HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Open-Source the Code to Earn Trust and Shares

Open-Source the Code to Earn Trust and Shares is a communities tactic for getting your first users: Make the project open source and link the GitHub repo right on the site so developers can inspect it, trust it, and pass it around.

It's a strong fit for AI products and Dev tools / technical teams, and works especially well for developer-facing and AI tools. As a communities play, plan for medium effort and expect results to build gradually over time, all grounded in 1 linked primary source.

CommunitiesMedium effortSlow

Why does communities work for this?

Transparency lowers the barrier to trying an AI tool and gives the developer crowd a reason to share and star it.

The exact steps (4)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

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Sources

Works for
AI productsDev tools / technical

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Open-Source the Code to Earn Trust and Shares" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for AI products and Dev tools / technical — pick it when your product looks like one of those, since the play is shaped around how those users find new tools.
How is the "Open-Source the Code to Earn Trust and Shares" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 1 primary source — a real founder write-up or interview, not generic advice. It is linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original account yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be slow.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Source — IndieHackers, is in the paid library.

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