Last week I launched my productivity app on Reddit.
I posted it in a giveaway subreddit and offered 50 lifetime licenses and 500 three-month licenses. The post ended up getting more than 20k views and hundreds of comments.
Most people were great. One person wasn't.
He messaged me saying I had done something wrong because the lifetime offer wasn't clearly mentioned in the post itself. We went back and forth for quite a while. Honestly, by the end of it, I felt completely defeated. Part of me wanted to just stop replying.
But eventually I thought, whatever. He's spent time testing the app and talking to me. So I gave him a lifetime access link anyway.
A few days later, he posted my app in a Facebook LTD group that I didn't even know existed.
That single post brought me my first 5 paying customers.
A lot of people will look at this story and say it was luck.
Maybe.
But I think the real lesson is that distribution often comes from unexpected places. The Reddit post got 20k+ views because I spent hours replying to people, fixing bugs, answering questions, and genuinely trying to help.
Most of that effort didn't directly lead to sales.
But one person noticed.
As founders, we spend a lot of time looking for growth hacks. Sometimes the best growth strategy is simply treating people well, even when the conversation isn't going your way.
Still feels surreal seeing those first payments come through 😭❤️
Edit: it's https://usefocusstack.com/ if anyone is interested
