Olune

After launch · Stage 4: ship and find users

No users yet? Find the step that is failing, then get your first 10 by hand

Zero users can mean nobody sees the app, nobody gets it, nobody finishes the first session or nobody needs it again. Find out which with your own numbers, then get the first 10 users one conversation at a time.

Updated

Key takeaways

  • Find the failing step before you pick a channel: no visitors is distribution, visitors without signups is the pitch or the page, signups who never return is the product or the demand. On iOS, read Impressions, Product Page Views and First Time Downloads in App Store Connect, in that order.
  • In 20 builder threads from 2026, where first users came at all, most came from one-to-one messages in a narrow niche, from search (Google, App Store search and now ChatGPT answers) or from niche directories (our reading, editorial). A Peerlist launch drew 71 upvotes, 14 visits and 0 signups (self-reported).
  • Get the first 10 by hand. Paul Graham's 2013 essay calls recruiting users manually the most common unscalable thing founders do, and a September 2026 r/SaaS reply put the pace at about 10 conversations a day.
  • If you cannot name 10 people who have the problem, the cause may be the idea. Check demand before you spend a Product Hunt launch: one per product every six months unless a relaunch request is approved (as of October 2026).

Find the step that is failing

Zero users is one symptom with several causes. Read your numbers in order and fix the first step that breaks: more traffic will not fix a confusing first session. This is a heuristic (editorial), built from replies to two October 2026 threads and the metric names Apple and Google use.

Find the step that is failing
What you seeWhere it breaksCheck this firstFirst fix to try (editorial)
Almost no visitors, or near-zero store impressionsDistribution: people with the problem never see itWeb: visits by source in your analytics. iOS: Impressions in App Store Connect, counted when the app is on screen for more than one second. Android: Store listing visitors in Play Console.Run the 10-person method below. In a store, name the searched use case in the title and subtitle.
Visitors or page views, but few signups or downloadsPositioning or the pageAsk two people who fit your buyer to say who the page is for. On iOS, compare Product Page Views with First Time Downloads.Rewrite the first screen around one buyer, one problem and your one difference.
Signups, but few finish the main taskThe first sessionCount signups who did the main task once. One October founder had 12 signups, 4 of them self-tests, and 3 who ran a scan.Ask every stalled signup what stopped them. Watch one person use it live.
People use it once and leaveThe product, or weak demandDo returning users share a recurring need? A bill-splitting app kept rent groups and lost one-off dinner groups.Narrow to the recurring need, or check demand before you add features.
People return, but nobody paysPricing, or the offer is never seenHow many active users reach the paid offer at all?Show the price earlier. For an app that calls an AI model, see price an AI app.

Heuristic (editorial). Metric names as Apple and Google define them, checked 2026-10-13. Thread figures are self-reported.[3], [4], [10], [12], [30], [31]

Three answers, and what each one means

A builder with zero users asked r/vibecoding whether the cause was distribution, the market or positioning. In our reading (editorial), ten conversations usually point to one of three answers.

Three answers, and what each one means
AnswerWhat you seeExample from 2026Next move
Nobody knows it existsPeople recognise the problem, try the app when shown, and some return. Your numbers break at step one.A Mac writing app: launch posts brought nobody, but 3 people found it through Google and a ChatGPT answer.Keep the app. Pick one or two places your buyer already looks and repeat the 10-person method there.
Nobody wants it enoughPeople do not describe the problem in their own words, use a free built-in option, or would not trust a new app with it.Replies to a private photo vault pointed to the hidden and locked albums Apple and Google already ship, and said they would not trust a new app with private photos.Stop adding features. Narrow the audience or pivot before you try another channel.
They want it, but the app is in the waySignups stall before the main task, or people use it once and leave.A website audit tool: 8 real signups (12 minus 4 self-tests), 3 scans, nobody came back.Watch people use it live and fix the first session before you add reach.

Editorial map. Thread figures are self-reported and unaudited.[11], [12], [23], [30]

Where first users came from in 2026

Twenty threads from 2026 in which builders said where their first users came from, or did not. Every number is self-reported by the poster or a replier, and none is a typical result. The last column is our label (editorial).

