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Vishu Bheda
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Medial • 3m
Sam Altman on how to get your first 100 users Getting your first 100 users takes hard work. Here are four strategies ranked from best to worst: 1. Use Your Network: Reach out to everyone you know and ask them to try your product. If it’s paid, charge them—free users often give overly nice feedback. 2. Cold Outreach: Research potential users and email them personally. With a 2-3% conversion rate, you’ll need to email a lot of people. Many will try your product because they want to be helpful. 3. Leverage Social Media & PR: Post on forums, social platforms, and niche communities. Focus on creating sustainable traffic instead of one-time spikes. For example, Airbnb used creative PR stunts to stay in the spotlight. 4. Paid Ads: This is the least effective. Most startups don’t scale by starting with ads, but it’s an option to explore. This may sound basic, but I think this advice is important. Getting your first 100 users is mostly hard work. As Sam puts it: “Everyone thinks they’re going to put up this website, tell one person about it, and it’s going to take off like wildfire. But that’s not what usually happens.” For a more detailed guide on customer acquisition, I’d recommend the book Traction by Gabriel Weinberg (founder & CEO of DuckDuckGo). If you found this valuable then Follow me for more startup insights from the best founders.
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