1. Sort the waitlist by who has budget
Export your list and tag each email by domain. Company domains beat Gmail, and agencies, dev shops and ops teams beat students. Look up each company on LinkedIn and note the person's title. Operations Managers, Agency Owners, Heads of Delivery and Engineering Managers at 5 to 50 person companies go to the top.
2. Pick one price and one plan
Do not launch with three tiers. Offer one founding plan, for example $15 per user per month with a 5 user minimum, so $75 per month. Add an annual option at $750 per year, which buys two months free. One clear number makes yes or no easy.
3. Make a founding customer offer
Give the first 20 paying teams something real: the price locked for life, a 30 minute setup call where you import their projects from Trello, Asana or spreadsheets, and a direct line to you for feature requests. Put a deadline on it, such as the end of the month. Keep it true: if you say 20 spots, stop at 20.
4. Email the top 30 one by one
Write plain text emails, not a newsletter. Example: "Hi Sara, you joined the waitlist for [Tool] in March. I'm opening it to 20 founding teams this month at $75 a month for 5 seats, price locked forever, and I'll move your projects over from Asana myself. Is your team still juggling projects across tools? If yes, want me to set you up Thursday?" End with one question they can answer in one line.
5. Get on a call and ask for the money there
On the call, ask what their last missed deadline cost them and what tool they use now. Show only the part that fixes that problem. Then ask directly: "If this handles your client handoffs the way you just saw, can we start the founding plan today? I'll send the payment link now." Send a Stripe Payment Link while you are still on the call.
6. Charge before the product is finished
If a feature they need is missing, offer a paid pilot. Example: "I can build the client portal in 3 weeks. Pay the first month now, $75, and if it isn't live by the 21st I'll refund you." A prepaid pilot tells you who is serious. A free beta does not.
7. Fill the list from where PM pain shows up
Your waitlist will run out, so add to it daily. Search Reddit r/projectmanagement, r/agency and r/startups for "switching from Asana", "Monday.com too expensive" or "ClickUp too complicated", and reply with useful advice before you mention your tool. On LinkedIn, search "Operations Manager" plus "agency" and send short notes that ask about their current setup, not a pitch.
8. Follow up and track every answer
Keep a simple sheet: name, title, status, next step, date. Follow up twice, 3 and 7 days later, with one new line each time, such as a short Loom of their own workflow rebuilt in your tool. If you want help running this daily, Hulby is an AI cofounder that finds these leads, drafts these messages and tracks follow-ups with you.
Mistakes to skip
- Emailing the whole waitlist with a launch blast instead of writing to the best 30 one by one.
- Offering a long free trial or free beta, which teaches people your tool is worth nothing.
- Launching with several tiers and per-feature limits before anyone has paid you once.
- Asking "what do you think?" instead of "can we start today?" at the end of a call.
Want this done for your project management tool, 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
What should I charge for a new project management tool?
Start near what teams already pay. $10 to $20 per user per month with a small seat minimum is a reasonable first test. Raise it for new customers once people say yes easily.
Should I offer a free plan?
Not yet. Wait until paying teams prove the tool is worth money. A refund promise lowers the risk without making the product free.
What if most of my waitlist ignores me?
That is normal. Expect replies from only a small share of people. Focus on the few who respond, and add new leads every day from Reddit and LinkedIn searches.
How do I get people to switch from Asana or Trello?
Do the move for them. Offer to import their projects yourself on a setup call. The cost of switching is usually the real objection, not the price.