Where first users came from in 2026
DateThreadWhat the poster or repliers reportSource of users (editorial)
2026-10-132 years bootstrapped: 5k users (r/SideProject)A bill-splitting app, flat until the invite became a web page that takes payment with no account or download. The store title and subtitle were rewritten around the searched use case.The invite, then App Store search
2026-10-12Day 3 of launching DraftKey (Indie Hackers)A Mac writing app with 3 users: 2 from Google, 1 from a ChatGPT recommendation, none from launch posts.Search and AI chat answers
2026-10-128 signups, 3 people scanned, 0 came back (Indie Hackers)A website audit tool: 12 signups (4 of them self-tests), 3 scans, no returns. A LinkedIn post got 292 impressions and 7 clicks.Unclear: the drop is after signup
2026-10-077 months of a free to-do app (Indie Hackers)Niche directories that match what users search for were the only steady source of visits. Peerlist: 71 upvotes, 14 visits, 0 signups. ChatGPT and Claude began sending visits.Niche directories, then AI chat answers
2026-10-06How I got my first 10 users for my SaaS (Indie Hackers)Picked one niche, directory-site owners, and messaged owners one by one about their problems, with free use. Paying customers came later from a lifetime deal.One-to-one in one niche
2026-09-02What actually got you your first 100 users (r/SaaS)Several replies: almost all of the first 100 came one at a time. One reply suggests about 10 conversations a day.One-to-one messages
2026-08-31Is Product Hunt still getting you signups? (r/SaaSMarketing)A 2017 launch brought about 1,000 visits, recent ones much less. A reply: launches that do well now arrive with an audience.Launch sites, with an audience
2026-08-08Launched on Product Hunt, MicroLaunch, Uneed: worth it? (r/SaaS)110 Product Hunt upvotes for one founder; a paid skip of the Uneed queue got 0. Others report promotion spam, fake-looking comments and no visits.Launch sites: little
2026-08-05Ask HN: how did you get your first paying customers? (Hacker News)Paid featured directory listings gave one founder some leads. Others: start with people you know; phone or email for business buyers.Mixed
2026-07-14Ask HN: first 100 customers without budget (Hacker News)Free offers to owners the founder knew: nobody tried. Other replies: LinkedIn talks about the user's workflow; X and Reddit comments plus cold messages got one founder about 50 users.One-to-one, about the workflow
2026-06-02Why my vibe-coded apps never got users (r/microsaas)The vibe-coded apps that grew chose an audience, niche, difference and revenue model first. This poster skipped that.None: the gap was before the build
2026-04-27Marketing is still the boss fight (r/vibecoding)Reddit gave upvotes, X gave impressions, Product Hunt gave a spike. None gave lasting users.Spikes only
2026-04-16Ask HN: first users with zero audience? (Hacker News)35 users in two weeks from LinkedIn messages about a problem the founder had too.One-to-one messages
2026-04-09Building for months, can't get a single user (r/vibecoding)An analytics tool for small SaaS teams with zero users. The poster asks: distribution, market or positioning?None yet
2026-03-15Vibe-coded AI learning platform: 35 signups (r/vibecoding)Built from requests people had already made about a real pain. 35 signups in two weeks.People who had asked for it
2026-03-11How to get initial users in 2026 (r/microsaas)Ten days in: helpful replies in threads where people complain about the problem, plus messages on X. Unproven.Replies where the problem is discussed
2026-03-09The myth of launch day (r/startups)Eleven years of launches: usually a few thousand visits and 50 to 200 signups, faded by the next day.Launch day: a short spike
2026-03-074 apps in 6 weeks, all 0 users (r/SideProject)Four apps built with Lovable, Bolt and Base44 got about 20 users combined. The poster credits a changed launch for a fifth app; that claim is partly promotional and unverified.Poster credits the launch (unverified)
2026-02-17Is Show HN dead? (Hacker News)A free-book Show HN: 7 points, no redemptions. Another maker's Show HN grew into a community and a game that sells daily.Show HN: hit or miss
2026-02-15A positive experience with Product Hunt? (r/SaaS)One team got about 200 signups and treated the launch as PR. Most replies: worth it only if your buyers are builders.Product Hunt, when buyers are builders

