The problem with thinking about but not actually doing something is that your brain naturally arrives at a roadblock. A hard task seems impossible not because it is, but because your brain has not underwent the experience and imagery necessary to possibly understand how going about such a task would be possible.
In Horizon Zero Dawn, one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, I struggled to defeat this one machine boss. I had been getting along in the game just fine, enjoying progressing through the scenery and the storyline. Then this boss came and started giving me a hard time. I tried for several hours on Day 1. No luck. On Day 2, I give it another couple hour’s try. I was getting slaughtered every time.
This is impossible. I was getting angry.
What if I never beat this and have to stop playing this beautiful game? I’ve given up on games sorely before in the past.
But I wanted this game. I wanted to keep playing it. Low on sugar, it was one of the sweets in my life.
Day 3, and I still could not defeat this brutally unfair challenge. I began to curse at the game. “Screw you! I don’t need this. Sorry game devs, you screwed this one. I hate you.”
Day 4 came and I just could not stop thinking about defeating this son of a bitch. I died plenty that day, but I didn’t care. I became desensitized to failing. Now I was just having fun, curious to see if I can beat this unrelenting opponent. And a funny thing was happening now: I was getting smarter. I began observing all the little tricks the boss would do: when he did this, I did that. When he came from here, I went from there. When he shot up, I shot down.
I was making progress. I didn’t destroy him on Day 4, but I was close.
Morning Day 5 comes around. I play the game at night. I spent all day thinking about how I’m going to destroy this monster. I had learned the tricks, studied the opponent, and had gained the confidence that it could be done.
First try. I destroy him. In minutes. I wasn’t even scratched. What? That’s it? It was that easy?
And then I was hooked. More challenges. I WANT MORE CHALLENGES. This is all you got? Psht, foolish game devs. I went out looking for the biggest, baddest monsters, and I destroyed them all.
Of course, a couple days later a new boss came around that I could not get past. But I’ve seen this before. I’ll get him, it’s just a matter of Time.
Who knew a video game could teach you so much about life?
My giving up when a challenge came my way has been a signature of my adolescence. Always justified of course — this is impossible. But recently, I’ve been pushing past this mentality, and it’s surprising to see just how, I don’t know, surpassable things are. It just takes Time, and not giving up.
So that’s how you get your first 100 users.
Spend Time, and don’t give up.
Now, although that is really the best advice I could give, I’m not going to leave you hanging with just that. Below I’ll explain some of the steps I took to get my first 100, 1000, and 5000 users with Standard Notes, an open-source encrypted notes app.
Remember, the strategy is to just spend Time, and not give up. This early on, it will just be the addition of small things that help. Getting 10 impressions and zero signups on your website the second day is not bad at all.
So, what are things that will get you 10 impressions? Almost anything.
- Leave comments on Hacker News, reddit, and other forums where you reply to the actual post, and somehow relate it to your product. Obviously you’d do this only if there was a natural relation between the post and your product.
- Search Twitter for people who are seeking alternatives to the incumbent product that your product is replacing/competing with. Reach out to them and offer to help.
That’s it. Participating in discussions around the web with quality posts is more than enough to grow your operation.
You’ll get some follows, some users, some traffic.
You’ll also get good feedback on how to improve your product. So you’ll do that for a bit. After some Time, you’ll have a bunch of users.
You want more. So how do you get from 100 to 1000? This one’s going to take even more Time.
I don’t have your answers. Because just as with the boss from Horizon, you brain needs to see it to believe it. It needs to grow from that experience. And then getting to 1000 users will be, what, that’s it? It was that easy? But I will tell you some of the things that helped me.
- Writing articles related to the privacy and encryption industry. These were highly relevant to my product, and contributed to the discussion going on in the tech world at that time. The most important advice I could think of when writing articles on Medium or other blogs is: tie it to something happening right now. Don’t just write about what you feel like writing about. Plug yourself into the conversation. That’s when your work will begin to flow.
- Continued participating in online discussions, as well as tweeting to those who were looking for Evernote alternatives.
And so many other small things I cannot possibly remember. I just knew that I would pounce on any opportunity I had to relate something to my product.
Eventually, these things start compounding. You’ll get this or that email from someone who has this or that feedback, and you’ll develop a support group of people that care. You’ll do this for some Time, while every day improving your product, and eventually you’ll reach 2500 users.
At this point, it’s just a matter of repeating, and trying new things every day. What new things? The day will tell you. Just go with it.
When you put in the Time, and despite setbacks persevere, it’s sort of like alchemy — you can turn anything into gold.
If you’re curious to learn more about Standard Notes, an open-source notes app that focuses on simplicity and privacy, visit https://standardnotes.org.
Three stories you should read:
- Starting a Business as a Developer in 2017
If you’re a developer trying to create a product or start a company in 2017, there are a few things you should know. - Surviving Open-Source
- “How many users do you have?”
How to have better conversations with the people you meet.
