Invite Only vs Anyone Can Sign Up?

Hey Alex! Sorry for my late reply.

Happy to answer your questions!

How did the early adopters hear about you? Did you invite them?

• The earliest adopters were my friends and then from there, it spread through word of mouth. Basically, anyone who was there to listen, I'd tell them what I was working on! This made up ~50 people.
• After the first 50, I started participating in different Reddit communities. Not really to promote my app, but just to participate and connect with like minded individuals. Every now and then, there was an opportunity that someone was looking for an app like mine - and that was my chance. This made up the rest of my user base and we're pretty much still functioning the same way.
• Other than that, I launched on BetaList and got a few early adopters this way.

How much did your waitlist grow substantially MoM?

• I don't have specific numbers. But, it was pretty slow for the first 3 months. Maybe grew from 0 to 20. Then next 3 months, 20 - 60ish. Then, we ended up stopping the waitlist at 100 and just letting everyone know that it'll be open invite by the New Year.
• For the waitlist, we made sure to keep everyone engaged. We sent out emails about behind the scenes updates, educational blogs, updates on our roadmap, etc.

What is your product? (if you dont mind me asking)

• Sidekick is a productivity tool to eliminate internet distractions and complete focus work. You can set goals, block distracting websites, schedule pomodoro sessions, etc.

Just another big learning I thought might be helpful!

• I wouldn't focus so much on the numbers, but the quality of feedback. Sidekick has a small group of SUPERFANS and honestly, they're a HUGE reason the product is improving and why it's all worthwhile. Imo, this is much more important than a big number of less-moderate passionate users.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have anymore questions. I'd be happy to provide my experience!