1. Pick one painful feedback moment
Do not pitch 'feedback management'. Pick one moment, like a founder who just launched and has 40 scattered feature requests, or one whose churned users never said why. Write one sentence for it, such as: 'Collect feature requests in one place and tell users when you ship them.' Use that sentence everywhere for the next month.
2. Find founders who are complaining right now
Search X for phrases like "feature requests" spreadsheet, "user feedback" notion, or "why did they churn". On Reddit, check r/SaaS, r/microsaas, r/indiehackers and r/startups for posts about feedback, roadmaps or churn. Save 20 recent posts from real founders with live products. Those are your first leads.
3. Reply with help, not a link
Answer the actual question in the thread first. Example: 'I'd tag every request by plan and count duplicates weekly. The top 3 tell you what to build. Happy to share the template I use.' Mention your tool only if they ask or if it directly solves what they described.
4. DM founders who just launched
Check Product Hunt's daily launches, the Indie Hackers product directory and 'Show HN' posts on Hacker News. Founders in launch week are flooded with feedback they can't organize. Send a short note: 'Saw your launch. Congrats. Are the comments and feature requests ending up in one place, or scattered? I built a tool for exactly this and can set up your board for free.'
5. Set up their board for them
For your first 10 users, do the work yourself. Import their existing requests from their launch comments, emails or Canny-style public posts into your tool and send them the finished link. A founder who sees their own messy feedback organized in five minutes is far more likely to pay than one reading a landing page.
6. Show up where indie founders gather
Join a few active communities, such as the Indie Hackers forum, WIP.co, the MicroConf community and r/SaaS weekly threads. Post one useful piece a week from your own experience, like 'How I sort 100 feature requests in 20 minutes.' Keep your profile link pointed at your tool and let the posts do the work.
7. Ask for payment early and plainly
After a user has used their board for a week, ask directly: 'Is this worth $X a month to you? If not, what would make it worth it?' Every no tells you what to fix or who not to target. Aim for 5 paying founders before you build any big new feature.
8. Repeat the routine daily
Each day, find 5 new founder conversations, reply helpfully to 3, and send 2 direct messages. Track who replied and who converted in a simple sheet. Hulby, an AI cofounder, can run this daily search and draft outreach for you so you spend your time on the conversations.
Mistakes to skip
- Pitching to 'all SaaS companies' instead of solo founders with live products and real users.
- Dropping your link in Reddit threads without answering the question, which gets you banned.
- Competing on feature lists against Canny or Featurebase instead of on speed and simplicity for one person.
- Building integrations for months before a single founder has paid.
Want this done for your customer feedback tool for indie SaaS founders, every day?
Hulby finds the people asking for what you built, writes every reply and email, and keeps you on it until they pay. Free to start.
Find my first customersQuestions
Who should my first customers be?
Solo or two-person SaaS founders with a live product, some paying users, and feedback scattered across email, chat and DMs.
Should I offer a free plan?
Offer free setup and a short trial, but ask for payment early. Free forever plans attract users who never give useful signal.
How do I stand out from bigger feedback tools?
Be the fastest to set up and the cheapest for a solo founder. Show you understand the indie situation better than tools built for product teams.
How many messages should I send per week?
Around 10 to 15 personal, relevant messages is enough to start. Quality matters more than volume, so reference something specific in each one.