Self-reported and unaudited. Threads read on 2026-10-13, except the r/vibecoding, r/microsaas (June) and r/SideProject (March) rows, read on 2026-10-10.[10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29]

The 10-person method

Paul Graham's July 2013 essay "Do Things that Don't Scale" says the most common unscalable thing founders have to do at the start is recruit users manually, and that sometimes the right trick is a deliberately narrow market. The steps and numbers below are our method on top of it (editorial). For message wording, see how to find your first 10 customers and the free course From Idea to First Customer.

  1. Step 1: Write the one sentence

    [Who] has [this problem] when [moment], and today uses [current fix]. Example (made up, for shape only): Freelance designers chase late invoices at the end of each month, and today use calendar reminders and awkward emails. If you can only list features, fix positioning first. A habit-tracker builder with about 100 users after six months got this reply: why would anyone switch to yours?[32]

  2. Step 2: List 30 people who said they have the problem

    List buyers. Other builders do not count. Search Google for site:reddit.com plus the buyer's words for the problem, past year only, then Hacker News, niche forums, Discord, Facebook groups and LinkedIn. The search string is in the templates below. Save each post link. Thirty allows for people who will not reply (editorial). The Reddit gripe-hunting guide covers the searching.[25]

  3. Step 3: Help in public, then message one person at a time

    Graham names "a combination of shyness and laziness" as one reason founders avoid recruiting users one by one. Where a venue allows it, reply with something useful and no link. Then message: mention their post, ask how they handle the problem today, and offer free setup in return for watching them use it (template below). Write it yourself: Hacker News asks for no generated text in posts and no AI-edited text in comments. Venue limits are on where to launch.[2], [8], [15]

  4. Step 4: Set it up for them

    Graham describes the Stripe founders' "Collison installation": they said "give me your laptop" and set people up on the spot. Your version is a short call where each person finishes the main task once. One r/SaaS founder had done 0 of 15 planned interviews because coding felt more comfortable.[2], [33]

  5. Step 5: Log six facts per person

    Where you found them. Whether they described the problem in their own words, tried the app, finished the main task and came back within a week. Whether they pay for anything today, even an ugly workaround, a signal one r/vibecoding reply points to. The log tells you which of the three answers you have.[35]

  6. Step 6: Decide after 10

    Our rule of thumb (editorial): if fewer than 3 of 10 describe the problem in their own words, treat it as demand. If most recognise it but few finish the main task, fix the first session. If they finish and some return, it is distribution: repeat the method where your best users came from. Graham's arithmetic for later: at 100 users, 10 more next week is 10% weekly growth.[2]

Copy and adapt (our templates, editorial)

Replace every part in square brackets. Run the search in Google, set Tools to Past year, then repeat it with site:news.ycombinator.com and one niche forum your buyer uses. Paste the log columns into the first row of a spreadsheet.

1. Search for people with the problem

site:reddit.com "[the words your buyer uses for the problem]"

2. First message (rewrite it in your own words)

Hi [name], I read your post in [place] about [their problem, in their words]. How do you handle it today? I built a small tool for this. I would set it up for you free if you let me watch you use it on a short call.

3. Log sheet columns

Where found | Link to their post | Described the problem in their own words (y/n) | Tried it (y/n) | Finished the main task (y/n) | Came back within a week (y/n) | Pays for anything today, even a workaround (y/n)

Channels by app type

Where first users were found depends on who the app is for. Store and venue rules are as of October 2026. The second column comes from the threads above unless marked editorial; the last two columns are our reading (editorial).

