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Sam Altman: How to Get Your First 100 Users (Without Spending Any Money)

By Sam Altman · Product & Building · 1 min read

Altman says the first 100 users do not come from ads or PR. They come from doing things that do not scale.

Key Points

Go find users one by one. Manually. In person.
Do not launch to the world. Launch to 10 people who need it badly.
Your first 100 users are your co-designers. Treat them like partners.

The first 100 users come from doing things that do not scale. There is no shortcut.

One by One

Altman says do not buy ads. Do not write blog posts. Do not launch on Product Hunt.

Find one person who has the problem. Show them your product. Get feedback.

Then find the next person. And the next. One by one.

10 Before 100

Do not launch to the world. Launch to 10 people who desperately need your product.

Serve them perfectly. Learn everything from them.

Those 10 people will tell you what to build next. And they will bring the next 10.

The first 100 come from things that do not scale.

Co-Designers

Your first 100 users are not customers. They are co-designers.

They are building the product with you through their feedback.

Treat them like partners. Give them your phone number. Respond in minutes.