From 0 to 1,500 waitlist signups in 30 days with almost no spend
We are building HustleAdvisor, a social network where entrepreneurs share practical lessons and can charge for access when it truly saves time or money. Here is how we got our first 1,500 people on the waitlist in a month.
The heavy lift came from TikTok. I posted short edits with punchy hooks and motivational music, sometimes using famous movie moments like The Wolf of Wall Street. A few were simple cuts I made, a few were paid edits. One clip took off to about 800k views and drove roughly 1,300 signups on its own. The format was always the same. one clear message, one line in the caption, and the link in bio. I used Promote a couple of times with tiny budgets, but the viral edit did most of the work.
The rest came from communities. On Indie Hackers and Reddit, especially the Whop and Skool subreddits, I replied to people who felt ignored. I acknowledged the problem, shared what we were building, and invited them to join if they wanted a place that values maker style posts. No spam, just direct and specific replies.
The landing page has one screen and one action. email only with a short promise of value. After sign up, a short survey asked about pains and topics. Those answers shaped the next videos and the first posts creators want to write.
A few things that helped. posting daily even when views were low, keeping every video to one idea and one call to action, and meeting people where they already are instead of dragging them to a new place too soon. Things that did not help. long explainers, clever copy, or trying to push people in DMs.
Simple math. one viral video supplied most of the list, community replies added a steady trickle each day, and a fast landing captured the interest while it was fresh.
If you want to see what we are building or join the waitlist, here it is.
https://hustle-advisor.com/
Putting my reply to your comment here, since that thread got overloaded and it is not allowing me to reply there :)
Fair point, if user feedback and your market research says that you are going in the right direction, then that's fine. Ultimately, you are the founder who is deep in your startup, while I have very little information, so there is a good chance that you are able to "see" what I can't see. My nudge was meant to make you think.
On the part about paying post by post, this is not the behavior that users are used to. Typically, people subscribe and get access to all content. So, I will suggest you to validate your assumption - are your users willing to pay post-by-post or willing to pay for a subscription.
Thanks for the reply!
About the paying posts, yes, other multiple platforms offer that, for example fansly, Ko fi, and Buy me a coffee
Hoping to see you in the waitlist too, we would love your opinion on our closed beta!
Killer breakdown...
Thanks, Parag! Hope to see you in the waitlist ;)
“Totally feel this — losing track of convos or tasks kills momentum. I’ve been working on an AI memory engine (Elcan) that tackles exactly this. Curious, what’s your biggest challenge with keeping track of tasks from email/Slack/etc?”
That’s a solid breakdown thanks for sharing the numbers it’s interesting how one viral piece can completely outweigh everything else but the consistency and community replies gave you a baseline you could actually count on curious how you’re thinking about keeping those early signups engaged until launch so the momentum doesn’t fade
Thanks! If you mean making sure people don’t forget before launch, it’s simple, we’re going live soon (2 weeks), and on launch day we’ll email everyone on the waitlist with the link and a quick start.
I think the issue it's not about getting entrepreneurs to get paid, you'll get 5K of those. The issue is to get people that paid for knowledge when you can get "everything" for free.
If you launch a job board you'll get 5K of people looking for jobs within a month. The issue is to get companies to post job offer and in top of that, pay you money to post job offers.
How are you going to get people that pay for that content? I think that's the hardest step here.
Fair point, getting payers is the hill to climb. The info market is huge though. Platforms like Whop move well over a billion dollars a year, and education communities are thriving. Our bet is tight, outcome based posts with clear value, plenty of free samples, and simple refunds so readers only pay when it actually helps.
You got my point, but you didn't reply. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm being "rough" here. I wish someone had done this for me years ago, preventing me from falling in love with my product and instead teaching me how to evaluate an idea.
Again, how will you attract people who pay for that content?
Thanks for the question again, I will try to answer it. Part of our acquisition strategy focuses on audiences who already pay for content. Me and my team reach people from places like Whop and Skool, and similar communities, where paid content is normal. That habit lowers the barrier to try a five dollar post, and we back it with previews and easy refunds to remove risk. This way we start with readers who have already paid before, while we build trust for everyone else.