Channels by app type
App typeWhere first users were foundFirst moveWatch out for
A tool for one kind of businessMessages to owners in one niche, LinkedIn talks about their workflow, phone or emailMessage 30 people about their problem. See B2B cold outreach.Free offers on their own: one founder offered the tool free to owners they knew and nobody tried it.
A consumer iPhone appApp Store search, once the title and subtitle name the searched use caseRead the App Store Connect funnel. Put the use case and your one difference in the title and subtitle.Features Apple or Google already ship, and data people will not trust to a new app.
An Android appNo 2026 thread in our set. Your closed test is the first 12 users you must recruit anyway (editorial).Personal Play developer accounts created after November 13, 2023 need a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 days in a row before production (as of October 2026). Recruit testers who have the problem.Testers who join only to meet the rule say nothing about demand. More on App Store and Google Play.
A developer tool, or anything for makersProduct Hunt, Show HN and maker communities, where the buyers are buildersBuild account history first: Show HN is temporarily restricted for new users, and Product Hunt allows one launch per product every six months (as of October 2026). See launch readiness.A spike that fades the next day, and promotion spam.
A desktop or web tool people find by taskGoogle and AI chat answersPlain how-to and comparison pages for the question your user types, and a few directories that match their searches.Bulk directory packages: little evidence in these threads that they bring users.
An app used by groupsThe inviteMake the invite work for the person who receives it, with no account or download.The receiver gets a chore, and one-off groups do not stay.

Sources[5], [6], [9], [10], [11], [13], [14], [19], [22], [29], [30]

Moves that hold up

  • Diagnose with your own numbers first. A builder with 10 apps and no sales was told to pick one and check each step: store page seen, install, main task done, paid offer reached.[31]
  • Recruit by hand where the problem is discussed. Most accounts above of a first 10 to 50 users describe messages sent one at a time, inside one niche, about the person's problem.[2], [14], [15], [19], [22]
  • Say in one sentence why someone should switch. The most direct reply to the habit-tracker builder. If the sentence will not come, do not spend on reach yet.[32]
  • Narrow the audience. Graham calls a deliberately narrow market the right trick for some startups. The founder with 10 users picked directory-site owners out of many markets.[2], [14]
  • Make search find you. Two October accounts report users or visits from Google and AI chat answers, while their launches brought no signups.[11], [13]

Moves that usually do not

  • Paid ads before the message works. The photo vault builder found the cost per install too high, and a reply warned that learning ads is expensive. Ads buy reach; they do not tell you why people leave.[30]
  • Treating a launch spike as traction. One builder got upvotes, impressions and a spike but no lasting users. An eleven-year launcher saw launch-day traffic fade by the next day.[21], [26]
  • Maker sites when your buyers are not makers. One founder paid to skip the Uneed queue and got 0 upvotes. Another reported about 11 fake-looking comments and no visits from a launch.[17]
  • Asking for upvotes. Product Hunt's community guidelines list it as spam, and Hacker News says not to solicit upvotes.[7], [8]
  • The same post in many subreddits. The posted rules of r/microsaas say repetitive link-dropping will be removed, and a June 2026 moderator post there said an account whose content is all promotional will likely not be allowed (as of October 2026). In r/startups, a reply to a post about launch day mocked it for appearing in several subs.[26], [36], [37]
  • Another app, or more features. A reply to the builder with 10 apps doubted that app number eleven would explain anything. The bill-splitting team "kept adding features, which is exactly the wrong move", in its own words.[10], [31]

Cannot name 10 people with this problem? Check the idea first

Describe the problem and the buyer. Leave the features out. Olune scores it free, then a free sign-in runs the research: search demand for phrases a buyer might type, public complaints in Reddit threads found through Google and on Hacker News, and competitors. You get Cook it, Sleep on it or Kill it, with the reasoning. If your app already exists, ignore the buildability score: it judges a build you have already done. Olune does not post, run channels or get users. 3 a day, no card.

Free score, no account. The research needs a free sign-in.

When to stop or pivot (our call, editorial)

For a solo builder using AI coding tools, with no audience, working evenings and weekends. These are judgement calls. The threads do not set these rules. Longer versions: how to know when to pivot and what to do if your idea fails validation.

