710% Growth on my tiny productivity tool hit differently, here is what worked in January
I started building this tool on January 2025, launched in june 20, 2025.
But I was stragling to get users in my tool. As a Design Founder I know how to design tool, how to develop but marketing was hard.
Then I list down couple of things that I found from reddit & determine that I will do that next 1 month. And I did.
What was a fact:
Our tool is kind of new and need to educate our users why this will be best for your daily usage.
What I did:
- create content calander for 1 month
- create user persona about who will use our app
- listed couple of platform I need to post daily
- brainstrom about hook, what hook title maters most
- posted daily on that platforms
Last 1 month I did this simple things and its changed the way I was expecting 🙌
Didn't overcomplicated marketing and shifted mind to simple but usable thing.
If you want to see my app here is that: https://www.slashit.app/
Trending on Indie Hackers
Congrats on the growth - 710% is huge, especially for an early-stage product. I really like how you simplified the marketing side instead of overengineering it. The focus on user personas, consistent posting, and especially figuring out the right hooks is something a lot of founders underestimate.
Curious which platform ended up driving the most meaningful users for you, and whether you noticed a difference between engagement vs actual retention. Also, did your content lean more toward education or showcasing real use cases?
Great reminder that consistency + clarity often beats complex strategies.
Great questions the engagement vs retention distinction is one most early builders miss completely. Are you building something yourself or more on the growth advisory side?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The focus is getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, finding a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
Typical engagement is 2–4 weeks, around $1–2k.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Thanks for sharing. I appreciate you outlining your approach so clearly. At the moment I’m focused on validating and learning hands-on myself, but I’ll definitely keep your offer in mind for the future if I need extra help on distribution. I’ll also give you a follow on X to stay in touch.
Appreciate you reaching out.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Feel free to DM me anytime, even if you’re only looking for advice and not a partnership.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Thank you, I really appreciate that! I’ll definitely keep that in mind and may reach out as I move forward. Always great to connect with people who are open to sharing insights.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Congrats on the insane growth! Love how you kept your focus on simple, consistent actions instead of overcomplicating things. This is such a practical playbook for early builders trying to find traction. Thanks for sharing!
Totally agree real, thoughtful conversation is hard to replace.
I ended up making a little Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Congrats on the impressive growth trajectory! It is difficult to keep pushign everyday with less traction but consistency is the key and you showed it!
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Congrats on the growth! That Reddit strategy resonates.
The "building in public" angle you mentioned is interesting. We've found the opposite problem ... being too quiet. Two founders, heads down building, not enough sharing.
Question for you: how do you balance the time between creating content for growth vs. actually building? That's the trade-off we're wrestling with right now.
The 710% sounds great, but I'm curious about retention. Are the users from Reddit sticking around, or is it more of a spike-and-settle pattern?
That balance between building and content is real two founders is actually an advantage though, one can own distribution while the other ships. What are you building? Curious to see what you're working on.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
This resonates a lot.
The shift from “marketing hacks” to simple, consistent education is underrated — especially for new categories where users don’t yet know why they need the product.
Curious: which platform surprised you the most in terms of actual engaged users, not just views?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
It’s easy to overthink marketing, but daily execution + learning loops usually win.
Which hook or format surprised you the most in terms of response?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The focus is getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, finding a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
Typical engagement is 2–4 weeks, around $1–2k.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Nice idea!
How did you validate the problem before building this tool?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The focus is getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, finding a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
Typical engagement is 2–4 weeks, around $1–2k.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
This is a really honest breakdown, and I think a lot of founders underestimate how powerful clarity is in marketing. The shift from “why isn’t this working?” to “who is this actually for and what do they need to understand first” is huge.
What stands out is that nothing you listed is fancy — no hacks, no paid ads — just consistency, user education, and showing up daily. That’s usually the unsexy part people skip.
Great reminder that marketing doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. Curious which platform ended up working best for you over that month.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The focus is getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, finding a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
Typical engagement is 2–4 weeks, around $1–2k.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
Congrats on the 710% growth! That’s an incredible result, especially for a new tool.
Your point about needing to educate users is so spot-on. Many early-stage products fail not because of the product itself, but because the value isn’t immediately clear. By focusing on problem-aware hooks and consistent messaging, you helped users see the relevance of your tool in their daily lives.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Congrats on the growth — that’s a solid turnaround 👏
One thing that stood out to me is your point about not overcomplicating marketing. I’ve noticed a lot of founders (myself included) try to jump straight to tactics before really clarifying who the product is for and why it matters daily.
