Early Users Give Feedback, Not Abstract Signals

The first users join because they feel the problem intensely.

They do not care about your branding or your vision statement. They care about whether the product actually solves something real for them.

Their feedback is raw. Their reactions are unfiltered. They tell you where the product breaks, where it surprises them, and where it falls short.

At this stage, every conversation carries insight. As founders, we learned that these early interactions are the most honest form of data a company is ever likely to receive.

Polished dashboards come later. The truth comes now.

The First 100 Users Expose the Real Workflow

Many products look sharp in a pitch deck but collapse the moment they touch real users.

The first one hundred users will break your assumptions. They will use the product in unexpected ways. They will point out missing steps, confusing workflows, and friction you did not see because you were too close to the problem.

This is the stage where product judgment is formed.

It is where teams learn what users actually do, not what they say they do. It is where the product becomes grounded in real behavior instead of theory.

Ideally, once this foundation is strong, the next ten thousand users simply deepen the insight, not redefine it.

Early Users Shape the Product’s Identity

Products develop identity through iteration.

What the product ultimately becomes is shaped by the patterns found in the behaviors of the earliest users. They reveal the core use case. They reveal the moments of delight. They reveal the features that should be cut and the features that should be amplified.

By the time a company reaches ten thousand users, much of this identity is already set. If the early foundation is shallow, later growth only compounds the weakness. If the early foundation is strong, later growth compounds that strength.

Identity is formed in small numbers, not big ones.

The First 100 Users Become the Product’s Evangelists

Users who join early often become the loudest advocates later.

They remember when the product barely worked. They remember the founder who responded personally. They remember the feeling of being part of something new. And they spread the word because they feel a connection that cannot be manufactured.

Ten thousand users may be a milestone. One hundred true believers is a movement.

Evangelists are born in the first phase, not in the growth phase.

Early Users Speed Up Learning in a Way Large Numbers Cannot

Users who join early often become the loudest advocates later.

Ten thousand users may be a milestone. One hundred true believers is a movement.

Evangelists are born in the first phase, not in the growth phase.

Conclusion: True Insight Comes Early

Users who join early often become the loudest advocates later.

Ten thousand users may be a milestone. One hundred true believers is a movement.

Evangelists are born in the first phase, not in the growth phase.

Key Insight

Your first users are not a growth metric. They are the foundation of product truth. Learn deeply from them, and the next ten thousand will follow for the right reasons.

Share this Dispatch

Examine All

Examine all Dispatches

How Storytelling Drives Product Adoption