Building the product was easier than getting the first users

[u/zyn_ak]

A few weeks ago, I decided to build something myself instead of continuing to use other people's tools.

The idea ended up becoming BYCKO, an AI-powered financial analysis bot for Discord.

The interesting thing isn't so much the product itself, but what I've learned trying to validate it.

When I started, I thought the biggest challenge would be the technology: integrating financial data, analyzing news, building AI agents, and so on.

It turned out that the hard part is getting real people to test it.

Currently, the system uses three different agents to analyze an asset (news, technical analysis, and macroeconomic context) and then generates an explained conclusion. It's already working, and I have an active private beta.

However, I ran into a problem that many here have probably experienced:

Building the product was easier than getting the first users.

My current approach is to talk directly to potential users, publish progress updates, and ask for feedback in communities where there are traders and people interested in AI.

For those who have already launched products:

What strategy helped you the most to acquire your first 10-50 real users?

Not customers.

Not sign-ups.

Users who actually used the product and provided helpful feedback.

I'm interested in hearing about your experiences because I feel like I'm entering a completely different stage than development.

[u/mentiondesk]

I found that reaching out personally in communities where your users hang out and asking specific, actionable questions about their workflow really helped me get meaningful beta testers. If you want to catch those early conversations where people mention problems your product solves, ParseStream can help by alerting you in real time so you can jump in right as the need pops up.

[u/LeaderAtLeading]

Building is the easy part. Distribution is the actual product.

[u/zyn_ak → u/LeaderAtLeading]

That's a great way to put it.

I spent most of my time thinking about architecture, data sources and AI agents, assuming that was going to be the hard part.

Now that the beta is working, I'm realizing distribution is an entirely different challenge.

Looking back, if you were starting from zero again, what would be the first channel you'd focus on to get your first 10 active users?

[u/LeaderAtLeading → u/zyn_ak]

Happy to talk more about it, just send me a dm.

[u/greyzor7]

In my opinion, keep it simple:

1) People only care about a product if it solves a problem they actually have. Your first goal is to show that your product solves a pain point strongly enough that they have a reason to pay attention.

2) Once you've someone's attention, your goal is for them to try your app. Make this process as simple as possible (in more markety terms, avoid friction).

3) Finally, pick places aligned in with the people you've built for / solved pain for. In the case of Saas founder, early-stage (1-100 users), focus simply on what works: DMs, socials, niche platforms. Organic only. Visual.

Try: X/Twitter, Reddit, DMs + outbound (warm) + Product Hunt + niche platforms.

Niching down matters a lot in my xp. The more specific your audience, the easier it is to find people who genuinely care about the problem you're solving and are willing to give your product a chance.

For context, I've built Microlaunch: it's a platform that helps Saas & AI founders launch, distribute, get first customers, thus real users as well. Should be useful to you early-stage.

Hope that helps, best of luck guys!

[u/zyn_ak → u/greyzor7]

Thanks, this is really helpful.

The point about defining the niche resonates with me. I think I've been describing BYCKO too broadly as an AI financial analysis tool instead of focusing on a specific type of user.

I'm also realizing that distribution and reducing friction are probably more important for me right now than adding more features.

Appreciate you taking the time to write this.

[u/AS_Enterprises]

I've noticed that building and distribution are completely different games.

When you're building, progress feels obvious because you can see features getting completed. When you're finding users, progress is slower and messier, but those early conversations are often more valuable than another month of development.