How do I acquire my first user?
Hey friend, this is an excellent question, and many people who build great products get stuck at this very step. Don't overcomplicate it; there aren't that many profound theories involved.
Imagine you're not building software, but opening a small breakfast stall on a street corner. Who would be your first customer?
1. Start with those around you (Easiest, and most important)
Your first users will likely be your friends, family, former colleagues, and classmates.
Don't be shy. Just tell them: "Hey, I've built something to solve [a specific problem], could you help me try it out? I want to hear your most honest thoughts, even if you think it's terrible."
Key point: You're not asking them for praise, but for the most genuine, unvarnished feedback. They are the only ones who will tell you the truth. At this stage, a friend who says "This button is too hard to find" is worth more than 100 likes from strangers.
2. Fish in the 'pond,' don't wait for rain in the desert
Where do your users usually hang out?
- Online communities: WeChat groups, QQ groups, Douban groups, Zhihu, Tieba, or some niche forums? For example, if you've built an app to help people record book excerpts, you should be active in various reading groups and Douban's book clubs.
- Offline circles: Industry meetups, weekend local events, interest groups.
What do you do once you're there? Absolutely do not start by advertising! That's the most annoying thing. You should first become a part of the community: lurk, observe, see what everyone is discussing and complaining about. Actively help others, answer questions, and share useful information. Once you've built rapport, or when you see a perfect opportunity, you can naturally say: "Hey, I also encountered the problem everyone's talking about, so I built a small tool to solve it. If you're interested, feel free to try it out and give me some feedback."
3. Attract them with "content"
Create content and share insights related to the problem your product solves.
- If your product helps programmers improve efficiency, then write an article like "5 Underrated VS Code Extensions."
- If your product teaches people to cook, then shoot a short video like "Learn to Make Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes in 3 Minutes."
Publish this content on relevant platforms. People interested in your content will naturally be your potential users. At the end of the content, you can casually mention: "If you want to solve this problem more systematically, you can try this small tool/app I developed."
4. Manual search, precise "outreach"
This method might seem clumsy, but it's extremely effective.
Spend a day on platforms like Zhihu, Weibo, Jike, and Xiaohongshu, searching for people who are complaining about the problem your product aims to solve.
For example, if your product solves "asymmetric rental information," then search for keywords like "renting," "scam," "agent." Find those who are complaining about difficulties in renting, and then send them a private message with a sincere attitude:
"Hello, I saw you're also troubled by finding a place to live. I've been through this recently too, so my friends and I built a small tool specifically to aggregate individual rental listings. I'd like to invite you to be one of our first beta users and give us some suggestions. It's completely free; we just want to make the product better. If you're not interested, just ignore this. Sorry for the disturbance."
This kind of one-on-one communication has a high success rate. Your goal isn't to immediately acquire hundreds or thousands of users, but to find that first, second, or tenth core user willing to talk to you.
To summarize:
Forget fancy terms like "growth hacking" or "viral marketing." Your only task right now is to find one person, get them to use your product, then talk to them, and have them tell you what's good and what's bad about it. Then you iterate, and find the next person.
Your first users aren't there to make you money; they're there to help you make a product that truly solves problems. Good luck!