The Strategy We Used to Help Web3 Startups Raise $51.9M and Acquire 23M+ Users

Getting your first real users is hard. But it's also the single most important thing to figure out early.

Yet this is where most Web3 founders mess up.

They launch too big. Too soon. Too polished.

And they blow thousands on KOLs, ads, agencies, and Discord bots, only to get… crickets.

I've watched smart teams build amazing tech only to launch to complete silence.

They chase vanity metrics. Impressions. Followers. Hype. But none of it converts into real users.

Because in reality, your tech stack means nothing if nobody uses it.

DISTRIBUTION is everything in the early days.

You can build the most impressive protocol or dApp in the world,

You can partner up with the best KOLs, have the top-of-the-line marketing strategy…

But without a clear plan to get it into users' hands, you're basically talking to yourself.

And I'm talking about something most founders are too "busy" (or scared) to do.

Real Traction Comes From Doing The Work Nobody Else Wants To Do

Think about how Figma didn't just drop a product and hope designers would randomly find it.

They spent over two years quietly onboarding early users, collecting feedback, and improving their UX until people genuinely loved the product.

Airbnb? The founders literally went door to door taking photos of listings and talking to hosts one by one.

Notion? They didn't throw money at ads. They built with the community, shared what they were working on, and improved fast based on user feedback.

Yet most Web3 founders make a HUGE mistake…

They build their MVP in isolation, spend tons of money on a massive launch, Buy ads, pay KOLs to promote their token, artificially boost their Discord numbers, and hire marketing agencies that promise "explosive growth."

As a result…

Numbers that look good in investor updates but ZERO real product adoption or retention.

These users show up for the hype and leave when they see the product isn't solving their problem.

I know this because our team has worked with dozens of VC-backed Web3 startups-$51.9M raised, 23M+ users acquired including…

Zenrock – Got 35,356 Users In 29 days

Farcana – Free Mint To $5k Floor Price In a bear market In 4 weeks

BAM – From Chaos To $20k In 1 Week

Galaxis – Social Farming Campaign To 93k Twitter Followers

We've seen the projects that fail and the ones that succeed.

The difference is ALWAYS the same:

Successful founders focus on personal, one-on-one outreach to get their FIRST users who are PERFECT fits for their solution.

They get detailed feedback, make changes quickly, and repeat until people truly love their product.

And THEN it spreads like crazy.

Here Are Four Proven Strategies To Get Your First 100 REAL Users

1. Founder-Led Content That People Find Helpful

Content isn't just important, it's essential in 2025.

But I'm not talking about basic "10 reasons blockchain is the future" posts that everyone makes.

I'm talking about TRULY helpful content that helps your target users solve problems and learn things they can't find anywhere else.

Look at what we do with our own content.

We don't just post about our services. We explain EXACTLY how we've helped clients solve real problems.

We share methods, plans, and ideas that founders and investors like YOU can use TODAY.

Lens Protocol did this really well before launch.

Their team members were always sharing useful insights about social graph technology, decentralized identity, and the future of content ownership.

By the time they launched, they already had a community of people who trusted what they knew.

Here's what your content strategy should include:

1- Big Picture Articles: Longer posts that explain your main idea and why your solution matters RIGHT NOW

2- Bite-sized Content: Break those big ideas into short tweets, threads, and posts that people can easily read and share

3- Behind-the-Scenes Updates: Show people how you're building your product. Share wins, challenges, and what you're learning. OPENNESS builds trust

4- Memes & Culture: Show your personality and connect with the community as a real person

5- How-To Content: Show people how to solve problems with your product without being too pushy about it

6- Community Spotlights: Share and boost content created by your users, supporters, and team members

Reminder: This content should come from REAL PEOPLE on your team, not just a faceless company account. People connect with people, not logos.

2. Personal Outreach That Gets Responses (Not Spam)

This is the part most founders skip because it feels "too small" or "not worth scaling."

Or they think "Nobody wants to hear from a founder who's cold messaging."

But it's EXACTLY what will get you your first devoted users if you do it the way it should be done.

Start by answering these questions to identify your Ideal Customer Profile:

• What specific problem does your user need fixed RIGHT NOW?

• Where are they currently trying to solve this problem?

• What tools are they using now instead?

• What groups do they already belong to?

• What content do they read or watch?

Now, make a list of competitors or similar projects that already have your ideal customers in their community.

