I launched my SaaS in November. By April, I had $10,200 in MRR and 52 paying customers. I want to tell you there was a clever growth hack. There wasn't.
Month 1-2: Build in Public (Actually Do It)
I committed to posting weekly updates on X and a small subreddit for my niche. The posts weren't viral — they averaged 20–80 impressions. But one of those readers became my first customer.
Month 3: Cold Outreach That Didn't Suck
I found 200 potential customers by searching LinkedIn and sent hand-personalized 3-sentence emails. Response rate: 18%. Conversion to paid trial: 11%. Math: 4 customers.
The Pricing Mistake I Almost Made
I almost launched at $9/month to "lower the barrier." A mentor talked me out of it. I launched at $49/month. The customers I got were serious, churned less, and gave better feedback.
What Actually Drove Growth
Word of mouth. Every single paying customer I have came from a direct referral or saw me mention the product somewhere organic. No ads. No SEO. Just talking to people.