Everyone wants to go viral.

The ProductHunt launch that hits #1. The tweet that explodes. The HackerNews front page. Thousands of users overnight.

It almost never happens. And when it does, it's often a disaster.

Virality with a broken product means viral failure. Thousands of users hitting bugs, getting confused, and leaving forever. You get one chance at a first impression with each person—and you just blew it with thousands simultaneously.

There's a better way. It's slower, less glamorous, and far more effective.

Find 10 users who love what you're building. Learn from them. Make the product better. Then find the next 10.

The Scale Obsession

We're conditioned to think in scale. Vanity metrics. User counts. Growth curves.

But scale is meaningless without retention. And retention requires a product worth retaining.

10 users who love your product will tell you how to build something 10,000 users will love. 10,000 users who are indifferent will just leave.

Your first 10 users aren't just customers. They're collaborators. They're teaching you what to build.

Who Your First 10 Are

Let me tell you who your first 10 users probably aren't: your friends and family.

Friends and family will sign up to support you. They'll say nice things. They won't tell you when it's confusing or broken. They're not your target customer, so their feedback is unreliable.

Your first 10 should be:

People who actually have the problem. Not "sort of" have it. Not "might have it someday." People experiencing the pain now.

People who will tell you the truth. Users who will say "this is confusing" and "I don't understand this" and "I'd never pay for this." You need honest feedback, not encouragement.

People who are slightly desperate. The best early users are people who've been looking for a solution. They've tried workarounds. They've given up on alternatives. They're ready for something new.

Where to Find Them

You've already done the work if you validated before building. The people you interviewed? Go back to them.

If you're starting fresh:

The communities where your problem lives. Reddit, Discord, Slack groups, Twitter conversations. Wherever people complain about the thing you're solving.

Personal outreach. Yes, it's uncomfortable. Yes, it works. "I built something that might help with X—would you try it and tell me what's broken?"

"Looking for beta testers" posts. In the right communities, honest requests for early users work. Be clear about what stage you're at.

What to Ask From Them

Once you have your 10, here's what you need:

Use it and tell me what breaks. Not hypothetical feedback. Real usage, real friction.

Tell me what's confusing. Where did you get stuck? What did you not understand?

Tell me what you expected. "I thought it would do X" is gold. It shows you where the mental model breaks.

Be careful with "tell me what's missing." Early users will ask for features. Most of those requests are noise. Listen for patterns, not individual requests.

The Feedback Loop

With 10 users, you can have a real relationship.

Daily or weekly check-ins. A quick message: "How's it going? Anything frustrating?" This surfaces issues faster than passive analytics.

Watch them use it. If possible, get on a screen share. Watching real users encounter your product is the fastest way to learn.

Fast iterations. Fix what's broken. Push updates. Let them know you heard them. This builds trust and investment.

When users see their feedback become features, they become advocates.

What They Teach You

Your first 10 users will teach you things you couldn't learn any other way:

The words they use. The way they describe the problem and solution is your marketing copy. Use their language, not yours.

The workflow they expect. What they do before and after using your product. Where it fits in their life.

The features that actually matter. Watch what they use. Ignore what they don't. Double down on what they love.

Turning Users Into Advocates

Here's the magic of small: your first 10 users can become your first 10 advocates.

They helped build this. They saw it evolve. They have ownership.

When you launch publicly, they're your testimonials. They're your word-of-mouth. They're your case studies.

10 genuine advocates will get you your next 100 users faster than any marketing campaign.

The Math Works

10 users who love it → 100 users 100 users who love it → 1,000 users 1,000 users who love it → 10,000 users

Each 10x comes from building something worth spreading. And you can only build that by learning from small, engaged groups.

Skip the scale obsession. Find 10 people who love what you're building.

That's the foundation.

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