You don't find your first 10 users with advertising — you find them through one-on-one conversations. At this stage the goal isn't growth, it's proof. Ten people who genuinely live the problem and whom you talk to directly are worth more than 10,000 anonymous visitors. Here are the concrete tactics that work before you even have a finished product.
Start with your close network
Your first 10 users are almost always fewer than two handshakes away. Don't try to scale: list 30 people who probably have the problem you solve, and reach out to each of them, personally.
- Former colleagues and clients: they already know you deliver, so the trust barrier is gone.
- Friends of friends in your target sector: a warm intro converts ten times better than a cold message.
- People who have complained about the problem in front of you: write them down, they are your best candidates.
Go where your audience already complains
Your future users are already discussing their problem somewhere: an industry Slack, a subreddit, a Discord server, a LinkedIn group, a niche forum. Don't spam your link. Be useful, answer real questions, and let people come and ask what you're building.
- Identify 3 to 5 communities where your audience is active every week.
- Add value for two weeks before mentioning anything.
- When someone describes exactly the problem, move to DMs: it's the most reliable buying signal.
Send targeted DMs, not mass messages
Cold outreach still works, provided it's hyper-targeted and personal. Send 10 tailored messages rather than 500 generic ones. Talk about the person's problem, never your product first. A good DM asks a question — it sells nothing.
Your first 10 users aren't won at scale. They're won one conversation at a time.
Test with a landing page and pre-sales
You don't need a finished product to test demand, just a clear promise. A simple landing page with a pre-signup or pre-order button measures real interest. A pre-sale, even a symbolic one, is the only true test: nobody pulls out their card for an idea they don't believe in.
- A page that describes the benefit, an email form, and a single call to action.
- Offer a discounted launch deal to the first 10 who commit.
- A collected email is curiosity; a payment is validation.
Turn validation into a product, fast
Once those 10 users are convinced, the window is short: they expect a real solution before they move on. This is where a production V1 changes everything. At Khufu we ship a production-ready product in 7 days, at a fixed price of €15,000, to turn your first promises into real usage before the momentum fades.