Then do the work NOBODY else is willing to do:

• Reach out to their followers/community members one by one

• Be normal and friendly and explain clearly how your product solves THEIR problem

• Offer something extra valuable for early users (free access, special features, small rewards)

• Ask them to fill out a simple 5-question form after trying it out

Yes, this takes time and effort.

NO, you cannot use bots or mass messages for this early on. The gold is in these conversations.

We have a document that can help you create banger outreach messages that work really well. Just message me here on Telegram or LinkedIn to get access.

Remember… The cost of NOT doing this hands-on work is building a product nobody wants.

The majority of founders who skipped this step wished they didn't.

3. Keyword Monitoring That Finds Users Already Looking For Solutions

Your potential users are ALREADY talking about the problems you solve. You just need to find those conversations.

Set up tools like F5bot and KWatch to track keywords related to your project across Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites.

When someone posts about a problem your product solves, join the conversation naturally.

Don't spam. Add something useful to the discussion first, then casually mention that you're building a solution.

If the post really matches what your product does, send them a direct message and invite them to be an early tester.

Now these are WARM leads who have already talked about the exact problem you're fixing.

4. Smart Partnerships That Put You In Front Of The Right People

There are already groups full of your ideal users.

The ONLY question is: how do you get in front of them without sounding desperate or too promotional?

Make a list of non-competing projects, DAOs, or communities that share your target audience.

Then contact the founders or community managers with a CLEAR benefit proposal.

Don't just ask "can we partner?" that's lazy and offers nothing.

Instead, come with specific ideas that help THEIR community:

• Early access just for their users

• Joint educational events or AMAs

• Special perks just for their community

• Shared research or content projects

Gitcoin did this really well by partnering with established projects for their early grant rounds.

Those projects brought their communities to Gitcoin, and Gitcoin helped those projects fund their ecosystems.

Why You Should Launch Multiple Times (And Keep It Exclusive At First)

One of the BIGGEST mistakes I see is founders putting all their energy into one "big launch" event.

They spend months building hype for a single day, only to watch interest drop off quickly afterward.

Launching isn't a one-time event… It's a PROCESS.

And your product doesn't need 50 features. It just needs to work and evolve quickly based on what users actually want.

The most successful projects launch MULTIPLE times.

For example:

• First to 10 hand-picked early users

• Then to 50 more referred by those initial users

• Then to 200 from your waitlist

• Then to a specific community

• Then to the broader market

Each "launch" gives you a chance to learn, improve, and build momentum.

For your first launch, make it password-protected or invite-only.

This does two important things:

1- It gives you time to fix issues and improve the experience before going public

2- It creates exclusivity, making people WANT to join your waitlist

Always have a waitlist page ready to collect emails from people who find you before you're ready for them. This also builds a pipeline for your next launch phase.

So, now that you know exactly how to get your first users without wasting money on ads, KOLs, or fake growth loops…

Let's talk about what happens next.

See, distribution only matters if your product is actually good.

If it solves a real problem, if people actually like using it,

And if you can keep improving it fast based on what they say.

That’s why you don’t just need a growth strategy.

You need the right product, the right feedback loop, and a team that knows how to build with all of that in mind from day one.

Whether you’re just getting started with an idea

Or already have a basic MVP and want to scale it properly

You need a team that knows how to take something from scratch…

And build it into a product that users would want to use…

While keeping speed, feedback, and iteration at the core of everything.

That’s exactly what we do.

We’ve built dozens of Web3 products across DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and infra, so we know what works (and what slows you down).

We’ve already built the templates, dev flows, and feedback systems that help founders move fast without breaking stuff.

So if you're starting to get interest and need a tech partner who understands this stage,

Or you've identified a real market problem and want to launch your first (or next) product to solve it...

You've got two options moving forward:

1- Message me directly on Telegram and I'll send you our proven outreach templates to help you find your first users.

2- Or save your spot here for a 30-min FREE strategy call and we'll walk through how YOU can launch a lean MVP, get it in front of the right early users, collect real feedback, and validate demand before you spend time or money scaling.

After the call, you'll have the choice…

To take the strategy and run with it on your own team.

Or if it makes sense, we can talk about what working together could look like.

Either way.

Don't build in isolation. Real product-market fit comes from conversations, not code.

Let's make it happen.

-Andre