  • Fewer than 3 of 10 recognise the problem. The zero is about demand. Change the audience or the problem before you try another channel.
  • The platform already does it for free. If Apple, Google or your buyer's main tool ships the feature and your difference will not fit in a sentence, stop.[30]
  • The need does not come back. If people use it once and the need does not recur, more reach will not create retention.
  • You are reaching for app number two. Run the step table on this one first. The same gap tends to follow you to the next app.
  • Keep going when people come back. If people recognise the problem, finish the main task and a few return, you have a distribution problem. That is slow work. It says nothing bad about the idea.
  • Building for yourself is fine. Some vibe coders build apps only for themselves and say so in r/vibecoding threads. If you use it every week, zero users is not a failure. This page is for apps you want strangers to use or pay for.[34]

The market backdrop

  • What the paper measured. NBER working paper w35275 (Demirer, Musolff and Yang; May 2026, revised September 2026) used data on more than 500,000 GitHub developers. Autonomous coding agents raised commits by about 240%, but only about 30% for releases.[1]
  • What it found in software marketplaces. Across four major software marketplaces, a sharp rise in new apps and no increase in total usage.[1]
  • What it means for you (editorial). More apps compete for the same users, which makes a launch day a weaker bet and a short list of named people with the problem a stronger one.

Find out if the zero is the idea or the launch

Describe the problem your app solves and who has it, as if the app did not exist yet. Olune scores it free, then a free sign-in runs the research and returns Cook it, Sleep on it or Kill it, with the reasoning. It is LLM-assisted and can vary between runs. Kill is a normal answer: a kill gets no build material and can generate 3 to 5 pivots instead. 3 a day, no card.

Free score, no account. The research needs a free sign-in.

Common questions

Why does my app have no users?

Usually one step is failing: nobody sees the app, people see it and do not sign up, or they sign up and never return. Each needs a different fix, so read your analytics or App Store Connect step by step before you try a new channel. If the people you show it to do not recognise the problem, the cause is demand, and more reach will not fix it.

How do I get my first 100 users?

By hand, one conversation at a time, until you know which sentence and which place work. Several replies to a September 2026 r/SaaS thread asking exactly this said so, one at about 10 conversations a day. Start with the 10-person method, then repeat it where your best users came from.

How do I get users for my app for free?

Go where people with the problem already talk, help in public, message them one at a time, and make sure search can find you. In the 2026 threads above, the free sources that worked were direct messages in a niche, Google and ChatGPT answers, and niche directories that match what users search for.

Does Product Hunt bring users?

Sometimes, mostly when your buyers are builders or you already have an audience. In 2026 threads, one team reported about 200 signups and treated the launch as PR, while others reported a one-day spike or no visits (self-reported). Venue rules, limits and costs are on where to launch.

Has anyone vibe-coded a successful app?

Yes, some builders report real users. The posts that report growth describe work on finding an audience as well as on the build. One r/vibecoding builder reported 35 signups in two weeks (self-reported) for a platform built from requests people had already made. We do not repeat revenue claims from these posts, because none can be checked.

Should I run ads to get my first users?

Not until you know which sentence makes a stranger sign up and stay. Ads buy reach but do not tell you why people leave, and one builder of a new App Store app found the cost per install too high for a small app.

Can Olune get me users?

No. Olune does not post, run channels or contact anyone. After a free sign-in, it checks whether the demand is there, from search demand, public complaints found through Google and competitors, which helps separate "nobody wants this" from "nobody knows it exists".

Sources

Each number in brackets on this page points here. Prices and limits change; the date is when we read the page.

