to get your first 100 app users from your own network, list everyone you know, pick those who fit your target user, and send each a personal message asking for honest feedback, not a favor. then ask for introductions to people like your user, post build in public updates on LinkedIn and X, and track these users apart from strangers.
Why your network is the right place to start
your network is the right place to start because those people already trust you, so they will actually open the app and tell you what is broken. that honest early feedback is worth more than downloads. it is also free and fast. a weekend of personal messages can get your first testers before any other channel is ready.
this stage is usually where the first 50 app users come from, and it is the launch pad for the rest of the first 100 app users playbook. the catch, covered below, is that friends are not your market.
Map your network in one hour
spend one hour writing down everyone you could message, grouped by circle. most founders think their network is small, then find a few hundred names once they check their contacts, old group chats, LinkedIn and X. mark each person as a possible user, a possible connector, or both. connectors often matter more than users.
| circle | where to look | best ask |
|---|---|---|
| close friends and family | phone contacts, group chats | honest feedback on the first version |
| ex-colleagues | LinkedIn, old work chats | feedback plus intros to people in their world |
| alumni | school groups, alumni directories | intros to people who fit your user |
| LinkedIn connections | your connections list, filtered by role or industry | try it if they fit, share if they don’t |
| X followers and mutuals | your followers, people you reply to | follow the build, try the beta |
put the names in a sheet with columns for circle, fits target user (yes or no), connector (yes or no), message sent, reply, and signed up.
Ask for feedback, not favors
asking for feedback, not favors, changes the whole conversation. a favor asks someone to download your app to be nice, so they install it, open it once and forget it. a feedback request asks for their judgment, so they actually use it. it also gives you something useful even when the answer is “this is not for me”.
three rules for every ask:
- one person, one message, written for them, never a mass paste
- say who the app is for, so they can tell if it is them or someone they know
- give an easy out, so nobody feels pressured
Personal message templates
use these as starting points, then rewrite every one in your own words for the person you are sending it to. keep each under 80 words. send them over a few days, not all at once, so you can reply properly to everyone who answers. expect some people to say no or not reply, and that is fine.
to a close friend:
hey [name], i’ve been building a small app called [app] that helps [who] with [problem]. i’d love 10 minutes of your honest opinion, especially what’s confusing. no pressure at all if you’re busy. here’s the link: [link]
to an ex-colleague:
hi [name], hope [something specific] is going well. i left [company] to build [app], which helps [who] [do what]. you always had sharp opinions on [topic], so i’d value your honest take. and if it’s not for you, do you know one person who deals with [problem]?
to an alumni contact:
hi [name], fellow [school] grad here. i’m building [app] for [who] and trying to talk to people who [situation]. would you be open to trying it and telling me what’s missing? happy to return the favor anytime.
Ask for introductions to people who fit
introductions are where your network really pays off, because each friend knows people you don’t, and some of them are your actual target users. make intros easy: ask for one specific kind of person, and include a short blurb they can forward without rewriting anything. never ask for a list of contacts.
would you know one person who [specific situation, like “runs a small bakery” or “is studying for the bar”]? if so, feel free to forward this:
“[your name] is building [app], a free app that helps [who] [do what]. they’re looking for a few people to try it and give honest feedback. link: [link]”
after an intro, thank the connector and tell them later what happened. people who see their intro helped tend to make another one.
Build in public on LinkedIn and X
building in public means posting honestly about what you are building, including numbers, mistakes and lessons, so people follow the story and some try the product. it works on LinkedIn and X because a story is easier to share than an ad. aim for two or three posts a week, each teaching one real thing.
post ideas that work:
- why you started, in one specific moment
- a screenshot of feedback that changed your plan
- this week’s small numbers, honestly, even when they are tiny
- one thing you got wrong and what you changed
a simple post template:
week [n] of building [app], a tool for [who]. this week [what happened]. what surprised me: [lesson]. what i’m fixing next: [thing]. if you [have the problem], i’d love you to try it and tell me where it breaks: [link]
Set up a simple waitlist
a waitlist gives people who are interested but not ready a place to go, and gives you a list to invite in small batches. a free form tool or a simple landing page with an email field is enough. ask one question on signup, like what they hope the app will help with, so you learn who is joining.
invite people in batches of ten or twenty, and send a personal note with each batch. small batches let you fix problems before the next group arrives.
Friends are not your market
friends are not your market, because they use your app out of kindness, not need. their signups feel like progress, but their retention usually drops once the novelty wears off, or it stays high out of loyalty. either way it hides the truth. tag every network user and read their numbers apart from strangers.
in 6+ years working on growth with AI startups in the US, Europe and India, the same mistake shows up often: founders read friend usage as product market fit. the fix is simple. give every network signup a source tag, then compare day 7 and day 30 retention for network users against users from other channels. the app growth metrics guide explains what each number means.
Never ask friends for ratings that break the rules
do not ask friends or family to rate your app on the App Store or Google Play. Apple warns against attempts to “manipulate reviews, inflate your chart rankings” with incentivized or fake feedback, and can remove developers who do. friends leaving kind five star ratings also hide what real users think. let ratings come from real users only.
for how ratings fit into store ranking, see app store optimization.
the rules, from the source:
- Apple’s App Review Guidelines, section 3, warn against paid, incentivized, filtered or fake feedback, and section 5.6.1 says to use Apple’s provided API to prompt users for a review, with custom review prompts disallowed.
- Apple’s section 3.2.2 also says apps must not force users to rate or review the app to access features.
- Google Play’s ratings and reviews policy lists “Asking users to rate your app while offering an incentive” as not allowed.
what to do instead: trigger the official in app rating prompt for real users after a moment of success, never ask for a specific star rating, never offer anything for a review, and ask friends for private feedback by message instead.
A two week plan and what to measure
this plan takes about an hour a day for two weeks and costs nothing. week one is personal messages and intros. week two is build in public posts and the first waitlist batches. measure replies, signups and retained users by circle, so you learn which part of your network actually leads to real users.
| days | what you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | map your network in a sheet |
| 2 to 4 | send 10 to 15 personal messages a day |
| 5 to 7 | reply, fix what people flag, ask for intros |
| 8 to 10 | post build in public updates, invite first waitlist batch |
| 11 to 14 | follow up with every tester, invite next batch |
what to measure, per circle: messages sent, replies, signups, day 7 retained users, and intros made. the circle with the most retained strangers from intros is the one to keep working.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I ask friends to try my app without being awkward?
ask for feedback, not a favor, and make it personal. one short message to one person, saying what the app does, who it is for, and that you want honest criticism. give them an easy out. people are happy to help a friend learn, and far less happy to be asked to download something to be nice.
Should I ask friends and family to rate my app on the App Store?
no. Apple's guidelines warn against manipulating reviews or inflating rankings with incentivized or fake feedback, and Google Play bans asking for ratings in exchange for incentives. friends rating your app to be kind distorts the signal too. use the official in app rating prompt and let real users decide.
How do I get users from LinkedIn and X for my app?
post honestly about what you are building, what you learned this week and what is not working, then invite people who fit the target user to try it. build in public posts work because people follow a story. pair them with personal messages to the few people most likely to need the app.