Struggling to get my first SaaS users - how did you do it?
Hey IH,
Right now the challenge I'm facing as a first-time founder is getting my first new users.
I recently launched my first SaaS called OptiGain (A profit optimization dashboard that helps businesses forecast,see trends, and gain insights through charts + reports, I'm 19, Kenyatta University student from Kenya and building it solo.
The product is live (just finished hashing of passwords), and i even added a sample data to make onboarding easier. But since new users need to upload their own data for forecasts to really work, it feels like a high barrier for someone just testing it out
I'd love to hear from others here:
-How did you get your first SaaS users when nobody knew you yet?
-Did you offer something free first, or go straight into trials/paid?
Any advice means alot.
Hi Griffin, this is Yasu. I just signed up to this platform and I just saw your post. I thought i wanted to comment because I too just started a SAAS platform, and I thought your question was an excellent question, and it's a hurdle every single solo founder faces. Incredible work on OptiGain. Building a live SaaS with password hashing while a university student at 19 is seriously impressive. Respect.
I'm in a similar boat with my AI travel platform, ExperiaHub. While I'm not asking for data, I am asking for a user's time and trust to have a conversation with an AI, which is also a high barrier to entry. The core challenge is the same: how do you get someone to invest (their data, their time) before they've experienced the magic?
Here's my perspective based on my journey.
How I'm Getting My First "Users"
To answer your first question, my "first users" aren't paying customers yet. They are validation users. Before I even thought about a public launch, I manually reached out to two groups:
Travelers (The Demand): I found and had calls with 25+ people who fit my target customer profile. I didn't pitch them. I asked them about their problems with travel planning. This built a small group of people who were invested in my solution before it was even perfect.
Suppliers (The Supply): I identified 15+ unique tour operators in my launch market. I reached out personally to show them what I was building and onboarded them one by one.
The key takeaway is this: my first users are coming from manual, non-scalable, personal outreach. They know my name. They know my story.
How You Can Solve the Data Problem (Free vs. Trial)
For your second question, you are 100% correct that the data upload is a high barrier. The sample data is a great start, but the "aha!" moment is seeing your own numbers.
So, for your first 10 users, you have to completely remove that barrier. Don't ask them to do the work. Do it for them.
Here is an actionable plan you can start today:
Find 10 Businesses: Go on Indie Hackers, Twitter, or look at local Kenyan e-commerce stores. Find 10 small businesses that you admire and that you know have sales data.
Craft the "Concierge Onboarding" Offer: Send them a personal email or DM. Do not say, "Hey, try my new SaaS." That will be ignored. Instead, say this:
"Hey [Founder's Name], I'm a 19-year-old student at Kenyatta University, and I'm a huge admirer of what you're building with [Their Business].
I've built a profit optimization tool called OptiGain to help founders find insights in their sales data.
I would love to give you a free, no-strings-attached profit analysis as a way to get feedback. If you're open to it, you can send me a CSV of your sales data, and I will personally set up your dashboard for you and send you a private link to the live charts and reports.
The only thing I'd ask for in return is 30 minutes of your time next week to hear your thoughts. Let me know if you're interested."
Analyze the Results: This does two things:
It completely removes the friction of onboarding.
It provides immense, immediate value. You aren't asking them to test your software; you are giving them a free consultation.
The feedback you get from those 10 "concierge" users will probably be worth more than 1,000 anonymous sign-ups. You'll learn what they find valuable, what's confusing, and you'll get 10 powerful testimonials.
The first users rarely come from a big launch. They come from this kind of manual, personal, and value-first outreach. You've already done the incredibly hard part of building the product. Now go show it to people one by one. Wish you all the best Griffin!
Wow Yasu, this is incredibly valuable. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed response . I really like the idea of "concierge onboarding" doing the heavy lifting for the first 10 users instead of asking them to upload data. That makes total sense, and its something i can start testing right away. Your outreach example message is also really clear, I have been wondering how to approach businesses without sounding spammy, and this gives me a perfect template. I'd love to keep in touch and maybe share notes as we both grow. Your approach with ExperiaHub is inspiring. What's the best way to connect outside of here?