  1. [1]NBER Working Paper 35275, "Writing Code vs. Shipping Code: Productivity Effects Across Generations of AI Coding Tools" (Demirer, Musolff, Yang; issued May 2026, revised September 2026), abstract · accessed
  2. [2]Paul Graham, "Do Things that Don't Scale" (July 2013) · accessed
  3. [3]Apple, App Store Connect Analytics Help, "Metric definitions" (Impressions, Product Page Views, First Time Downloads) · accessed
  4. [4]Google, Play Console Help, "Understand and grow your app's user base" (store listing visitors and acquisitions) · accessed
  5. [5]Google, Play Console Help, testing requirements for new personal developer accounts (12 testers, 14 days) · accessed
  6. [6]Product Hunt Help Center, "Can I relaunch my product?" (dated 2026-07-07) · accessed
  7. [7]Product Hunt Help Center, "Community guidelines" (dated 2025-04-11) · accessed
  8. [8]Hacker News Guidelines · accessed
  9. [9]Hacker News, notice on temporarily restricted Show HN posts · accessed
  10. [10]r/SideProject, "2 years building an app bootstrapped: 5k users" (2026-10-13) · accessed
  11. [11]Indie Hackers, "Day 3 of launching DraftKey: 3 users, and none came from my launch posts" (2026-10-12) · accessed
  12. [12]Indie Hackers, "8 signups, 3 people scanned, 0 came back" (2026-10-12) · accessed
  13. [13]Indie Hackers, "7 months of a free to-do app with one-time extras: 51 users" (2026-10-07) · accessed
  14. [14]Indie Hackers, "How I Got My First 10 Users for My SaaS" (2026-10-06) · accessed
  15. [15]r/SaaS, "What actually got you your first 100 users, not what the blog posts say" (2026-09-02) · accessed
  16. [16]r/SaaSMarketing, "Is Product Hunt launch still getting you signups?" (2026-08-31) · accessed
  17. [17]r/SaaS, "Founders who launched on Product Hunt, MicroLaunch, Uneed, etc. Was it actually worth it?" (2026-08-08) · accessed
  18. [18]Hacker News, "Ask HN: Developers, how did you get your first paying customers?" (2026-08-05) · accessed
  19. [19]Hacker News, "Ask HN: Should I promote my SaaS to get first 100 customers without budget" (2026-07-14) · accessed
  20. [20]r/microsaas, "I finally figured out why my vibe-coded apps never got users" (2026-06-02) · accessed
  21. [21]r/vibecoding, "vibe coding made building easy, marketing is still the boss fight" (2026-04-27) · accessed
  22. [22]Hacker News, "Ask HN: How did you get your first users with zero audience?" (2026-04-16) · accessed
  23. [23]r/vibecoding, "I've been building a product for months and I can't get a single user" (2026-04-09) · accessed
  24. [24]r/vibecoding, "Launched a vibe-coded AI learning platform 2 weeks ago: 35 signups" (2026-03-15) · accessed
  25. [25]r/microsaas, "How to get initial user for my SaaS in 2026" (2026-03-11) · accessed
  26. [26]r/startups, "The myth of launch day" (2026-03-09) · accessed
  27. [27]r/SideProject, "I vibe-coded 4 apps in 6 weeks. All had 0 users. The 5th one..." (2026-03-07; full title checked on Google 2026-10-13) · accessed
  28. [28]Hacker News, "Is Show HN dead? No, but it's drowning" (2026-02-17) · accessed
  29. [29]r/SaaS, "Has anyone actually had a positive experience with Product Hunt?" (2026-02-15) · accessed
  30. [30]r/AppBusiness, "I built an app I actually wanted for myself" (private photo vault, 2026-10-05) · accessed
  31. [31]r/buildinpublic, "Made 10 apps with vibe coding but no sales yet" (2026-10-07) · accessed
  32. [32]r/ProductivityApps, "I spent 8 months building a habit tracker..." (2026-07-03) · accessed
  33. [33]r/SaaS, "Building got dramatically easier in 2026. Selling didn't." (2026-02-02) · accessed
  34. [34]r/vibecoding, "Anyone else build just for me apps instead of products?" (2026-01-14) · accessed
  35. [35]r/vibecoding, "How do you actually validate an idea before spending weeks building it?" (2026-04-15) · accessed
  36. [36]r/microsaas posted rules, "No Low-Effort Self-Promotion" (rule text as shown in Google's index of the subreddit on 2026-10-13 and in Rankhog's capture of 2026-09-29) · accessed
  37. [37]r/microsaas, "Addressing Self-Promotion in this sub" (moderator post, 2026-06-02) · accessed

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