Strategies for Acquiring Your First 100+ SaaS Users: Insights from Founders

Acquiring the first cohort of users is a common hurdle for new SaaS founders, especially in the B2C space with a relatively high price point like $50/month. A recent Hacker News discussion explored numerous strategies, with founders sharing what worked for them, moving from the initial 100 to the next 500 users.

The Grind: Direct and Unscalable Efforts

A dominant theme was the necessity of "doing things that don't scale" in the early days. This involves direct, often manual, outreach:

• Personal Engagement: Several founders recounted personally visiting potential customers (e.g., campgrounds for a PMS), cold-calling businesses, or even walking into CEO offices. For B2C, this translates to one-on-one conversations in forums, with friends, or ex-coworkers.
• Targeted Outreach: Manually posting on Reddit in relevant subreddits was a common, albeit time-consuming, success story (e.g., for Pastmaps, Atten app). The key is providing genuine, non-spammy content that drives users back and is valuable to the community.
• Direct Messaging: Some used platform-specific DM features (like SoundCloud's old DM limit per track) to personally reach out to high-engagement listeners or potential users on LinkedIn.
• Early User Interviews: A valuable tip was to interview 20 potential customers before fully building or pitching, focusing on their pain points to ensure the product addresses a real need (a la "The Mom Test").

Community: Building and Tapping In

Finding and engaging with communities where your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) hangs out is paramount:

• Niche Subreddits & Forums: Many found success by actively participating in relevant subreddits (e.g., r/Notion for a Notion backup tool, r/RAG for an AI tool) and niche online forums. This involves answering questions, offering help, and subtly introducing the product when appropriate.
• Building Your Own Community: One founder built a community around sharing insights on LLM systems for two years before launching a paid course, getting their first 100 customers during beta testing from this engaged audience.
• Social Media Engagement: Joining relevant subreddit discussions and commenting on YouTube videos, focusing on genuine engagement before promotion, proved effective for some.

Product-Led Growth & Offering Free Value

For a B2C product, especially one with a recurring fee, providing upfront value can be a game-changer:

• Freemium Models: Offering a free version with branding (that links back) or a robust free tier (like Firebase or Supabase) can attract a large volume of users, some of whom may convert. One user noted their free tool gets millions of requests, driving clicks back to their main offering.
• Free Content/Tools: Giving away a valuable resource (e.g., "The Road to React" book for an email) helped grow a mailing list for a future paid product. Building free tools to solve your own problems and then sharing them (e.g., heymeta.com) can also drive significant traffic.
• Open Source: For developer-focused or technical products, open-sourcing the core technology can build a funnel of users who already find value and are looking to scale.

Content Creation and SEO

While often a longer-term strategy, content and SEO can yield early results:

• Early Content for SEO: Some founders started blogging about problems their product solved even before launch, capturing niche search traffic (e.g., NotionBackups).
• Programmatic SEO: For products with data-rich content, organizing that data for search engines can create a powerful traffic flywheel (e.g., Pastmaps).
• Consistent Content Creation: Regularly posting on platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, and blogs (e.g., foxev.io building an audience for an EV tech learning app) can build brand presence and attract signups.

Leveraging Existing Platforms and Networks

Don't reinvent the wheel; tap into existing ecosystems:

• Personal Networks: Many founders got their very first users from friends, family, and professional contacts.
• Launch Platforms: Posting on Hacker News (Show HN), Product Hunt, and relevant software directories (like SaaSHub) was a common tactic for initial visibility and downloads.
• App Marketplaces: Integrating with larger platforms and listing on their app stores (e.g., Xero App Store) provided a steady stream of users for some B2B2C products.
• Influencers & Affiliates: While the OP is trying affiliates, others mentioned micro-influencers, or getting creators who review similar products to provide feedback, which can lead to recommendations.

Foundational Principles

Underlying all these tactics are some core truths:

• Build a Great Product: Several commenters emphasized that a high-quality product solving a genuine pain point is the most crucial factor. "Build it and they will come" might not be the whole story, but a bad product won't retain users regardless of acquisition strategy.
• Understand Your ICP: Define your Ideal Customer Profile and deeply understand where they spend their time and what their needs are.
• Iterate Based on Feedback: Early users are invaluable for feedback. Continuously improve your product based on their experiences.
• Pricing & Positioning: Being more modern, accessible, or affordable than competitors can be a key differentiator.

Specific Considerations for B2C AI SaaS at $50/Month

The original poster's product (AI ghostwriter for LinkedIn) has a specific audience. The $50/month price point for B2C was highlighted by one commenter as a "HUGE ask" from an unknown company. This underscores the importance of strategies that lower the barrier to entry, such as a compelling free trial, a freemium version, or demonstrating undeniable value quickly. Targeting LinkedIn where potential users (those wanting to build their brand) already are is a logical step, and tactics like creating valuable content about LinkedIn branding, or engaging in LinkedIn groups, would be highly relevant.

In conclusion, acquiring the first 100 users requires a blend of hustle, strategic outreach, community engagement, and offering genuine value. There's no single magic bullet; experimentation and persistence, tailored to the specific product and audience, are key.