Research & Editorial

HowTheyGotUsers Editorial Desk

Sources, classifies, and fact-checks every first-user tactic against its primary source.

Curating first-user tactics since 2026.

The Editorial Desk is the team responsible for sourcing, classifying, and verifying every tactic in the HowTheyGotUsers database. For each play we read the original founder interview, podcast, teardown, or public write-up, extract the exact steps the founder actually ran, and record a link back to that primary source so any reader can check the claim.

We do not publish a tactic unless it is tied to a documented, real-world example. Tactics are classified by channel, product type, effort, and speed using a fixed rubric, and re-reviewed when the underlying source changes. Where AI assists with drafting or summarisation, a human editor verifies every factual claim and every source link before it ships.

Areas of expertise

User acquisitionGrowth marketingFounder-led distributionSource verificationSEO and content strategy

How this work is produced

Every tactic in the 3,000+-play database links to the original founder source, and the classification and verification process is documented in full on our methodology page. See the tactics this desk curates in the answers library.