How founders built their waiting lists — real tactics shared
Founders on Reddit shared how they collected early sign-ups before launching their products. Strategies ranged from simple landing pages to posting in online communities. Useful reading for solo builders trying to validate demand before building.
A waiting list is a way to collect email addresses from people interested in your product before it's ready. This Reddit thread gathered real experiences from people who built software products and wanted to know what actually worked for getting early sign-ups.
Commonly mentioned tactics include posting in relevant communities like Reddit, Twitter, and LinkedIn, setting up a simple one-page website with an email sign-up form, and helping people solve problems in forums before mentioning your product. A recurring theme was 'give value first, promote second' — people respond better when you're genuinely helpful rather than just advertising.
Key points
- A single landing page with an email form is enough to start collecting sign-ups
- Engaging in communities like Reddit or Twitter organically is more effective than cold outreach
- Helping people solve real problems before mentioning your product builds trust
- A waiting list lets you test whether people actually want your product before you build it
- Early on, community participation often beats paid ads for cost-effectiveness
Quick term guide
- founders
- People who are starting or running their own business or project.
- founder
- A person who starts a new company or project.
- landing page
- The first page a visitor sees after clicking an ad, link, or campaign message.
- waiting list
- A list of email addresses collected from people who want to be notified when your product launches
- software
- Programs or apps that run on a computer or smartphone.
- A social network where professionals share resumes and connect with employers and colleagues.
- cold outreach
- Sending unsolicited messages or emails to strangers to introduce your product, without any prior connection
- outreach
- Contacting people directly to start a conversation or ask for interest.