Free playbooks for your first users. From 0 to 1 million, step by step.
these are free, step-by-step playbooks for app founders who are stuck getting users. pick the guide for the stage you are at: your first 50 users, your first 100, your first 1,000, 1,000 to 10,000, or scaling past 50K to a million. each one tells you exactly what to do this week, what it costs in time and money, and what to measure.
if you are at zero, start with the first 100 users guide, pick two channels, and follow the channel playbook for each. i would rather teach you to fish than catch the fish for you.
new here? start with what an app growth marketer actually does.
Everything in Playbooks
How to get your first 50 app users (when nobody knows you exist)
How to get your first 50 app users with no audience: hand-picked beta users, manual onboarding, a 14 day plan, an invite template and an interview script.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users: a channel-by-channel guide
How to get your first 100 app users: pick two channels by app type and founder strength, what each channel needs, a 30 day plan and what to measure.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 1,000 app users, channel by channel
How to get your first 1,000 app users: ASO, Reddit, TikTok organic, communities and paid, what each costs in time and money, and the order to run them.
PlaybooksHow to get from 1,000 to 10,000 app users
How to get from 1,000 to 10,000 app users: a weekly creative testing loop, small paid budgets behind organic winners, ASO, sharing loops and retention.
PlaybooksHow to scale from 50K to 1 million app users
How to scale an app from 50K to 1 million users: what breaks, a 150+ ads a month UGC engine, paid behind proven winners, honest CAC and a 90 day plan.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users from Reddit
A 30 day Reddit playbook for founders with no budget: pick 10 subreddits, warm an account honestly, write answer-first comments and track every signup.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users from TikTok (with zero budget)
A zero budget TikTok playbook for app founders: set up a founder account, 5 video formats, hooks, posting cadence, analytics, tracking and a 30 day plan.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users from creators and micro-influencers
Micro influencers for apps on a budget: find small creators whose audience fits, outreach templates, what to offer with no money, disclosure and tracking.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users from online communities
A zero budget playbook for your first 100 app users from Discord servers, Facebook groups, Slack groups, forums and Quora, without getting banned.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users from Product Hunt and launch sites
A zero budget launch plan for Product Hunt, Show HN, BetaList and Indie Hackers: the official rules, a prep checklist, launch day plan and templates.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users from your own network
How to ask friends, ex-colleagues, alumni and your LinkedIn and X followers to try your app, with message templates, intro asks and the ratings rules.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users from the App Store
Get your first App Store downloads as a new app: long-tail keywords, 3-frame screenshots, in-app events, featuring nominations, ratings and analytics.
PlaybooksHow to get your first 100 app users with a small paid ads budget
Is it worth running ads for a new app? When paid makes sense early, how to run a capped test, 3 to 5 creatives, cost per retained user and stop rules.
definitions, the role, the metrics, and how apps get their first users.
PaidMeta, TikTok, Apple Search Ads, creative testing and CAC.
UGCcreator engines, Spark Ads, and turning organic winners into paid.
Redditsubreddit research, comment-first seeding, the SAFE playbook.
App StoreASO, product pages, screenshots, Apple Ads and Google Play.
Hiringcost, operator vs agency vs in-house, and how to interview.