Struggling to Find My First Audience—Where Did You Start?

I’m struggling with the same problem as a solo builder.

I do have some money I could spend on ads, but paid acquisition feels too expensive before I understand whether the real problem is the product, onboarding, positioning, store page, or target audience.

Startup investing works because you can make many bets. Maybe only one out of ten succeeds, but you need enough chances to reach that one.

Solo founders often cannot afford ten experiments. If we spend too much on ads at the beginning, we may die on the first one before receiving enough real feedback.

That’s why I think independent builders need stronger mutual validation networks — not fake promotion or review swapping, but honestly testing each other’s products, giving onboarding feedback, reporting bugs, and sharing which channels actually worked.

We should help each other reach a minimum level of momentum first. After that, everyone can compete based on product quality and execution.

first audience usually isn't a channel — it's a place where people already describe the problem in their own words.

what worked for me: pick 2–3 communities, hunt by pain phrases (not product category), reply 1:1 helpful before any pitch.

what's your product in one line, and have you tried any community outreach yet or mostly waiting on content/SEO?