Curious — once you started posting consistently, what signal helped you confirm things were working?
Was it signups, activation, or just qualitative feedback from users?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The focus is getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, finding a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
The "need to educate users" challenge is the hardest part of launching something in a new category. You can't just say "we do X faster" because people don't know they need X yet.
What I've noticed is the hook strategy matters differently at different stages. Early on, problem-aware hooks ("still losing track of your tasks in 5 different apps?") pull better because you're meeting people where they are. Later, once awareness builds, you can shift to outcome hooks ("finish your priorities before lunch").
Curious whether your content calendar has room for that kind of evolution, or if you're testing hook angles as you go?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
The "need to educate users" point really resonates. I'm building a tech news aggregator with AI summaries, and the biggest challenge isn't the tech — it's communicating why structured summaries are different from just reading headlines.
Curious about your hook brainstorming process. Did you find that hooks focused on the problem ("stop wasting time on X") worked better than solution-focused ones ("do Y faster")? For tools that need explanation, I've noticed problem-aware hooks tend to get more initial attention.
Also, daily posting is harder than it sounds. Props for actually sticking to it for a full month.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The outcomes include (but aren’t limited to) getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, defining a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
This is a great breakdown. A lot of founders underestimate how much consistency matters.
Daily posting + clear user persona + simple hooks is such a powerful combo.
What platform ended up driving the most engaged users for you?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The outcomes include (but aren’t limited to) getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, defining a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
Really smart breakdown — hitting that kind of growth often feels better than the raw number because it validates your positioning + early retention logic. One thing I’d add from a messaging and onboarding lens: growth in tools like this usually doesn’t come from features alone — it comes from clarity of the first meaningful value moment. When users instantly recognize what outcome they’ll get and feel that value in the first 30–60 seconds, everything else unlocks — retention, referrals, and even higher-intent word-of-mouth.
A quick experiment you might try: test two headline variants — one that leads with task clarity (“Finish your priority in 10 minutes”) vs one that leads with psychological payoff (“Feel accomplished by noon”). Often the latter pulls in higher activation because it ties to emotion, not just function.
Curious which activation metric you watch most: time to first completed task, or number of tasks completed in the first session? Either one usually tells you exactly where the next bottleneck lives. — Quratulain
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Simple, repeatable actions > overcomplicated strategies.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
congrats. what was yout strategy? did you automate part of the process?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
What stood out to me here wasn’t the 710%, but how simple and repeatable the changes were. Creating a content cadence, clarifying who the tool is for, and showing up daily tends to compound quietly over time.
I’ve seen similar patterns where growth looks sudden on a chart, but it’s really the result of removing confusion and being consistent long enough for it to click. Thanks for sharing the breakdown — it’s a good reminder not to overcomplicate early marketing.
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The outcomes include (but aren’t limited to) getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, defining a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
710% growth in a month is impressive! I love that you're sharing the specific strategies. For early-stage SaaS, these small wins and tactics compounding really do make the difference. Would love to see a breakdown of which channel or tactic had the highest ROI. Great transparency!
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The outcomes include (but aren’t limited to) getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, defining a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
Congrats!
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Huge congrats on the 710% growth!
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Thank you man 🙌
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
Congrats on the huge growth! Awesome to see Slashit moving so fast! 🙌
Which platform or hook gave you the biggest lift?
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com
I work closely with solo founders as a short-term early distribution partner, hands-on, not advisory, either before or after building. The outcomes include (but aren’t limited to) getting the first 10–30 real users, validating the idea, defining a clear distribution path with real signals, and collecting meaningful feedback so you build what users actually need.
If that’s what you need right now, DM me at
https://x.com/ValhunNg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ValhunNg
Daily post works better than platform 🙌
Give a try to my Reddit Extension. It's a Chrome extension called Pulse of Reddit that basically acts like my own alert system for Reddit.
Anytime someone posts something with keywords I care about like 'looking for a designer' or 'best SEO tool' it pings me right away. It’s saved me so much time and helped me hop into threads while they’re still fresh.
If you’re tired of manual digging and want to catch those conversations early, I’d really recommend giving it a look.
It’s free to start and super simple to set up.
Website:
pulseofreddit.com