A brilliant analysis of user acquisition strategies and why technical founders should embrace ads as a learning tool, not just a scaling mechanism.

The Video#

The Core Question#

“You built a SaaS product. No ads. No SEO. How do you get your first 100 users?”

But here’s the better question: Why no ads?

This video breaks down what 200+ founders suggested in a viral X thread, then challenges the fundamental assumption that ads aren’t for early-stage startups.

Part 1: Acquisition Strategies Without Ads#

The Context Problem#

All advice lacks context. You must distinguish:

  • B2B vs B2C - Completely different playbooks
  • Founder Bubble vs Real World - Most indie founders build for other founders, missing the vast ocean of real-world problems
  • Your Niche - What works for dev tools won’t work for gardening apps

1. Direct Outreach (B2B Gold Standard)#

Cold Email#

  • Best for: B2B SaaS
  • Strategy: Personal, short, problem-first messages
  • Reality: Works but requires persistence and thick skin

Cold DMs#

  • LinkedIn: B2B goldmine but high rejection rate
  • Twitter/X: Engage before pitching
  • Reality: Exhausting when done manually, ineffective when automated

Cold Calls#

  • Reality: Most founders won’t do this (be honest with yourself)

2. Community-Based Distribution#

Reddit#

  • Pros: Massive reach, niche communities
  • Cons: Allergic to promotion, easy to get banned
  • Strategy: Be a redditor first, solve problems, never pitch directly
  • Truth: Amazing for research, terrible for direct promotion

Discord#

  • Reality: Limited to nerdy, tech-savvy audiences
  • Strategy: Social selling through genuine engagement

Facebook Groups#

  • Problem: Declining organic reach
  • Strategy: Same as Reddit - value first, pitch never

3. Build in Public (The Founder Trap)#

The Fatal Flaw: Only works if you’re building for other founders.

  • Gardeners don’t follow #buildinpublic
  • Accountants don’t care about your MRR updates
  • Real-world customers aren’t watching your journey

When it works: You’re building developer tools, productivity apps for founders, or marketing tools.

4. Short-Form Content (B2C Winner)#

The Algorithm Advantage: The For You algorithm finds your people IF you have the right message.

Key Insight: No views doesn’t mean the algorithm hates you. It means your message doesn’t resonate yet.

Strategy:

  • Post 2-4 times daily
  • Test different angles
  • Let the algorithm teach you what works
  • Free learning platform

5. Community Launches (Founder Bubble Only)#

Product Hunt, Indie Hackers, SaaS Directories

Reality Check: Your gardening app user isn’t checking Product Hunt every morning. Only founders do that.

6. Incentive Mechanics (Not Acquisition)#

These are growth strategies, not acquisition:

  • Free trials - Need users first
  • Lifetime deals - Need traffic first
  • Referrals - Need happy customers first
  • Influencers - Expensive gambling with no learning

7. Existing Network#

Works if your network matches your target market. Usually doesn’t.

Part 2: Why Avoiding Ads Is Your Biggest Mistake#

The False Beliefs#

“Ads are only for scaling”#

Reality: Ads are the fastest path to the insights needed FOR scaling.

“Need Product-Market Fit first”#

Reality: Ads are how you FIND Product-Market Fit fastest.

“Too expensive”#

Reality: What’s your time worth? $500 in ads can bring 500-1000 qualified visitors, test multiple messages, and provide customer interviews. How long would that take organically?

“Marketing isn’t for devs”#

Reality: Modern marketing is system design:

  • Input (ad creative)
  • Test (audiences)
  • Data (conversions)
  • Insights (what works)
  • Iterate (like debugging)

“It’s gambling”#

Reality: Organic is gambling. Ads provide structured, predictable learning.

The Hidden Cost of Avoiding Ads#

Time Waste#

  • Hundreds of hours on low-signal outreach
  • Emotional fatigue from constant rejection
  • Not building/improving your product

Missed Learning#

  • No structured testing framework
  • No clear feedback loops
  • Slower validation process
  • Delayed pivots

Opportunity Cost#

  • Could have discovered this idea doesn’t work
  • Could have found the right message
  • Could have been building something else

Why Devs Are Built for Ads#

Marketing = System Design

Input → Test → Data → Insight → Iterate

It’s literally debugging for customer acquisition:

  • Set parameters
  • Run tests
  • Analyze data
  • Fix what’s broken
  • Scale what works

No creativity required - AI can write your copy now. You just need logic.

