From Idea to Your First 100 Users: A Tactical Playbook

Getting your first 100 users is the hardest part of building a startup. Not because it requires the most work, but because it requires a completely different mindset than what comes after. At this stage, nothing scales, and that's the point. You need to do things that don't scale to learn what eventually will.

Here is a tactical playbook for going from a raw idea to 100 real users, based on what I've seen work firsthand.

Phase 1: Validate the Idea (Week 1-2)

Before you build anything, you need to confirm that real people have the problem you think they have and would pay for a solution. This is not optional. Skipping validation is the number one reason startups fail.

Talk to 20 People

Find 20 people who fit your target audience and have a conversation with them. Not a pitch, a real conversation. Ask them:

• What is the hardest part about [the problem you are solving]?
• What tools or workarounds do you currently use?
• How much time or money does this problem cost you?
• If a solution existed, what would it need to do for you to switch?

The goal is not to confirm your idea. It's to understand their reality. If you go into these conversations trying to validate your assumptions, you'll hear what you want to hear. Go in genuinely curious and let the data surprise you.

Look for Patterns

After 20 conversations, patterns will emerge. If 15 out of 20 people describe the same frustration in similar terms, you've found a real problem. If everyone describes a different problem, your idea might be too broad or solving something people don't actually care enough about.

Phase 2: Build a Landing Page, Not a Product (Week 2-3)

Once you've validated the problem, build a landing page that clearly describes your solution and includes a call to action. This isn't a product. It's a test.

Your landing page needs exactly four things:

• A headline that describes the outcome your product delivers, not what it does. "Save 5 hours a week on financial reporting" beats "AI-powered financial analytics platform."
• A brief description of how it works: three steps or three bullet points maximum.
• Social proof if you have any. Even a quote from one of your 20 interviews counts.
• A clear call to action. "Join the waitlist," "Get early access," or "Book a demo." Something that captures intent.

Your landing page is not a brochure. It is an experiment. The metric that matters is conversion rate: what percentage of visitors take the desired action.

Phase 3: Manual Outreach (Week 3-5)

This is where most founders stall. They build the landing page, share it on social media, get a handful of signups, and wait. Don't wait. Go get users one by one.

Direct Messages

Go back to the 20 people you interviewed. Share the landing page with them personally and ask if they'd like early access. Then ask each of them if they know anyone else who has the same problem. This warm referral chain is how your first 30-50 users will come.

Community Engagement

Find online communities where your target users gather: Reddit, Discord, Slack groups, Facebook groups, Twitter spaces. Don't spam your link. Instead, contribute genuinely to conversations about the problem you solve. When people ask for solutions, mention yours naturally.

Content as Outreach

Write a detailed post about the problem you are solving. Not a product announcement, but a genuinely useful piece of content that helps people with the problem whether or not they use your product. Share it in relevant communities. This builds credibility and drives traffic to your landing page.

Phase 4: The Social Proof Loop (Week 5-8)

Once you have your first 20-30 users, you unlock the most powerful growth mechanism available at this stage: social proof.

• Ask for testimonials. Reach out to your happiest users and ask them to describe their experience in one or two sentences. Put these on your landing page.
• Share milestones publicly. "We just hit 50 users" is interesting content. People are drawn to momentum.
• Feature your users. Write about how specific users are benefiting from your product. Tag them when you share it. They'll reshare to their network.
• Create a referral incentive. It doesn't need to be complex. Early access to a premium feature, a personal thank-you, or even just recognition in your community.

When to Build vs. When to Sell

A common question is: "Should I build the product first or start selling first?" The answer depends on your product, but the general rule is: sell first whenever possible.

If your product is a service or tool that can be partially delivered manually, start selling it before it is fully built. Deliver the first few customers' outcomes by hand. This teaches you what the product actually needs to do and generates revenue before you write significant code.

If your product requires significant upfront development to deliver any value at all, build the smallest possible version and start selling it before it's "ready." Early users are more forgiving than you think, and their feedback will shape a much better product than building in isolation ever could. If you choose to build it yourself, AI Code Academy can dramatically speed up the process. Start with the free foundational courses to learn AI-assisted development, then explore the pro courses and coaching with a membership if you want to go deeper.

The Mindset Shift

Getting to 100 users isn't a growth problem. It's a hustle problem. You don't need viral loops, paid ads, or a content marketing strategy. You need to personally find people with the problem you solve and convince them to try your solution.

This is uncomfortable. It feels like it doesn't scale. That's because it doesn't, and it's not supposed to. The tactics that get you from 0 to 100 are completely different from the ones that get you from 1000 to 10,000. Embrace that.

If you want to learn more about my approach to building products, or if you're ready to start building, let's talk. The first 100 users are closer than you think.