Building the product was easier than getting the first active users
We spent a lot of time improving the product, fixing small issues, and making sure the core experience worked.
Then we started trying to get early users.
That turned out to be the harder part.
People would respond positively to the idea, but interest did not always translate into actually trying the product. Some were comfortable with their current process. Others wanted more proof, integrations, or existing customers before committing.
A few things we have learned:
- Broad outreach creates conversations, but rarely committed users.
- People care more about solving one urgent problem than seeing ten features.
- Early users need more support and follow-up than we expected.
- Feedback from five active users is more useful than fifty passive signups.
- Targeting users who already feel the pain is more important than increasing outreach volume.
We are now narrowing our target audience and focusing on people who experience the problem frequently enough to actively test a new solution.
For founders who have crossed this stage:
How did you find your first genuinely active users?
Was it through cold outreach, communities, partnerships, content, or your existing network?
This is exactly the stage I'm at right now. I think there's a big difference between getting someone to sign up and getting them to actually come back and use the product. I'm curious how you’re deciding which type of user to focus on as you narrow the audience?
The useful milestone is not registration, it is the first moment a user experiences the promised outcome. I would recruit around one narrow use case, personally guide the first ten users to that moment, and record where each one stalls.
Totally relate to this. The "build it and they will come" myth is brutal once you hit this stage. Sounds like you've already had some great insights, especially about narrowing focus and the importance of active users.
For us, the breakthrough came from meticulously mapping out exactly where our ideal users hung out online and then engaging authentically in those specific spaces. Instead of broad outreach, we picked one community, spent time understanding their specific problems related to our solution, and offered genuine value and feedback before ever mentioning our product. It’s slow, but it builds trust and attracts those genuinely feeling the pain. That's where active users emerge.
Mass ads can vary a lot by industry these days, especially in B2B. Once we noticed that, we leaned more into build in public as a distribution channel and started real conversations with users around their pain points. For FindEvo, our first users came from one on one conversations, not ads. What we post publicly now is more about visibility and starting discussions.
You have to understand how to use TikTok