Hi, I'm John Saddington! I'm an indie app creator & venture-backed entrepreneur. I'm obsessed with community. AMA!

Super awesome of you to do the AMA @8bit.

My main question is towards getting the first 100 paying customers.

I've heard a lot of strategies, mostly around hand-to-hand combat (highly personalized cold email, retargeting people that work in certain companies, etc).

What has been your tried & true method to get those first 25 customers even? Once tapped out of friends & family to buy, it seems a bit fuzzy how to scale past that.

Should the goal be 1,000 email subscribers before even focusing on the customers? If so, what does that look like.

(All this assumes the product is something the market is actually willing & wanting to pay for)/

Thanks!

Where do you get all your energy from?

You are on fire, dude I'd love to just meet you and absorb some of that (chi) energy from you. Also, you look like 23 ish, I wish if I'm at 38 I look like you lol. Much respect for your activism here. I literally am following your each and every post even if I don't do it intentionally you're just there! Thank you from behalf of all IH newbies like me <3

Can you recommend any good resources for getting started contributing in open-source projects?

I like community too
WELCOME TO INDIEHACKERS DUDE!!! ;)

Hi John, (again we've emailed a few times). I have a question, hopefully a good one...

Your business seems like a robust one in the face of the pandemic, because it a remote-first community. Have you made any changes or small pivots as a result of how locked-down the world has become in the last 7 days?

What was the single biggest influence that made you successful? There are a lot of ingredients, I'm sure, but was there a chance encounter or a way of thinking that did the trick? Or you've always succeeded since you remember? :D (as opposed to making only duds for 5 years like me)

What’s the piece of content you’re most proud of?

(a few questions in one)
What do you see as the difference between "followers" and "community"?

My take: Casey Neistat / MKBHD seem to have very large number of "followers" vs Nerdfighteria (DFTBA) which feels more like a community.

How do I know which makes more sense for my business? Should I be leading to get followers or engaging to create community?

What's your favorite(s)...

• Movie?
• Book?
• YouTuber?
• Video game?

Also a comment...

Seeing the responses in this AMA is awesome! I'm going to have to start looking around for a community pool for me to cannon ball into... lol

Hi John, Great work your doing fair play.
What metrics are the best the track for an early stage startup?
What do you find is the best way to approach potential partners or brands if you do not have a direct line in?

Thanks!

Top five things to do when starting a community? Also, thoughts on a proprietary platform (like IH) vs something like a facebook group? Thanks!

i'm literally just waking up... it's 7:14am right now... i will get to these!

just give me a sec to get some ☕...

Since the first post I read of yours on IndieHackers I knew you’d be a role model for me. Thanks for doing this AMA, I really appreciate it and so does everyone in IndieHackers. My question is, what was the process of finding what you love? And how did you know you found it? This is where I am right now. Everyday I feel a little more lost. Not sure exactly what to work on. Not wanting to waste my time on something that won’t be successful. Pretty much always in a state of uneasiness.

Hey John I love your GIF! I'm 15 and I just launched my 1st product: LoveYourLanding. I'd love to hear what you think.

You look too young to have three kids! 😂

Congrats on your pivot and the new vision. For a short time I rode the crypto train and enjoyed DCTV. Best of luck to you both and your team.