What actually got founders their first users, from reading hundreds of writeups and stories
Spent a few months reading a few hundred founder write-ups on how they actually got their first 100 users. The patterns that kept repeating, in case they are useful here:
Comments beat posts. One two person team went from 0 to 62k MRR starting with helpful comments on threads where people described their exact problem, no links.
Go where people already complain, not where founders hang out. One founder found 437 buyer-intent threads in two weeks by searching the exact phrases their buyer types when stuck.
Cold outreach only worked value-first. Send two or three real problems you found on their site with no pitch. One founder booked 40+ calls that way.
Product Hunt was the most common letdown. Good for a backlink, not for buyers.
Most people who "failed at distribution" quit around month 4, right when it usually starts working.
I pulled all of this into a database where every tactic links to the founder who actually ran it, and it matches the channels to your specific product. It is called HowTheyGotUsers.com Full disclosure, it is mine. The tactics above stand on their own though, that is the real point.