My journey so far to 86 free users, 2 paying customers, and 3 user feedback calls.

I worked on https://kurby.ai, a real estate AI platform, for 6 months before I was ready to release the MVP. That was 4 months ago.

My main focus hasn't been marketing because I know the product isn't ready for mainstream yet. My focus has been on getting feedback from users in my target market, improving the product, and adding paid plans that will not scare off my target audience.

Since the MVP was released, I've spoken to about a dozen users in my target market about what they would like to see in a platform and I've worked to implement it. These dozen users hadn't actually used my product though. That has been a lot tougher.

You always hear advice to get feedback from users but I never knew just how tough it was to get feedback from actual users who are using the platform.

I found it a lot easier to get free users than it was to get feedback from them. Most of them would just stop using the platform and I have no clue why. Surprisingly, I almost found it easier to get paid users than to get users on a feedback video call/product demo.

Here's what I've been doing so far to get feedback.

1. Email drip campaign. A Welcome email is sent out immediately after sign up and then a Feedback Request email is sent out after 3 days. I did it after 3 days so they'd have the chance to use the platform. The email includes a link to my Calendly so they can book a call with me directly but also mentions that they can leave feedback directly in the email if they prefer. If users sign up for a paid plan then they receive a similar email asking them to schedule time with me.

Results: I just had my first call with a user who booked using this link and it was an extremely enlightening call and I got some great actionable information out of it.

2. New Features email. I send this out to all users whenever new features are released and when we released paid plans and restricted some features I got my second phone call request.

Here's what I've just implemented.

1. Requiring phone number on sign up. I used to only require name and email but I wasn't learning anything from users. From now on when users sign up I'm going to reach out with a phone call and ask them questions about who they are, how they found us, and what they like and don't like about the platform. I shied away from this because I thought users might not like it but now I'm ready to test it out.

Well, this is more of a rant but I'll provide updates on my progress in the coming months and if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them!