Finding Your First Believers: Strategies for Acquiring Your Initial 10 Beta Users

You have the problem, the validation, the lean MVP, and a business model that makes sense. Now comes the moment of truth: putting your product into the hands of real users.

Acquiring your first 10 users is a unique challenge. You aren't looking for "mass market" yet; you are looking for First Believers. These are the people who feel the pain so intensely that they are willing to use an early, imperfect version of your product because it solves their problem.

Do Things That Don't Scale

In the beginning, ignore the urge to run expensive ads or build complex referral engines. As we discussed in The Importance of User Acquisition, early-stage growth is about manual, high-touch effort.

Your goal isn't just to get a user; it's to get a feedback loop.

1. The Direct Outreach (The "Cold" Warm Start)

Go back to the people you spoke with during your customer discovery phase.

The Message: "Hey Name, when we spoke last month, you mentioned that Problem was a huge pain. I've built a small tool to solve exactly that. Would you be open to trying it for free in exchange for honest feedback?"

2. Hang Out Where They Complain

Find the digital watercoolers: Reddit threads, Slack communities, Discord servers, or LinkedIn groups. Don't spam. Look for people asking for help with the specific problem you solve and offer your tool as a potential solution.

3. The "Founder Sales" Method

If you are B2B, pick up the phone or send personalized video messages. At this stage, people buy into you and your vision as much as they buy the software.

Turning Users into Partners

Your first 10 users are your most valuable consultants. Treat them as such:

Ask for the Friction: Don't ask if they like it. Ask, "What was the most confusing part of the setup?" or "What's the one thing that would make you use this every day?"
Watch Them Use It: If possible, do a screen-share session. Seeing where a user hovers their mouse or gets stuck is worth 100 survey responses.
Be Responsive: If they report a bug, fix it immediately. This level of service is how you turn a beta tester into a vocal advocate.

Scaling the Feedback Loop with AI

As you start getting feedback from these 10 believers, use our In-app AI-Tools to categorize their requests. AI can help you identify which feature requests are "outliers" and which ones are "must-haves" for your next 100 users.

For organizations looking to foster this culture of rapid feedback, our partnership page outlines how we work with universities to turn student projects into traction-ready startups.

Boost your productivity. Start using our app today.

Save valuable time while learning everything you need

Learn more

Conclusion: The Journey Begins

You’ve moved from a spark of an idea to having real humans using your product. This is where the real work—and the real fun—begins. Remember to keep your financial management in check as you begin to spend more on acquisition, and never stop validating.

Your First 10 Believers are waiting. Find them and launch your beta on MyStartup.Studio.

Everything you need to manage these first users, from feedback logs to task boards, is ready for you in the MyStartup.Studio App.