LaunchFillGuides / 2026-09-23
The first 100 users of an AI tool
Where the first users of a new AI tool actually come from, and the order to go after them — without ads and without a big launch.
The first hundred users rarely come from one big moment. They come from a handful of places, each giving a few, in an order that makes each step easier than the last. This is the order we would work in.
1. People you can name
Write down the people who have the problem your tool solves: colleagues, former colleagues, people in communities you are already part of. Message them one by one, show them the tool, and watch them use it. Ten users who talk to you are worth more than a hundred who signed up and left — you learn what the landing page fails to explain.
2. Where the problem is discussed
Find the threads, forums and groups where people ask about the job your tool does, and answer the question well — with the tool where it genuinely helps, without it where it does not. A useful answer keeps bringing people for months; an advert gets removed.
3. Directories and launch boards
Directories are where people look when they already know they want a tool of your kind. List it with an accurate, specific description (see Write a listing people click), in the right category, and launch it on a weekly board — LaunchFill is free. A launch week sends a burst of visitors; the permanent listing and its alternatives page keep sending them from search afterwards.
4. Show the work
Post what the tool produces: before-and-after examples, short clips, one result per post. People share results, not features. A clear example is also your best screenshot for every listing.
5. Make the first minute work
Every source above sends people to the same first minute. Measure it: how many who sign up do the thing the tool exists for? If the answer is "few", fixing onboarding brings more users than any new channel.
What not to do
- Don't buy votes or reviews. Boards and stores remove them, and the users they bring do not stay.
- Don't launch everywhere on one day. Spread it out so you can answer everyone and fix what the first visitors find.
A hundred users is a list of names you know. Start with the first ten.
