/X. No paid ads. He built an audience by being genuinely helpful, and that audience converted when he launched.
The distribution advantage:
"Distribution, not just product, is the new moat. If you have an audience, you can launch anything and get immediate feedback and sales." — Alex Finn
If you don't have an audience yet, start by providing value. Reply to relevant threads. Share insights from what you're building. Document the journey. It compounds faster than you'd expect.
"My apps make $4.5M/year with $0 marketing." — Ericos, Shopify Apps
Ericos built Shopify apps that generate $4.5 million annually without spending a dollar on marketing. Lucas makes $25K/month from a countdown timer app on Monday.com's marketplace. S. grew his Chrome extension to $20K/month by building for ChatGPT users.
The insight: marketplaces have built-in demand. People are already searching for solutions. You don't need to find them — they find you.
Ericos looks for three things: ease of building, broad market appeal, and low competition. He validates by engaging with online communities and gauging interest before writing code.
S. (Chrome extension builder) has a different take. He targets large platforms like Gmail or Twitter where extensions add clear value, or smaller platforms with dedicated marketplaces where competition is lower.
Why this works:
"Marketplaces offer a less crowded environment and easier product validation compared to standalone platforms. The customer base is already there." — Demitro, Screenshot One
The catch: you're dependent on the platform. If they change policies or build competing features, you're exposed. But for getting early customers quickly, it's one of the fastest paths.
"A $100 investment in two creators led to $80K profit on day one." — Blake Anderson, Riz GPT
Blake Anderson built three apps generating $10M combined. His first, Riz GPT, made $80K in profit on launch day. The secret: $100 spent on two "underground" TikTok creators.
Jack Ficks makes $10K/month by spending one hour daily creating organic content on TikTok and Instagram. Uray drives $300K/year in revenue from a car sound device through faceless short-form videos.
Jack Ficks has a repeatable template that works:
Steven, who makes $40K/month from a mobile app, puts it bluntly: "Marketing is 95% of app success." He analyzes viral content in his niche, creates entertainment-first videos, then repurposes successful organic posts into paid ads.
On finding creators:
"Start with small creators. Better ROI and they're more responsive. Focus on their audience's conversion potential, not follower count." — David Park, Jenny AI
The advantage of short-form video: you can reach millions of people without spending on ads. A phone is all you need. The challenge: it requires consistency and willingness to experiment with formats until something hits.
Product Hunt came up repeatedly as an early traction driver. Fernando launched AI Carousels through a 10-day "build in public" challenge and used Product Hunt to get initial users. Demitro lists it as one of his key channels alongside Twitter and Google.
The platform works best for developer tools, productivity apps, and SaaS products. The audience is specifically early adopters willing to try new things.
Product Hunt isn't a magic bullet — many launches fizzle. But for products that fit the audience, it provides a concentrated burst of early adopters who give feedback and spread the word.
"I learned SEO, created landing pages for various search terms, and grew from $0 to $6M revenue." — Saba, V.io
Saba built V.io (a video editing platform) to $200M by obsessing over SEO. After getting rejected from Y Combinator, he focused on creating landing pages for every search term potential customers might use. YouTube videos for tutorials. Blog posts for specific features.
Lane Wagner from Boot.dev (nearly $1M/month) initially relied on a blog, then expanded to influencer marketing and collaborations with Free Code Camp. Matt from Swim University built a million-dollar business entirely through content — blog posts, YouTube videos, and a newsletter about pool care.
Samuel (who makes $35K/month from cloned apps) puts it simply: start with Google Ads for quick validation, then build SEO for sustainable traffic. The compounding effect takes time, but eventually, organic search becomes your most reliable channel.
Ben from Tech Lockdown focused on niche keywords — specific problems his tool solved. His guide on restricting iPhone features drives ongoing traffic without additional work.
Fernando's free tool strategy:
"Build free tools that rank. People find them through search, use them, and some convert to paid." — Fernando, Resume Maker
SEO is slow. Expect 6-12 months before meaningful results. But unlike ads, the traffic doesn't disappear when you stop paying.
David Park built Jenny AI to $10M/year using a short-form video playbook heavily reliant on influencers. Boot.dev accelerated growth through gaming community influencers and content collaborations.
