HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Seed Early Users With Free or Discounted Access

Seed Early Users With Free or Discounted Access is a first users & traction tactic for getting your first users: Lower or remove the price for your first cohort in exchange for real usage, honest feedback, and permission to feature them as success stories.

It's a strong fit for B2B SaaS, Consumer / mobile apps, E-commerce / DTC, Info products / courses, and Marketplaces teams, and works especially well for consumer apps, marketplaces, app-store products, early SaaS. As a first users & traction play, plan for low effort and expect results to show up quickly, all grounded in 3 linked primary sources.

First users & tractionLow effortFast

Why does first users & traction work for this?

Free or cheap access removes the adoption barrier for a product with no track record, while the resulting reviews and stories build the social proof that turns later visitors into paying customers.

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
B2B SaaSConsumer / mobile appsE-commerce / DTCInfo products / coursesMarketplaces

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Seed Early Users With Free or Discounted Access" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for B2B SaaS, Consumer / mobile apps, E-commerce / DTC, Info products / courses, and Marketplaces — 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 "Seed Early Users With Free or Discounted Access" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 3 primary sources — real founder write-ups and interviews, not generic advice. They are linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original accounts yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is low effort, and results tend to be fast.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via My Apps Make $4.5M/Year With $0 Marketing and The Underdog: He Turned His Last $1,000 Into $150M, is in the paid library.

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