HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Start With 10 Hand-Picked Partners, Not a Public Sign-Up Page

Start With 10 Hand-Picked Partners, Not a Public Sign-Up Page is a partnerships & affiliates tactic for getting your first users: Recruit a small founding cohort of partners through warm, personalized outreach before ever opening a public program, and tailor your pitch to each partner type.

It's a strong fit for B2B SaaS, Dev tools / technical, Info products / courses, and Newsletters / media teams, and works especially well for B2B SaaS, dev tools, newsletters. As a partnerships & affiliates play, plan for medium effort and expect results to build gradually over time, all grounded in 3 linked primary sources.

Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effortSlow

Why does partnerships & affiliates work for this?

A handful of relevant, motivated partners outperform hundreds of cold form sign-ups who never post anything. Personalized, segmented outreach feels like a real relationship, which is what drives actual promotion.

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 SaaSDev tools / technicalInfo products / coursesNewsletters / media

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Start With 10 Hand-Picked Partners, Not a Public Sign-Up Page" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for B2B SaaS, Dev tools / technical, Info products / courses, and Newsletters / media — 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 "Start With 10 Hand-Picked Partners, Not a Public Sign-Up Page" 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 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 SaaS Affiliate Case Studies and Build a SaaS affiliate program from zero, is in the paid library.

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