How to Get Your First 100 Users for a Side Project or SaaS

Your first 100 users will almost certainly not come from one clever growth trick. They come from many small, manual steps: picking a narrow group of people with a real problem, finding the places where they already talk, reaching out one person at a time, putting your product where they look, and making sure each new user actually gets value. It is slow at first, and it gets faster as you learn what works.

The goal is not 100 signups. It is 100 people who reached the moment where your product helped them. A hundred accounts created by curious visitors who never came back teach you less than twenty people who use the product every week and tell you what is missing.

Here is a practical way to get there for a side project or a small SaaS, without a marketing budget and without spamming anyone.

Why the first 100 users are different

Early users are not mainly revenue. They are your best source of information. They show you who actually needs the product, which words they use to describe the problem, where they get stuck and what they would pay for.

That changes how you should work. You can afford to spend an hour with each user, because there are only a few of them. You can change the product every week, because nobody depends on it yet. And you can choose exactly which users you want, rather than taking whoever shows up.

Start with a narrow definition of your user

"Small businesses" or "creators" is too broad to act on. Write one sentence that names three things: a specific kind of person, the specific situation they are in, and the awkward workaround they use today.

For example: freelance translators who invoice clients in several currencies and currently build every invoice by hand in a spreadsheet. A sentence like that tells you where to look (translator forums and groups), what to say (currency-aware invoices without the spreadsheet) and who to ignore for now.

You can widen the audience later. A narrow start makes every other step in this guide easier.

Do things that don't scale

Paul Graham's essay Do Things That Don't Scale made this advice famous among founders, and it still holds. At the start, do by hand what you will later automate:

• Onboard users personally, on a short call or in a chat.
• Set up their account, import their data or build their first project for them.
• Send welcome emails you wrote yourself, from your own address.
• Fix a reported bug the same day and tell the person who reported it.
• If part of the product is not built yet, do that part manually behind a simple interface.

This is not only about being friendly. Watching real people use your product is the fastest way to find the confusing screens, the missing features and the moment when they decide it is worth their time.

Find where your users already talk

Your users are already discussing their problem somewhere. Your job is to find those places before you post anything.

Places worth checking:

• Subreddits and forums for their profession or hobby.
• Discord and Slack communities, including paid ones.
• Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
• Q&A sites, and the GitHub issues of tools close to yours.
• Comments under tutorials and videos in your niche.
• Reviews of competing products, where complaints point to unmet needs.
• Local meetups, professional associations and niche newsletters.

A simple way to start is to search for the problem itself together with words like "reddit", "forum" or "recommendation". Read the threads. Write down the exact phrases people use, the tools they mention and the questions that keep coming back.

Keep a spreadsheet with each place, its rules on self-promotion and what people ask there. It becomes your map for outreach, content and launches.

Direct outreach, done respectfully

Direct outreach is the most reliable way to get your first users, and also the easiest to get wrong. The difference between helpful and spammy is mostly relevance and tone.

1. Find people who have described the problem in public. A forum post asking for a tool, a complaint about a workaround, a question in a community.
2. Help first, in public. Answer their question properly. Mention your product only if it fits, and say that you made it.
3. Keep private messages short and specific. Refer to what they wrote, explain in one or two sentences what you built, and ask for one small thing, such as trying it and telling you what is confusing.
4. Offer something real. Free access during the early period, help with setup, or a feature built for their case.
5. Follow up once, then stop. Silence is an answer.

A message can be as simple as: "Saw your post about juggling invoices in three currencies. I built a small tool for exactly that. Would you try it for one invoice and tell me what's confusing? Happy to set it up for you."

Do not send bulk cold messages, do not scrape email addresses, and respect each platform's rules as well as the anti-spam and privacy laws that apply to you and to the people you contact.

Build in public

Building in public means sharing your progress openly: what you shipped, what you learned, what went wrong, and any figures you are comfortable sharing. People follow stories, and a steady stream of honest updates on X, LinkedIn, Indie Hackers or your own blog slowly builds an audience that cares about the product.

Two caveats. First, building in public often attracts other makers more than customers, so also write about your users' problem, not only about your own journey. Second, it compounds slowly. Treat it as something that works alongside outreach, not instead of it.

Content that answers real questions

The questions you collected while researching communities are a ready-made content plan. Pick the most common ones and write the best answer you can: a guide, a short video, a template, a checklist or a small free tool.

Mention your product where it genuinely solves the problem, and make the content useful even for readers who never sign up. You can then share it in the communities where the question came up, so it answers the next person who asks. Over time it can also bring visitors from search, although for a new site that usually takes months.

Use launch platforms for a burst of first users

Launch platforms and directories can bring many first visitors in a short time. Product Hunt, Show HN on Hacker News, Indie Hackers, category directories and showcase sites all have audiences that like trying new things.

