u/Ok-Mark8538

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I spend at least one week trying to find first users or our upcoming product through cold DMs and self promotion, but it didn't work well. Here’s what I did wrong and what I learned from it.

1. As a newcomer on reddit, I did first comment actively on relevant topics like other suggested. But I am too eager to get noticed, so most of my commtents were just emotional suppot, not detaild or genuinely useful thoughts. I Iearned that useful comment matters much than just emotional support .

2. I also posted introductions of our product related to pain point and beta invitations, but almost one one saw it. What did i wrong ? I think it was maily a trust problem. There are lots of new products popping up every day. Why people try your products before konwing who you are and how you built the products.

Also, I relied too much on AI to help my polish posts. I cared too much on perfection, while ingorning the genuine story and real thought. I think most people can feel it.

So I learned that before gaining attention, we should build trust first. Share your thoughs detaily and genuinely. It 's important to konw how to tell a real story in the AI era.

3. I know that DMing those who have the paint point is more efficient than posting to a huge audience. So I started finding the targeted users in some related posts and trying to understand what they are compalning about in the first week. Then I send DMs inviting beta test or telling them that our product might help them . But no one replied to me. Maybe they thought it was spam.

Then I realized maybe the order was wrong. Maybe trust should come fisrt. Before sending a DM, maybe I shoulds join the convetstation naturaly on their post or comment to build familarity and trust.

Overall, I think trust is very very important in the cold start stage. It takes much more patience and time than I expected. Only have we built trust, people will listen to what we are building.

These are some reflections from past week. Maybe it sounds a bit stupid, but I hope it might be useful for other newcomers in the colde start stage.

Thanks for watching my whole journey!

Have you experienced something similar? Happy to hear what worked (or failed) for you in the cold start stage.

I spend at least one week trying to find first users or our upcoming product through cold DMs and self promotion, but it didn't work well. Here’s what I did wrong and what I learned from it.

1. As a newcomer on reddit, I did first comment actively on relevant topics like other suggested. But I am too eager to get noticed, so most of my commtents were just emotional suppot, not detaild or genuinely useful thoughts. I Iearned that useful comment matters much than just emotional support .
2. I also posted introductions of our product related to pain point and beta invitations, but almost one one saw it. What did i wrong ? I think it was maily a trust problem. There are lots of new products popping up every day. Why people try your products before konwing who you are and how you built the products.
   Also, I relied too much on AI to help my polish posts. I cared too much on perfection, while ingorning the genuine story and real thought. I think most people can feel it.
   So I learned that before gaining attention, we should build trust first. Share your thoughs detaily and genuinely. It 's important to konw how to tell a real story in the AI era.
3. I know that DMing those who have the paint point is more efficient than posting to a huge audience. So I started finding the targeted users in some related posts and trying to understand what they are compalning about in the first week. Then I send DMs inviting beta test or telling them that our product might help them . But no one replied to me. Maybe they thought it was spam.
   Then I realized maybe the order was wrong. Maybe trust should come fisrt. Before sending a DM, maybe I shoulds join the convetstation naturaly on their post or comment to build familarity and trust.
   Overall, I think trust is very very important in the cold start stage. It takes much more patience and time than I expected. Only have we built trust, people will listen to what we are building.

These are some reflections from past week. Maybe it sounds a bit stupid, but I hope it might be useful for other newcomers in the colde start stage.

Thanks for listening to my long story!
Have you experienced something similar? Happy to hear what worked (or failed) for you in the cold start stage.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hey friends,

We’re preparing a small closed beta for PhanRouter, an AI API gateway we’ve been building for developers and AI power users who are tired of managing multiple providers and API keys.

The idea is simple:
- One API key
- OpenAI-compatible API
- Access to models like GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Doubao, Seedream, Seedance, and more
-Unified dashboard for usage and routing

We originally built this because switching between providers, billing systems, and SDKs became pretty frustrating in our own workflows.

The product is still in the polishing stage, and we’re looking for a few early testers who are willing to try it out and share real feedback (bugs, UX issues, missing features, etc.).

We’ll also provide some free credits to beta testers.

If this sounds like something you might need, feel free to comment or DM me.

Happy to answer questions or hear any suggestions as well. Thanks!

I understand different products have different approaches. But I am curious arethere any effective strategies for a solid cold start?

For your early launch, did you rely on cold DMs, ads, or purely organic traffic from communities ?

Which channel or strategy do you think works best overall? Are there any common pitfalls I should avoid?

Really appreciate your insights and shared experience.