[TheRickyRed]

That's interesting. And you're right. One thing I think is worth mentioning is that social media polarized this kind of thinking, which could be an issue; I am affected myself.

I think the secret ingredient is to stick closer to the benchmarks (e.g., views, installs...) and experiment; it could take a long time. I might be incorrect; that's why I am willing to look into more perspectives.

[re-thc]

> I think the secret ingredient is

There isn't for normal folks. It's just survivor bias and "rewriting history".

Most just grind it out, e.g. cold calls, emails, etc.

> social media polarized this kind of thinking

Social media is a scam though. >80% of those were proven / caught to be fake, e.g. "influencers" never had a sponsor. They edited photos to make it look like they went abroad, purchased the "sponsored" product to claim sponsorship etc.

[TheRickyRed]

That is actually insightful.

My friend actually got his first 200 users from cold DMs. But it's on his co-founder's side, so he didn't know much about it; I couldn't get much about it. I think the most difficult part is finding strangers who would use your product online.

There are only two scenarios that will get you users

- The user is a friend of yours - The pain you are eliminating is big enough that they want your product

As for the social media part, I didn't really expect that. I was so anxious seeing people going ahead of me on socials, especially since they have made more progress (more sponsors, winning on benchmarks).

Probably a mindset to fix after hearing what you've said.

Up until I realized you don't have to compare with people in different lanes, it gets better. Also, not everything is real on socials. So, I was like, meh.