What is your best growth advice for early stage startups? One shot!
Cem Özçelik
36 replies
Replies
Pratik Gandhi@0xpratik
Do not-so-scalable things. E.g. don't invest heavily in automated tools/AI bots, etc.
Share
Creatopy
Audience-based content.
LiveChat
It depends on the startup, but I'd start with trying to integrate my tool with some bigger one. So for example, when growing a tool for designers, I'd try to make a Figma or Framer extension to get to their audience
Skinive AI: Skin Scanner, health checkup
Focus on solving a real problem, listen to customer feedback, iterate quickly, and stay resilient through the challenges 🚀🚀🚀
Cake Equity
Do all your research before!
I found many startups that start to target the market with no deep research of their Personas, ICPs, Customer Journey, Positioning, Messaging, and Channels.
Cake Equity
@patrick_sao_e14 In my opinion, experience and playbook, it is the same but one of them is the representation that you build to identify your personas in the market and to identify the quality of the conversions and the other one is the real persona that is using your product and is paying for the product. Every quarter I try to match my ICP with the real ICP and see the gaps and understand how close I am with the representation.
For example, if the representation of my ICP I believe the company size is 21-50 but then after the first quarter, I analyse the retainer users and the paying users I see that the company size is 1-5 and 6-10 are 70% of the total of them and just 5% 21-50, then I need to adjust my ICP. Are we targeting 21-50? Yes. Are they using the product? Not much compared with other segments. Well, then, maybe the company size 1-10 is where they can find value. Maybe the next quarter is different. Never stop learning from your product and the market.
Let me know your thoughts about this.
Cake Equity
@patrick_sao_e14 good thought. I will think about it. 🙂
Adsby
Keep early-adopters close and get feedback!
Thread - Wireframe Generator
Focus on getting users that you can make over-the-moon happy with your product. That is, the users for whom the problem you are solving is most pressing. They may become advocates, help you grow etc.
Do this over focusing on large numbers of inbound with high churn.
TransferChain
Folio Wallet App
Dive into it for several months, trying to find people who really want your product. Use every platform that you (and your audience) find comfortable: Twitter, Slack, PH, IH, Telegram, niche communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. There's a high probability that your idea will transform during this time. The deeper the connection you establish, the higher the probability that you'll steer your startup in the right direction, based on these insights.
WeCooked
Solve the problem before you grow. Growing is a great problem to have but it’s not gonna help is you usage and love for the product is down. You rather have 10 people raving about your product than 100 that don’t.
Publer
Bad UI > Fail!
LaunchPedia
Community building!!
It's hard to grow fast on social media and SEO. Do find communities where your audience hang out, engage in discussions and plug your product/service.
Boolvideo
Try to contact with your niche as much as you can. No matter in what ways, building in public or joining social groups... the key is to engage with your audience and community regularly. This will not only help you establish yourself as an expert in your niche but also allow you to build strong relationships with potential customers and collaborators. Networking is essential.
Mentor.AI
Hey there, fellow Product Hunters! The best growth advice for early stage startups in one shot? Here it is: Focus on building a strong and engaged community. Nothing beats the power of a passionate user base who will not only champion your product but also provide invaluable feedback for improvement. Foster genuine connections with your customers, listen to their needs, and tailor your product to address them. Utilize social media, online forums, and user feedback loops to keep the conversation going. And speaking of connections, I'd love to connect with like-minded individuals here on Product Hunt. Feel free to shoot me a message, let's exchange thoughts and ideas on startup growth strategies!
For me, mentorship was very beneficial. You just need to find an experienced and helpful adviser. But it's not always easy.
@patrick_sao_e14 May I ask you for the reason? Have you had a bad experience with mentors?
Neverinstall
Partnerships. Find the partners or resellers of your competitors and start reaching out to them.
Consistent efforts on SEO and Social Media along with other marketing activities.
Don't overthink. build -> launch-> learn -> build
STORI AI
Build small but very loyal community
NotesNudge
seek genuine connections over mere transactions. listen to your audience, their pain points, their aspirations. be the solution they didn't know they needed. growth blooms from empathy. 🌱🔍
First, focus on product-market fit. Without it, growth is a myth. Next, make sure your user onboarding is slick; a confused user is a lost user. Network like your life depends on it - in startup land, it does. Finally, don't underestimate the power of great customer service; it can be a game changer.