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

560 points amanchanda | 6 comments | 13 May 25 08:41 UTC | HN request time: 0.944s | source | bottom

I am building a B2C AI SaaS with $50/month price. How would you go about getting with first 100 users and then the next 500 users.

What we are currently doing: 1) Cold outreach to power users - to convert them into affiliates. 2) Cold outreach to individuals who have target ICP communities. 3) SEO for more long term (not for the first 500)

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abdullin ◴[13 May 25 09:32 UTC] No.43971162[source]▶
I have a course on building AI solutions in business (based on success stories from companies in Europe/USA). Sold ~400 seats so far, mostly through my community and word of mouth. No external ads or cold outreach.

The process was classical. Over two years I created a community to sharing cases and insights from building LLM-driven systems. We focused on creating good non-toxic and collaborative atmosphere. No ads or SEO to grow it, standing out by sharing real-world cases and helping others.

Thanks to the community, got 100 customers within the beta-testing period. Then 300 more came over the last 4 months, after opening the sales.

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nikolayasdf123 ◴[13 May 25 09:49 UTC] No.43971251[source]▶
why no ads though? don't they give you reach and discovery to people? for so as long your profits are higher than ads cost, you are profitable, so why not?
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1. abdullin ◴[13 May 25 09:58 UTC] No.43971297[source]▶
There are way too many ads around "AI". Everybody else does that, frequently overwhelming people with too many promises of quick wins.

I prefer to distinguish from this hype and reach people through other channels - good content, word of mouth and interesting collaborative events (like our last Enterprise RAG Challenge). This might lead to slower sales in the short term, but I think the long-term value to the brand is worth it.

EDIT: fixed typo

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2. nikolayasdf123 ◴[13 May 25 10:09 UTC] No.43971349[source]▶
yeah, this is much slower growth... danger must be it is so slow it must be non-existent. but I am with you on same boat, there are too many AI ads for crappy apps

but I guess it speaks to flood of crap-ware, and flood bad content in social networks

^not meaning about you, of course (those folks must not be even on HN)

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3. abdullin ◴[13 May 25 10:31 UTC] No.43971470[source]▶
Building something that people truly need - might not lead to huge sales right away, but I believe this to be a good long-term strategy. Sprint vs marathon.

Just keep on pushing on it, and it will eventually work out.

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4. nikolayasdf123 ◴[13 May 25 10:56 UTC] No.43971578{3}[source]▶
Building something that people do not need might not lead to sales right away either.

Maybe it will work out, at low growth rate... in 180 years, when it does not matter anyways. Extremely low grow rates are functionally indistinguishable from death.

And even successful great products will not be used by anybody, ... if nobody even knows about it.

Think of Facebook or Apple hiding somewhere in corner vs screaming about themselves in Times Square billboards and streets storefronts in rural India.

Marketing, Distribution, Discovery is important for to-be great products too, just as it is important for crap-ware. (unfortunately later makes bad name and bad look for the whole industry).

5. nikolayasdf123 ◴[13 May 25 13:29 UTC] No.43972740{3}[source]▶
as Andrew Grove said "if you are walking through the desert of death, keep walking"
6. nikolayasdf123 ◴[13 May 25 13:47 UTC] No.43972968{3}[source]▶
anyways, hope it works out well for you friend. tough for everyone! keep up all the hard work!