[HN Gopher] How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1k users
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How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1k users
Author : maxgt
Score : 67 points
Date : 2020-05-24 08:45 UTC (14 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.lennyrachitsky.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.lennyrachitsky.com)
| CM30 wrote:
| Surprised the Reddit 'solution' to this (fake accounts and
| activity until real people decide to join) isn't on the list.
| Fake it til you make it is definitely a strategy that a fair few
| successful products, services and communities used to kick things
| off.
| petargyurov wrote:
| Surely things like that end up backfiring? People on reddit
| have a strangely good eye when it comes to spotting "shills" in
| the comment sections. Then again it could just be paranoia.
| chucksmash wrote:
| Parent isn't saying you should create Reddit accounts to
| shill for your new thing.
|
| They are referencing the sock puppet accounts the Reddit
| founders used to make Reddit look like less of a ghost town
| in the early days[1].
|
| > Huffman reveals that, "In the beginning Alexis and I
| submitted all the content." When they submitted content they
| created new fake user names so that it would look like the
| site was populated with a large user base, while, at least in
| the beginning, it was just the two of them submitting the
| content.
|
| > Huffman explains that this did two things. For starters, it
| helped set the tone of the site. "Websites have this kind of
| inertia, and we submitted content that we would be interested
| in seeing. That meant the content on Reddit, at least for our
| peer group, was good, interesting stuff. We wanted a site
| with the most interesting content online, and so we did our
| best to find it and then we submitted it ourselves."
|
| > Creating fake users and submitting content through them
| also made the site feel alive. Huffman says, "Users like to
| feel a part of something. If they showed up to the website
| and the front page was blank, it just looks like a ghost
| town." He says, "At the time I think we were just embarrassed
| to have an empty website so we submitted the content, and it
| worked." After a few months they had grown their real user
| base to the point that they didn't have to submit content
| anymore.
|
| [1]: https://www.adweek.com/digital/reddit-fake-users/
| petargyurov wrote:
| Ah now that I re-read their comment I can see that I
| misinterpreted it. For some reason I was thinking along the
| lines of buying upvotes to get your post to the frontpage,
| which is of course pretty shitty.
| jedberg wrote:
| That's not a strategy to get new users though. It makes a
| social site more appealing to new users, but it doesn't attract
| them.
|
| Reddit used the "tell your friends" method first, and then
| "have PG blog about us", which really accelerated their growth,
| and falls under "Leverage Influencers".
| petargyurov wrote:
| > Get Press
|
| Always wondered about this - do I just email an news outlet and
| tell them "my story" and see if they roll with it?
|
| I'm starting to advertise my business around with the idea of
| growing a userbase before the official release. Ironically enough
| mentioning a link to it on my previous HN comment lead to more
| visitors than either of the Facebook or Reddit ads that I put up.
|
| With that said, if you're into 3D printing, see https://makely.me
| fxtentacle wrote:
| That's what I did with my audio app. After we got featured in
| the first magazine, I just sent that link to other magazines
| and offered interviews and giveaways.
| petargyurov wrote:
| Interesting. I am curious, did the giveaways yield any
| significant rise in users when compared to not doing a
| giveaway?
| sharker8 wrote:
| What's that first app in Create FOMO, the logo with the Bill
| Murray lookalike's face? Honest question, not trolling.
| brandnewlow wrote:
| Clubhouse
| aaronbrethorst wrote:
| Clubhouse, apparently? Which is some kind of faddish social
| networking app that will never be heard from again after they
| run out of their current round of funding, I assume?
| https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-clubhouse-why-does-silic...
| paulryanrogers wrote:
| > Corey's plan was to infiltrate these communities. He wouldn't
| announce himself as a Netflix employee. ... and slowly, over
| time, alert the most respected commenters, moderators, and
| website owners about this great new site called Netflix.
|
| Strikes me as unethical. Unless their alerts disclosed the
| relationship.
| alain_gilbert wrote:
| What's unethical about it ?
|
| He talk about something that might be of interest for these
| people.
|
| It doesn't sound like he was spamming or doing anything
| annoying.
|
| It sounds to me like a more human way of doing advertisement.
| The only difference is that he is actually there to have an
| actual conversation about it.
| gdhbcc wrote:
| Generally advertising regulations require you to disclose any
| relationship with the company.
|
| That's why youtuber put #ad on their videos
| BigChiefSmokem wrote:
| Unethical would be being asked about your relationship with the
| company and lying about it.
| unclebucknasty wrote:
| https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Lying_by_omission
|
| Also see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie + Find in page:
| "Lying by omission"
| jedberg wrote:
| I used to do that Apple store trick with reddit.
| jhgg wrote:
| Discord's first cohort of users came from the final fantasy XIV
| subreddit - after a friend of the cofounder posted there after
| trying out the app. It's been all uphill from there.
| franciscop wrote:
| Oh I used to do the Apple store one when I had a music band on my
| myspace-years. Being a post-hardcore band I don't think the
| strategy worked very well with the general public, but it was a
| pretty fun teen thing to do.
| blueside wrote:
| This article fails to include how Airbnb really got their first
| users - creating several accounts and mass emailing all the
| landlords on Craigslist
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(page generated 2020-05-24 23:00 UTC)