←back to thread

Ask HN: Founders, what was the major sourcing channel for your first 100 users?

274 points jainvivek | 9 comments | 16 Oct 24 18:43 UTC | HN request time: 1.214s | source | bottom

Please also share target audience to correlate better.
Show context
buf ◴[19 Oct 24 04:56 UTC] No.41885732[source]▶
I'm a founder of 3 small saas companies that I run by myself, generating about $1M ARR.

1. First one I started 10 years ago. I built a bot that auto DMed people in various internet forums. My first 100 users came from that. The product is highly shareable, so it quickly grew. Now it's 1.6M users (most of them free).

2. Second started 3.5 years ago. My first 100 users came from simply emailing the newsletter list from my first company. This product has no free plan, so it became profitable instantly.

3. Third started 1 month ago. And it's been a struggle. I got 10k free users just by emailing my list, but 0 paying users. So I tried ads and had similar results from the ads. Now I'm taking a step back and understanding why they aren't paying, which involves just emailing them.

Summary: once you have an email list and viral social loops built-in, marketing gets easier.

replies(6): >>41886250 #>>41886386 #>>41886401 #>>41886439 #>>41886597 #>>41888129 #
Crazyontap ◴[19 Oct 24 08:56 UTC] No.41886597[source]▶
> First one I started 10 years ago. I built a bot that auto DMed people in various internet forums. My first 100 users came from that.

Isn't this by definition Spamming people as you were using bots to mass DM people?

replies(2): >>41886660 #>>41886936 #
1. davedx ◴[19 Oct 24 10:23 UTC] No.41886936[source]▶
Yes. Surprise surprise, most businesses generate most of their initial sales via cold calls/emails/DMs/other automated marketing. That’s the real world
replies(1): >>41887048 #
2. jainvivek ◴[19 Oct 24 10:46 UTC] No.41887048[source]▶
And because they create so much noise, no option left for a new comer other than trying to shout louder than them. All-in-all a vicious cycle of spamming!
replies(2): >>41887327 #>>41888043 #
3. gryn ◴[19 Oct 24 11:59 UTC] No.41887327[source]▶
This is older than the ideas of the internet itself.

Channels get saturated and marketers start looking for new ones with les noise/competition.

The oldest that I can think of is old school markets where is shops yells to tell you how good of a deal you're gonna have if you buy from them. I think they date back to the middle ages, no?

replies(1): >>41888438 #
4. shakow ◴[19 Oct 24 14:43 UTC] No.41888043[source]▶
A.k.a. the marketplace (the literal one) 50 years ago!
replies(1): >>41888260 #
5. mimischi ◴[19 Oct 24 15:12 UTC] No.41888260{3}[source]▶
What do you mean, 50 years ago? Go to any smallish town in German and you’ll find a farmers market about once a week, with people shouting at passerby’s to buy their cheap produce. Probably the same in most European countries, and I’d wager in many other parts of the world?
replies(1): >>41888417 #
6. bbarnett ◴[19 Oct 24 15:38 UTC] No.41888417{4}[source]▶
Sure. One difference.

I can't hear them here in Canada, and indeed, I can't hear everyone on the planet who is shouting.

Unlike spam.

replies(1): >>41888648 #
7. mlhpdx ◴[19 Oct 24 15:43 UTC] No.41888438{3}[source]▶
Older, almost certainly. The discovery of advertising murals and graffiti in Hereculum makes me smile a little. Humans have been humans all along.
replies(1): >>41889511 #
8. qup ◴[19 Oct 24 16:12 UTC] No.41888648{5}[source]▶
You read the spam in my inbox today?

You got the initial product invite from the GP?

9. ◴[19 Oct 24 18:16 UTC] No.41889511{4}[source]▶