Blake Anderson spent just $100 on two small creators and made $80K on day one. The lesson: you don't need expensive influencers. You need the right ones.
"Focus on the influencer's audience conversion potential rather than follower count. A creator with 50K engaged followers beats one with 500K passive followers." — David Park
"I encountered a personal need to analyze bank data from PDF statements. Believed it was a common problem — it was." — Angus, Bank Statement Converter ($40K/month)
This appeared in nearly every interview. Angus built Bank Statement Converter because he personally needed it. Ben built Tech Lockdown during the pandemic when he wanted to manage his own screen time. Diego built App Alchemi because hiring app designers was expensive.
The pattern: encounter a problem, assume others have it too, validate on Reddit or through conversations, build the simplest solution.
Colin McIntosh (AI Resume Builder) had expertise in resumes from his recruiting career. He posted about resume tips on Reddit, got a viral response, and realized people needed better tools. His knowledge of the problem gave him an unfair advantage.
"Focus on solving problems for people. That's what drives value and what customers pay for." — Nico, Neural Frames
Ryan Chen launched Neuro Gum on Indiegogo before building inventory. Colin from Sheets & Giggles captured emails before launch and converted 45% of his list to a $284K crowdfunding campaign.
The principle: Sell before you build. If people won't pay for a promise, they won't pay for a product.
Cast Magic got 10,000 users from their AppSumo launch. Joseph (Stealth GPT) got early customers by listing on Futurepedia and offering free trials.
The tradeoff: Lifetime deals bring volume but low LTV. Use for initial traction and reviews, not as a core revenue strategy.
Marcos built a $65K/month ghostwriting agency by sending hundreds of DMs daily. He started on Upwork to get case studies, then used those results in his outreach.
The approach: Start on platforms like Upwork to build proof, then use that social proof in direct messages. Volume matters — Marcos sent hundreds per day.
Nico's viral post on Hacker News kickstarted Neural Frames to $100K/month. Leandro lists it as a visibility channel for Synto Sheets.
What works: Show HN posts with compelling technical stories. Be available to engage in comments. Prepare for traffic spikes.
Ian built Oceans to $10M by starting with his network, offering reduced pricing, and letting word-of-mouth compound. Greg Eisenberg used the same approach for his agencies.
The simple version: Tell everyone you know. Offer discounts for early adopters. Deliver exceptional results. Referrals follow.
MVP in days or weeks, not months. Lucas took 3 days to build his countdown timer. Yaser launched in two weeks. The founders who move fastest learn fastest.
"Marketing is 95% of app success" — Steven. Building something great isn't enough. Distribution determines winners.
The successful founders mastered one acquisition channel before expanding. Pat Walls with Reddit. CJ with Twitter. Ericos with Shopify's marketplace.
"Find your first paying user early to validate value. Don't waste time on products users won't pay for." — Leandro
The highest earners didn't rely on one channel. They combined Reddit + SEO, or Twitter + Influencers, or Marketplace + Product Hunt.
Based on these 50 interviews, Reddit marketing and building in public on Twitter/X are fastest. Diego grew to $17K MRR using Reddit alone. Yaser hit $1M ARR in 117 days with Twitter. The key is value-first content where your product is mentioned naturally.
Start by solving your own problem — 90% of these founders did. Then validate on Reddit (search for complaints), launch on Product Hunt (early adopter audience), or build on marketplaces where customers already look for solutions.
It varies widely. Lucas took 224 days from MVP to first dollar. Yaser made $1M in 117 days. Blake made $80K on day one. The difference is usually distribution — existing audiences and viral content strategies accelerate everything.
Several founders recommend this. Rom advises "build distribution before product." Alex Finn made $100K in 15 minutes because of his existing audience. But Pat Walls shows you can build audience and product simultaneously using Reddit.
Reddit and Twitter dominated among these founders. For mobile apps, TikTok and Instagram short-form video drove fastest growth. The best channel depends on where your customers spend time — go deep on one before diversifying.
We analyzed the entire Starter Story channel — 50 videos, 1,000+ comments, and all the patterns viewers are asking about. See what topics resonate, what questions remain unanswered, and where the content gaps are.
Explore Starter Story Analysis