Every SaaS founder knows the feeling: you've built something you believe in, but the dashboard shows zero active users. The gap between a working product and a viable business comes down to one milestone — your first 10 genuine users.
Not beta testers who signed up as a favour. Not colleagues testing in staging. Real people who fit your target market, use your product in their workflow, and tell you what they think.
Why the first 10 matter more than the next 1,000
Your first 10 users are not just early revenue. They are your feedback engine, your social proof, and your path to product-market fit. Here is why they matter so much:
- Product-market fit signal. If 10 people who match your ICP stick around and use your product weekly, you have evidence that the problem is real and your solution works.
- Feedback density. Ten engaged users generate more actionable insight than a thousand drive-by signups from a Product Hunt launch.
- Social proof seed. Ten genuine users give you your first testimonials, case studies, and word-of-mouth referrals — all inside the market you actually sell to.
- Conversion baseline. You can measure activation, retention, and willingness to pay before spending on paid acquisition.
Step 1: Define your Ideal Customer Profile first
Before you try any acquisition channel, be ruthlessly specific about who your product is for. An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) typically covers four dimensions:
- Industry — What vertical does your customer work in?
- Company size — Freelancer, small team, mid-market, or enterprise?
- Role — Who is the day-to-day user? Who signs the cheque?
- Region — Does geography or timezone matter for your product?
Without this clarity, every acquisition channel becomes a spray-and-pray exercise. With it, you can evaluate each channel by one question: does it reach people who match my ICP? Learn more in our ICP definition guide.
Step 2: Exhaust your warm network
The fastest path to your first 2–3 users is people who already trust you. Not a cold email to a stranger — a genuine conversation with someone in your network who matches your ICP.
- Scan LinkedIn connections filtered by industry and role.
- Ask existing contacts for warm introductions: "Do you know a [role] at a [size] [industry] company who struggles with [problem]?"
- Be specific about what you are asking for: a 15-minute onboarding call, not "check out my product."
This channel is high-effort but high-conversion. It does not scale, but that is the point — you are looking for depth, not breadth.
Step 3: Go where your ICP already gathers
Every ICP has online watering holes: Slack communities, Discord servers, subreddits, niche forums, Twitter circles. The goal is not to spam your link — it is to become a visible, helpful member and then introduce your product when relevant.
- Answer questions related to the problem you solve.
- Share genuine insights (not thinly-veiled product pitches).
- When someone describes the exact pain your product addresses, offer it naturally.
Step 4: Consider Product Hunt — but know its limits
A Product Hunt launch can drive a burst of traffic, but most of those visitors are other founders and product enthusiasts — not your ICP. PH is great for brand awareness but rarely delivers sustained, feedback-giving users.
If you do launch on Product Hunt, treat it as a top-of-funnel event, not your entire acquisition strategy. Have your onboarding, feedback collection, and follow-up ready before launch day.
Step 5: Use a targeted acquisition platform
Platforms like first10 are built specifically for this problem. Instead of hoping the right people stumble across your product, you define your ICP, and the platform matches you with users who fit.
On first10, every matched user gets a free 12-month subscription to your paid plan and commits to giving structured video feedback every month. You pay a flat fee per genuine user — no impressions, no retainers, no wasted spend.
Turn your first users into advocates
Landing your first 10 is not the finish line — it is the starting line. Here is how to extract maximum value from your earliest cohort:
- Collect feedback relentlessly. Monthly structured video feedback surfaces patterns you will miss in one-off conversations.
- Build in public with their input. Show users how their feedback shaped a feature. It deepens their investment in your product.
- Ask for testimonials and case studies. Your first users' words carry more weight than any marketing copy you write.
- Create a referral loop. Happy users in your ICP know other people in the same ICP. Make referral effortless.
Feedback over vanity metrics
At the earliest stage, your north star is not signups, pageviews, or MRR. It is the quality and density of feedback from people who match your ICP. Ten users who tell you what is broken, what is missing, and what is delightful are worth more than a thousand anonymous signups.
Every decision you make about features, positioning, and pricing should be informed by this feedback. That is why the first 10 are not just users — they are co-builders.
Ready to find your first 10? first10 matches you with ICP-fit users who try your product free for 12 months and give structured monthly video feedback. No ad spend, no cold outreach — just genuine users who actually fit.