How I’m Thinking About Getting the First 100 Users
This article explains how I’m approaching the first 100 users for Ideatr. Instead of chasing growth or scale, the focus is on learning, real feedback, and one-on-one engagement. The goal is to earn attention, understand how people actually use the product, and build momentum through honest conversations rather than shortcuts.
How I’m Thinking About Getting the First 100 Users
Right now, Ideatr has a much bigger problem than features.
No one knows it exists.
That’s normal, but it’s also the hardest phase. The first 100 users don’t come from scale or growth hacks. They come from doing things that don’t scale and paying close attention.
I don’t believe in “build it and they will come”
Good products don’t magically get discovered.
Especially early on, distribution matters more than polish. If no one sees what you’re building, feedback doesn’t exist and momentum disappears. I’m treating distribution as a first-class problem, not something I’ll “figure out later.”
I’m optimizing for learning, not growth
The goal of the first 100 users is not revenue or virality.
It’s signal.
I want to understand:
Why someone signed up
What confused them
What they expected but didn’t get
What made them come back, or not
A single engaged user is worth more than ten silent ones at this stage.
Where I think the first users will come from
I’m not trying to be everywhere.
I’m focusing on places where builders already talk openly about what they’re working on and what they’re struggling with. Writing in public, sharing progress, and having real conversations is more important than blasting links.
This blog is part of that strategy. So is being honest about what Ideatr is and isn’t.
What I’m avoiding on purpose
I’m avoiding:
Paid ads
Artificial urgency
Feature bloat to impress people
Big launches with no feedback loop
Those things can come later. Right now, they would hide real problems instead of exposing them.
How I’ll know if this is working
If people:
Reply with questions
Share feedback without being asked
Come back more than once
Use Ideatr in ways I didn’t expect
Then I know I’m on the right path.
Getting the first 100 users isn’t about growth tricks.
It’s about earning attention one person at a time.
That’s how I’m approaching it.
How I’m Thinking About Getting the First 100 Users
Right now, Ideatr has a much bigger problem than features.
No one knows it exists.
That’s normal, but it’s also the hardest phase. The first 100 users don’t come from scale or growth hacks. They come from doing things that don’t scale and paying close attention.
I don’t believe in “build it and they will come”
Good products don’t magically get discovered.
Especially early on, distribution matters more than polish. If no one sees what you’re building, feedback doesn’t exist and momentum disappears. I’m treating distribution as a first-class problem, not something I’ll “figure out later.”
I’m optimizing for learning, not growth
The goal of the first 100 users is not revenue or virality.
It’s signal.
I want to understand:
Why someone signed up
What confused them
What they expected but didn’t get
What made them come back, or not
A single engaged user is worth more than ten silent ones at this stage.
Where I think the first users will come from
I’m not trying to be everywhere.
I’m focusing on places where builders already talk openly about what they’re working on and what they’re struggling with. Writing in public, sharing progress, and having real conversations is more important than blasting links.
This blog is part of that strategy. So is being honest about what Ideatr is and isn’t.
What I’m avoiding on purpose
I’m avoiding:
Paid ads
Artificial urgency
Feature bloat to impress people
Big launches with no feedback loop
Those things can come later. Right now, they would hide real problems instead of exposing them.
How I’ll know if this is working
If people:
Reply with questions
Share feedback without being asked
Come back more than once
Use Ideatr in ways I didn’t expect
Then I know I’m on the right path.
Getting the first 100 users isn’t about growth tricks.
It’s about earning attention one person at a time.
That’s how I’m approaching it.
How I’m Thinking About Getting the First 100 Users
Right now, Ideatr has a much bigger problem than features.
No one knows it exists.
That’s normal, but it’s also the hardest phase. The first 100 users don’t come from scale or growth hacks. They come from doing things that don’t scale and paying close attention.
I don’t believe in “build it and they will come”
Good products don’t magically get discovered.
Especially early on, distribution matters more than polish. If no one sees what you’re building, feedback doesn’t exist and momentum disappears. I’m treating distribution as a first-class problem, not something I’ll “figure out later.”
I’m optimizing for learning, not growth
The goal of the first 100 users is not revenue or virality.
It’s signal.
I want to understand:
Why someone signed up
What confused them
What they expected but didn’t get
What made them come back, or not
A single engaged user is worth more than ten silent ones at this stage.
Where I think the first users will come from
I’m not trying to be everywhere.
I’m focusing on places where builders already talk openly about what they’re working on and what they’re struggling with. Writing in public, sharing progress, and having real conversations is more important than blasting links.
This blog is part of that strategy. So is being honest about what Ideatr is and isn’t.
What I’m avoiding on purpose
I’m avoiding:
Paid ads
Artificial urgency
Feature bloat to impress people
Big launches with no feedback loop
Those things can come later. Right now, they would hide real problems instead of exposing them.
How I’ll know if this is working
If people:
Reply with questions
Share feedback without being asked
Come back more than once
Use Ideatr in ways I didn’t expect
Then I know I’m on the right path.
Getting the first 100 users isn’t about growth tricks.
It’s about earning attention one person at a time.
That’s how I’m approaching it.
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