Hi Griffin, I happy to know that my comment might be useful. I have whats app which the number is 81-90-4612-2598, please contact me any time!
Thanks Yasu! I really appreciate the offer. It means alot. I'll reach out privately so we can connect further. Excited to learn more about your journey with ExperiaHub too.
Good idea to test this early — too many builders skip that step. FB ads before the product is finished to see if the demand is even there before you build something that nobody asked for. Free and Trials route is totally dependent on the business and user.
For example if you have features that give expansion revenue (as in "need more credits? go to paid version."), but based on what your saying most like free trial. have the onboarding be simple and about instant value and them embedding their data.
Its ok bro I have zero idea how to code but I know how to sell lol
Haha I like that. I'm still learning to code and build, so its good to hear from someone who's strong on the sales side. You're right, instant value in onboarding is key. I've added a sample of dataset, but i think i need to refine the flow so new users get quick insights without much setup.
Hi, I'd love to get your opinion on how would you use FB ads before building? Do you just do a survey or just a waitlist?
Good question. I'm still early in figuring that out myself, but from what i've seen others do, the most effective route is usually a simple landing page + waitlist instead of just a survey.That way the FB ad drives people to a page where you test things like: Does the messaging actually make them click? or Do they care enough to drop their email?
If I may, I'd suggest taking the waitlist route. This approach helps you avoid looking like you're lost or unsure about what you're doing.
Create a good campaign that leads to your landing page. This page should showcase your product's features, include images of the product (e.g., the dashboard), and ideally, a short video demo. Also, add good copywriting and a clear CTA (in this case, 'Join the Waitlist'). That's it. If your product and value proposition are strong, people will give you their email addresses.
Also, when you design the campaign, make sure to niche down to your target audience so you don't waste money
Getting first users is always the hardest part — not the product itself, but building trust.
What helps:
I’m in the same spot (building Kaelis, solo at 16), and focusing on this approach is already opening conversations.
Stick with it — those first 3–5 users are a grind for everyone.
That's a really solid advice. I like how you framed your feedback as the easier "yes". That's makes a lot of sense since people don't feel pressured that way. Respect for starting kaelis at 16, that's impressive.
First off, congrats on building something, many people don't usually get that far. I'm also on the same journey and so not sure how effective my advice would be; the 1st important but obvious thing I'd say is keep talking to your target customers. There's plenty of businesses around KU, so I'd start there. It will help you identify what matters most to them, as well as refining your pitch and web copy.
As you try to onboard new users, I'd suggest manually helping them setup in the beginning. This may not work as well as at customer 100, but works exceptionally for customer 1.
Also, if it's live and available online, take EVERY opportunity to share the link with people. For example, including it in this post would have offered the chance for others to get a better view of Optigain.
Best of luck!
Thanks alot for this, its really helpful. You're right about starting around KU, I actually hadn't fully tapped into that yet but it makes sense since those businesses are right in reach. I've also been manually setting things up for early users, and it definitely feels like the best way to learn where they struggle. And good point on sharing the link.I hesitated because I didn't want to come off too "pitchy" but i"ll include it next time for context.Appreciate that. Are you building something as well?
You're definitely on the right path. Yeah, I'm working on a product for lightweight HR functions. Although, not yet at the launch phase of things.
Starting out is always the hardest part — I’ve been in a similar spot while growing my own project (tekan3apk )
. A few things that helped me and could work for you:
Lower the entry barrier – if users need to upload data, give them more preloaded demo datasets so they can quickly experience the insights without effort. Once they see value, they’re more likely to upload their own data.
Communities first – share OptiGain on places where your target users hang out (Reddit, LinkedIn groups, Indie Hackers, niche forums). Don’t pitch too hard; instead, answer questions and show how your tool solves real problems.
