Three-week helpful residency in ICP communities
Spend a few weeks answering questions in the buyer's Slack or Discord rooms before mentioning the product at all.
Why this can grow a startup
Private communities work when the founder behaves like a participant, not an ad unit. One r/SaaS operator said the first meaningful traction came only after about three weeks of helping in Slack communities and Discord servers where the target users already spent time. Then, when the founder finally mentioned the product, people asked to try it. That sequence matters because trust is built before the ask. It also gives the founder better language for the product, because the pain is heard in the buyer's own words instead of through a synthetic ICP document.
Company example
A founder in r/SaaS said three weeks of useful participation in Slack communities and Discord servers produced the first 15 users, with 8 converting to paid, while LinkedIn cold outreach converted around 5 percent.
Source and metric
Source: Reddit /r/SaaS: SaaS Founder: How did you get your first 10–100 paying users?
The founder reported 15 early users with 8 paid from community participation, versus roughly 5 percent conversion from LinkedIn outreach.
Source discovered: May 30, 2026
When to use it
Use this when Slack, Discord, Communities is relevant to community-led growth, 0-100, trust building and you can run a bounded test with a free budget.
When not to use it
Do not use it as a substitute for customer evidence, a clear owner, or a measurable stop condition. Local platform rules and market behavior still need checking.
Founder checklist
- Read Reddit /r/SaaS: SaaS Founder: How did you get your first 10–100 paying users? and identify what is directly supported.
- Choose one channel context: Slack, Discord, Communities.
- Define the test around The founder reported 15 early users with 8 paid from community participation, versus roughly 5 percent conversion from LinkedIn outreach..
- Set an owner, evidence window, and stop condition before launch.
Explore the context
Apply this with an operator
Build creator and community systems around real incentives, trust, and repeat participation.