First 1,000 Users

First 1,000 Users is a free, practical map of how founders get their first users. It exists because most growth advice is a flat list of fifty tactics with no sense of order and no idea what you are building. A tactic that makes one product can do nothing for another: a Show HN post can put a developer tool in front of thousands of the right people in a day, and the same post does almost nothing for a mobile game.

So instead of one long list, the site lays out 25 short guides by stage. Idea and validation covers problem interviews and checking search demand before you build. Waitlist covers landing pages, referral loops and coming-soon directories. Private beta covers finding testers in communities, beta directories and onboarding calls. Launch covers Product Hunt, Show HN, Reddit launch posts, launch newsletters and startup directory submissions. First 100 users covers cold outreach to your first 20 people, personal welcome emails, asking for referrals and answering threads where your users already talk. First 1,000 users covers early SEO, alternative pages, integration marketplaces, cross-promotion and sponsoring niche newsletters.

Every guide is rated for fit by product type: web app or SaaS, mobile app, browser extension, developer tool, AI tool, open source project, marketplace, newsletter or content site, and game. Pick what you are building and the map shows which tactics are a great fit, which work, and which are weak, with a short note on why and how to adapt the weak ones. You can also filter by channel, by cost and by how much time a tactic takes, from under an hour to ongoing.

Each guide follows the same shape so it is quick to act on: what to do, step by step; why it works; how it actually turns into users; the common mistakes; and what it needs from you in accounts, assets, time and money. Related guides link to each other, so a launch guide points you on to what comes after the launch day traffic fades.

It is built for indie makers, solo developers and small teams who have shipped something and want a clear next step rather than another thread of growth hacks. There is no account, no email wall and no paywall. Every guide is readable on its own page, and the whole map works on a phone.