Getting your first user feels magical. It’s a moment of validation someone found value in what you’ve built. But what comes after is far more challenging and far more important: getting the next 10, 50, or 100 users.
It’s often said that “if you can’t get 100 users to care, you won’t get a million.” That’s because the first 100 aren’t just early adopters they’re your first community, your first evangelists, and your first real feedback loop.
And no, it doesn’t come from paid ads, viral hacks, or growth stunts. It comes from intentional, consistent outreach, product clarity, and building genuine relationships.
The First User: Why It’s More Than a Number
For most founders, the journey from idea to first user is full of false starts. You might’ve tried several landing pages, a few DM campaigns, or an MVP that didn’t get much love. That’s okay.
What matters is what that first real user teaches you:
▪️What was their pain point?
▪️Why did they try your product?
▪️Did they return again?
If you’re still on this step, I recommend checking out the Startup Metrics 101 Guide, where we explore metrics like activation and retention essential before thinking about scale.
Finding the First 10–50: Start With Conversations, Not Campaigns
The first batch of users is usually hidden in plain sight. They’re in your network. In founder groups. On LinkedIn. On forums. In communities where people talk about the problem you’re solving.
You don’t need 10,000 followers. You need 10 real conversations.
Some of the best early growth I’ve seen came from:
▪️Direct outreach to ideal users
▪️Sharing product stories in niche groups
▪️Offering early access in exchange for feedback
▪️Solving their problem manually before automating it
Early growth is not about scale. It’s about signal.
In our blog on 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Launching a Startup, we explained how many founders skip this and jump into paid campaigns too early and burn cash without results.
Getting to 100: Creating Systems, Not Just Hacks
Once you’ve got a handful of active users, the focus shifts to building a system. One that brings consistent users in even if slowly and helps you learn what works and what doesn’t.
Here’s where you start building your own early funnel:
▪️Website or landing page with clear CTA
▪️Basic onboarding flow
▪️Manual follow-ups for retention
▪️A simple feedback system (Google Form or Notion)
You should start measuring conversion, retention, churn, and time-to-value all of which we covered in Startup Metrics 101.
Even if it’s scrappy, start tracking what’s working.
Feedback Over Features
When you hit user 30 or 40, you might feel tempted to build more features. But this is often when startups go sideways. At this stage, what you need more than anything is depth, not width.
Listen to your most engaged users. Understand where they’re stuck. Watch how they use your product or how they don’t.
Real growth happens not when you add more, but when you refine the core.
We explored this mindset in the MVP Planning Checklist prioritizing features that matter, not just features that sound cool.
The Magic of Early Evangelists
By the time you hit 80–100 users, a pattern begins to emerge. You’ll find 4–5 users who genuinely love the product, give consistent feedback, or refer others.
Treat them well. These users are your brand story in the making. If you’re thinking ahead toward growth marketing, they’re the earliest examples of what we’ll soon explore in our upcoming blog: “Mastering Startup Marketing: From Zero to Buzz.”
Final Thought
Reaching your first 100 users isn’t about luck. It’s about learning what real people care about, staying close to your user, and showing up consistently.
At Moonhive, we’ve worked closely with founders to build early traction through MVP refinement, customer feedback loops, and clear growth systems. If you’re somewhere between user #1 and user #100, this is the phase that sets the tone for everything that follows.
-> Explore our Startup Resource Hub to find tools, templates, and guidance as you grow.