Get Your First 100 Users by Doing the Work for Them
Founder Scott Belsky asked for interviews first, then offered finished portfolios that set the standard for the site.
lennysnewsletter.com · How to kickstart and scale a consumer business—Step 4: Find your early adopters by doing things that don’t scaleWhen Scott Belsky, the founder of Behance, needed designers for a portfolio site with no portfolios on it, he did not ask strangers to sign up and figure it out. He offered to interview them, and then he did the work for them.
His method had three moves, and any founder with a list of ideal early users can copy the shape of it. First, make a list of 100 people you genuinely admire in the world you want to serve. Belsky picked 100 designers and artists whose work he respected.
Second, ask for something small and flattering, not a signup. Belsky said he "asked if we could interview them for a blog on productivity in the creative world. Nearly all of them said yes."
Third, turn the yes into supply. After the questions, he offered to build each person a portfolio on Behance, next to the blog post, exactly the way he wanted portfolios to look. Nobody declined. The result was a first version of Behance stocked with about five projects each from 100 top creatives, which set the standard for everyone who came later and solved the classic chicken or egg problem of an empty network.
To get from 100 to 1,000, he kept the same personal touch and added volume. He sent notes like, “I noticed your work on MySpace or DeviantArt, and thought you’d enjoy showcasing your work on Behance,” and found the more personal the note, the better it converted. Belsky wrote, "My simple daily practice was to bring in 10 amazing new members every day," by phone call or by building the portfolio himself, because he believed admirers would follow the admired.
It is slow, manual labor, and that is the point. It works best when one great supplier attracts many followers, and when quality sets the norm.
Start tonight by writing down 10 names you admire, and what you honestly like about their work.
Questions people ask
I do not have a blog. Can I still use this tactic?
Yes, if you offer attention and useful work rather than asking for a favor. An interview, a profile, feedback, or a done-for-you setup can work. What matters is that the first ask is small, specific, and flattering, and the second step saves them time.
How much time does this take each day?
Belsky treated it as a daily habit of adding 10 impressive members a day, by email, phone, or building portfolios himself. For a solo founder, that pace means an hour or two of outreach and setup a day. The cost is time, not money.
What is the chicken-or-egg problem he solved?
It is the empty-network problem: creators will not join without an audience, and an audience will not come without creators. Behance broke it by stocking the site with 100 admired portfolios first, so newcomers arrived to something worth joining.