Treat a launch as a spike to convert, not as a result in itself. Before you launch, make sure new visitors can try the product quickly, that you know which step counts as activation, and that there is an easy way to send feedback. If you are launching an app, our guide on launching a mobile app covers the store-specific steps.

Showcase sites are a small, permanent addition to this. On One Dollar Planet, for example, you can put your project on the planet for $1 a year, and it stands there for people who explore the planet and browse the project catalog. It will not replace outreach, but it is one more place where curious people can come across your work.

Partnerships and integrations

Other products and people already have your users' attention. Working with them is often faster than building an audience from zero.

• Integrations. If your users rely on a tool, connect to it and list your product in its marketplace or integration directory. People browsing those directories are already looking for add-ons.
• Newsletters, creators and community owners. Offer something useful to their audience: free access, a tutorial, a guest post. Ask what would help them, rather than asking for a shout-out.
• Complementary products. A tool that serves the same users without competing with you can be a good partner for a joint tutorial, a bundle or a mutual mention.
• Freelancers and agencies. People who serve your users every day can recommend you to many of them at once.

Referral loops that fit a small product

Referrals work best when sharing is part of using the product, not a campaign bolted on top.

• Shareable output. If users create something other people see, such as a public page, a shared document or a report, it can carry a small link back to you. Let users switch it off.
• Collaboration. Inviting a teammate or a client to work together brings in new users naturally.
• Give-get rewards. Both the person who invites and the person invited get something, such as extra credits or a free month.
• Just ask. When someone tells you they like the product, ask whether they know one person who would find it useful.

Referral mechanics only amplify what is already there. If early users are not getting real value, fix that first.

Measure activation, not signups

Signups are easy to count and easy to misread. What matters is how many people reached the point where the product did something useful for them.

1. Define your activation event. The first moment of real value: the first invoice sent, the first report generated, the first project published.
2. Track three numbers each week: new signups, how many of them activated, and how many came back the following week.
3. Track where each user came from. Add UTM parameters to your links and ask "How did you hear about us?" during signup.
4. Talk to people who did not activate. A short, friendly email asking what stopped them often reveals the biggest problem in your onboarding.
5. Compare channels. A channel that sends fewer signups but more activated users is the better channel.

For your first 100 users a spreadsheet is enough. Dashboards can wait until you have more data than you can read in one sitting.

A six-week plan for your first 100 users

Here is a rough plan that fits into evenings and weekends:

1. Week 1: write your one-sentence user definition, list 20 places where those users talk, define activation and set up tracking.
2. Week 2: have 20 to 30 real conversations through public answers and personal messages, and onboard each new user by hand.
3. Week 3: fix the three biggest problems you saw, and publish two pieces of content that answer common questions.
4. Week 4: launch on one platform and in the communities that allow it.
5. Week 5: submit to directories, contact possible partners and start a simple referral ask.
6. Week 6: review activation by channel and put most of your time into the two channels that work best.

The numbers are targets for effort, not predictions. Some products reach 100 active users within this time, and others need several rounds. If you built quickly with AI tools and the product still feels fragile, our vibe coding guide covers how to steady it before you invite more people in.

Key takeaways

• The first 100 users come from many small, manual steps, not from one trick.
• Define a narrow user, then find the places where those people already talk.
• Outreach works when it is personal, relevant and honest about who you are.
• Launches, content, partners and referrals add reach, but only after the product works for early users.
• Count activated users and where they came from, not signups.

FAQ

How long does it take to get the first 100 users?

It varies widely with the product, the audience and how much time you put in. For a side project built part-time, anywhere from a few weeks to a few months is common. Consistent outreach and quick fixes usually matter more than the launch date.

Should I pay for ads to get my first users?

Usually not at the very start. Ads can bring visitors, but until you know who your best users are and what makes them activate, it is hard to target ads or judge the results. Talk to users first, then test a small budget once you know what a good user looks like.

Is it okay to give the product away free to early users?

Yes. Free or discounted access in exchange for feedback is common and fair. Be clear about how long it lasts and what happens afterwards, and if you plan to charge, ask early users whether they would pay and try to convert a few as soon as it makes sense.

What counts as a user: a signup or an active user?

For decisions, count active users: people who reached your activation event and, ideally, came back. Signups are useful as a top-of-funnel number, but they can grow while the product is failing. Pick your definition once and use it consistently.

What if nobody responds to my outreach?

Check three things: whether you are contacting people who have clearly described the problem, whether your message is short and specific, and whether your ask is small. If replies still do not come, the problem may be less painful than you thought, and a few more conversations can point you to a sharper version of it.