I see. The only issue I see with that approach is that when I pay for a Skool community is 80% because of the brand of the creator. You trust him/her. They got their own community. If you don't get trusted creators (as Skool did with Hormozy), you will be fighting against YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and every other platform where millions of creators upload their content and have hundreds of millions of people looking for content. I strongly suggest nicheing your site a little bit. Good luck to all the team behind this project!
I get what you mean. We are actively working with trusted creators who will publish on HustleAdvisor too. On Hormozi, he does have a Skool community, but from what I can tell he is not very active there, which suggests platform level promotion alone can build a lot of trust. If I am wrong, please correct me, and thanks for the good luck wishes!
I agree with Fabricio, and I am sorry to be point blank but I don't think your idea makes a lot of sense to me.
But yeah, I think you did some brilliant piece of marketing there. Cool stuff!
Thanks for the candid note and the kind words on the marketing! I would love to understand what parts of the idea do not make sense to you, is it the problem, who it is for, the solution, or pricing? A few specifics or examples would help us a lot ;)
Yes, sure. I think your getting 1500 people on the waitlist just means that 1500 people are willing to sign up for a entrepreneur focussed social network. It doesn't at all prove that people will be interested in paying for content posted on your social network.
For example, I goto a Youtube channel, and sort videos by popularity (max views) and consume content based on that - popularity is sort of indirect indication of value. So, when I can get valuable content from Youtube, X and other platforms, why should I pay you?
Also, X and Youtube (if I am not wrong) already do something like member-only content - fans can subscribe and pay for exclusive content, which is similar to what you are trying to do. So, how are you going to beat these big platforms?
You are right! If people joined only for an entrepreneur community, that would be a catastrophe for us. That is why me and my team run two messages in our campaign. Earn with HustleAdvisor, and pay for valuable insights. Both are working about the same, so we expect creators and buyers to be active in balance :)
About YouTube and X. You can find great stuff there, for sure. The catch is that the good pieces are scattered and not focused on this job. HustleAdvisor is built for this use case, so discovery is the product, not an afterthought.
On paying. YouTube and X mostly sell a full channel membership. That unlocks everything, even when you only need one answer. On HustleAdvisor you can buy post by post. No need to subscribe. People read the feed, find a post that fits, and buy right there ;)
If you have more questions, happy to go deeper!
This is a fantastic, no-fluff breakdown, Dennis. The part about seeking out people who "felt ignored" is such a great insight. It's a powerful reminder to lead with empathy.
What first gave you the idea to focus on that specific group of people?
Thanks, appreciate it, Khushi. Two things drove it. I have been that person asking for help and getting silence, so it felt natural to show up there. And when I skim threads, the posts with no reply after a day had the clearest need and intent. I tried answering a few with a real fix and a soft invite, and the response rate beat anything else. That was the signal to focus.
Would love to have you in early. Join the HustleAdvisor waitlist for first access when we open: https://hustle-advisor.com/
Thanks so much for the detailed response, Dennis. That's a brilliant approach – combining personal empathy ('I've been that person') with a clear data signal ('response rate beat anything else'). It’s the perfect formula for finding a real, unmet need.
And I appreciate the invitation to the waitlist. I'll definitely be following your progress.
The reason your post and this strategy resonated so much is that I specialize in helping founders articulate this exact kind of insight. Turning a powerful origin story and a smart acquisition strategy into compelling content is the key to scaling past the first 1,500.
No pressure at all, but if you ever decide you want to turn your own journey into a series of powerful posts or threads, I'd be very interested in that conversation.
Congrats, this is awesome growth. Love the one message per video and the simple landing. What was the exact hook and caption on the 800k TikTok that you think made it take off?
Hi Jonah, Thanks for the comment!
It was a movie edit with our logo in the end, and text "Social network for entrepreneurs, Join now" in the end. That worked pretty well I must say!