Find your first 10 people

Ten people, not ten random followers

An audience begins when a small number of people recognize the work and choose to return. They may be readers, testers, users, peers, or customers. A follower who never sees the project is less useful than a person who tries it and explains where it fails.

Your first goal is not to make a number increase. It is to create ten relevant relationships with enough context to learn from.

Describe who should care

Complete this sentence:

This project is useful when someone is trying to [specific situation]
but currently [specific friction].

Now identify where people already discuss that situation. Look for focused communities, issue trackers, forums, professional groups, local networks, and the replies to people writing about the same problem.

Do not enter a community only to drop a link. Read first. Answer questions. Learn the language people use before asking for attention.

Use four paths

People you already know

Ask former colleagues, friends, customers, or peers who genuinely encounter the problem. A personal message should explain why you thought of them and make declining easy.

Existing conversations

Find a current question where your experiment adds evidence. Share the relevant lesson directly. Link the project only when it helps answer the question.

Small public updates

Publish progress with a specific problem, artifact, and question. Relevant people can recognize themselves without being sold to.

Direct observation

Invite someone to use the current version while you watch. One observed session often teaches more than a week of broad posting.

A respectful invitation

I am testing [small artifact] for people who [specific situation].

I thought of you because [honest reason]. The current version takes about
[time] to try. I am trying to learn [specific question].

Would you be willing to look at it? No problem if it is not relevant.

Do not ask a stranger to “support your journey.” Ask for a bounded action that respects their time.

Keep a people ledger

For each conversation, record:

Person or context:
Why the problem is relevant:
What they tried or read:
What happened:
What I learned:
Permission to follow up: yes / no

The ledger prevents relationships from becoming a follower count. It also reminds you not to repeatedly ask the same people for unpaid work.

What counts as progress

• someone returns for a second update;
• someone tries the artifact without being reminded;
• someone introduces another relevant person;
• someone asks when the next version will exist;
• someone contributes evidence, time, money, or a useful correction.

Ten thoughtful conversations can take longer than gaining ten followers. They are also much more likely to change the work.

First ten checklist

• [ ] I can describe the relevant situation in one sentence.
• [ ] I know three places where that situation is discussed.
• [ ] My invitation is specific and easy to decline.
• [ ] I contribute context before asking for attention.
• [ ] I record behavior and learning, not only names.
• [ ] I do not repeatedly extract feedback without giving value back.

After the first ten, growth means creating a repeatable way for the right people to discover, understand, and return to the work.