Offer a free tier or trial – early users are more willing to experiment when there’s no cost or risk involved. Even a limited free version builds trust.
Talk to your first 10 users directly – ask friends, classmates, or small business owners to try it. Sit with them, watch where they struggle, and improve onboarding.
Thanks alot for this, really appreciate for taking your time. I like this idea of giving more demo datasets,, right now i only have one sample of set, but adding more realistic ones could really lower that barrier. Also i hadn't thought much about sitting down with the first 10 users and watching where they struggle. Thats supper practical.
I mostly preach 'Build and use myself first' - at least I know that I need to find the same folks. I know the ideal persona, and I know where to find the guys.
Getting out to friends, acquaintances, partners, former colleagues, clients - would be the first best way to start gaining the audience. Offer free to the best friends - just for feedback. Offer a large discount for the first early adopters - again, mostly because I was interested in feedback.
Plus, eating your own dog food is the best way to have a constantly improving product.
That's one story.
However, if that's a complicated B2B stuff (well, profit optimization is complex) - you have probably been building it on some sandbox company, right? For some company, on some real or test data, right? Or not?
Thanks alot for sharing this. I really like the idea of "build and use myself first." I've been trying to "eat my own dog food" by testing optigain with sample data, but you're right. Real business data is where the real insights show up. At the moment, i've been mainly using sample datasets i created, not data from a real company yet. That's why i recently added demo data to make onboarding easier for new users.
Got it. Thanks!
Hey, I'd probably recommend that you try finding a really small feature or subset of features in your large product, copy it and make just one simple one-pager tool doing just one job perfectly. Laser-focus this tool on one specific organic keyphrase and try to get free SEO traffic for it. A tripwire/lead magnet.
This can be a small step for your potential leads to warm them up before the main product.
That's a really smart approach. I like how it lowers the barrier and gives people value before asking them to commit to the full product. Almost like a teaser that builds trust. For optigain i could probably spin off something like "simple profit margin calculator" or a trend forecaster demo" as a one-pager tool. That could make it easier to get organic traffic while still pointing people toward the full platform.
I feel your pain, but seriously and as other will say you need to hang out where others (potential users) hang out in your niche. But I get it even thats hard to do when you are not 100% sure where to even start. What are you building? I have opened my product [Intent Lens] up with a generous free tier but that means nothing without users and that comes from building trust with them. Hope it helps.
Thanks alot for this. It's encouraging to hear others are in the same boat figuring out the "where to start" part. I'm building optigain, a profit optimization dashboard that helps small businesses analyze their sales data and see insights through clean visualizations(charts,reports etc). I like what you're doing with intent lens and the generous free tier. Totally i agree it all comes down to trust. How have you been approaching building that trust with your early users so far?
We did the "Find users first, build later" approach, so that we were having conversations with our potential customers to find out what they really wanted. When we had an MVP ready we launched a beta test with those initial users we talked to. The beta test was free, low barrier to entry and gave us some great feedback. When we officially left the beta test most of our "testers" instantly became our first customers. Plus they didn't even have to sign up again, they just continued to use our product as they had done during the beta.
That's really a smart approach. I like how you started with conversations first and then made the beta test almost a seamless bridge into paying users. Right now with optigain I've only had a couple of casual chats, but not enough structured conversations yet. Your method makes me realize I should probably start there before pushing harder on growth. When you were running those early conversations, how did you actually find and reach out to them?
We looked at where they were spending their time. This could be at a local meetup, or in our case, online forums. Define who your target audience is and look them up. If you're selling surf boards, maybe there's a surfing club by your local beach, or maybe there's a community of surfers online who talk about their experiences. Find where they are and go from there.
That makes alot of sense. Thanks for breaking it down. For optigain, my target is small online businesses(like local shops and e-commerce sellers here in Kenya). I guess the challenge is figuring out which communities they're actually active in.