The $500 Learning Machine Strategy#

Step 1: Set Your Learning Budget#

  • Amount: $300-500 total
  • Daily: $10-20
  • Duration: 2-4 weeks
  • Goal: Learning, not customers (yet)

Step 2: Create Your Testing Framework#

The 3x3 Grid#

Test 3 audiences × 3 messages = 9 combinations

Audiences:

  1. Problem-aware professionals
  2. Solution-aware enthusiasts
  3. Competitor’s customers

Messages:

  1. Pain-focused (“Stop wasting time on…”)
  2. Benefit-focused (“Finally achieve…”)
  3. Feature-focused (“The only tool that…”)

Step 3: Build a Discovery Quiz Funnel#

Instead of a simple landing page:

  1. Hook: Address specific pain
  2. Quiz: 5-7 questions about their situation
  3. Pain Barometer: Rate problem severity 1-10
  4. Segment: Sort by qualification
  5. Capture: Email for most qualified
  6. Interview: Schedule calls with top 10%

Step 4: Use Your Data Arsenal#

Track Everything#

  • Microsoft Clarity: Free heatmaps and session recordings
  • Ad Platform Analytics: Which messages convert
  • Quiz Responses: Actual customer language
  • Conversion Data: What actually drives signups

The Learning Loop#

  1. Run ads for 1 week
  2. Analyze which message/audience wins
  3. Double down on winners
  4. Interview the most engaged
  5. Refine your positioning
  6. Repeat

Step 5: Extract Maximum Learning#

From $500, you should know:

  • Who: Your actual buyers are
  • What: Problems matter most
  • How: They describe their pain
  • Why: They’d switch solutions
  • When: They’re ready to buy
  • Where: To find more of them

The Practical Playbook#

Week 1: Setup#

  • Create 3 simple ad creatives
  • Build landing page with quiz
  • Set up tracking (Clarity, pixels)
  • Launch with $20/day budget

Week 2: Optimize#

  • Kill losing combinations
  • Increase budget on winners
  • A/B test landing page elements
  • Schedule customer interviews

Week 3: Learn#

  • Conduct 5-10 interviews
  • Document common patterns
  • Refine your messaging
  • Test new angles

Week 4: Decide#

  • Found traction? Scale gradually
  • No traction? Pivot or kill
  • Either way: You learned in 4 weeks what takes others 4 months

Common Objections Destroyed#

“I don’t know how to write ad copy”

  • Use AI with the right prompts
  • Copy competitors initially
  • Test everything, let data decide

“I don’t understand targeting”

  • Modern platforms don’t need precise targeting
  • The algorithm finds your people if the message is right
  • Broad targeting often works better

“What if I waste money?”

  • You waste more money building the wrong thing
  • You waste more time on ineffective organic tactics
  • $500 for compressed learning is a bargain

The Meta Learning#

What You’re Really Buying#

For $500, you get:

  • Market Research: Real people’s actual responses
  • Message Testing: What resonates
  • Customer Interviews: Qualified leads who care
  • Positioning Clarity: Your unique angle
  • Confidence: Data-backed decisions
  • Speed: 4 weeks vs 4 months

The Skill Compound Effect#

After your first $500:

  • You understand ad platforms
  • You know how to read data
  • You can write better copy
  • You think in experiments
  • You’ve built a learning system

This skill compounds across every future project.

The Uncomfortable Truth#

Most founders avoid ads because they’re scared, not because ads don’t work.

They’d rather:

  • Spend 6 months on organic tactics
  • Build features nobody wants
  • Guess what customers need
  • Stay in their comfort zone

Than spend $500 to know for sure in 4 weeks.

Your Action Plan#

This Week#

  1. Watch the recommended videos in the original
  2. Set aside $500 for learning
  3. Create your first simple ad
  4. Build a basic landing page

This Month#

  1. Run your first campaign
  2. Talk to 10 real prospects
  3. Find your winning message
  4. Decide: scale or pivot

This Quarter#

  1. Master the learning loop
  2. Find product-market fit
  3. Build your growth engine
  4. Get your first 100 users

The Choice#

You can either:

Option A: Spend 6 months on organic tactics, posting into the void, cold DMing strangers, hoping something sticks.

Option B: Spend $500 and 4 weeks to know exactly who wants your product, what message converts them, and whether this idea is worth pursuing.

Which founder do you want to be?

Resources Mentioned#

From the original video:

  • “How to Write Great Copy” - AI-powered market research framework
  • “Product Market Fit Quiz Strategy” - Discovery quiz funnel setup
  • “How to Analyze Ads” - Understanding your ad manager data
  • Microsoft Clarity - Free tool for heatmaps and session recordings

The Final Word#

“Ads aren’t magic. They’re made of parameters, logic, and analytical thinking. Technical people could be amazing marketers if only they’d dare to try.”

Stop treating ads as a mysterious black box. Start treating them as what they are: the fastest learning machine for finding product-market fit.

Your first 100 users are waiting. You just need $500 and the courage to find them.

“The goal isn’t to spend money on ads. The goal is to compress months of learning into weeks of data. The customers are just a bonus.”