Ask HN: How do I get beta testers for a niche user group? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I get beta testers for a niche user group?

3 pointsadarshw8 comments

We are building a tool meant specifically for Devops engineers, but my network isn't really filled with them. Are there specific platforms where I can find the people I am looking for?

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Finding customers can be done with a telephone. It is often more important than building the the thing you are trying to sell. Because building the thing doesn’t solve the finding customers problem.

It really doesn’t solve the building the thing problem either because without feedback from potential customers you probably have the building the wrong thing problem to some degree.

A devops tool is targeting businesses more than individuals. Talk to the relevant businesses and solve their actual problems. Good luck.

True - In my little experience, cold calling/ mailing people seems to not be well received. They would rather be connected through a 'warm' lead. How would I overcome this initial resistance?

You don’t. You want to get to ‘no’ quick.

Then ask the next person.

Cold calls are cattle not pets.

One way of gamification is to try to get 100 rejections per day. Most people are not your potential customers.

Wait. I love that idea - Flipping the goal from getting acceptance to getting rejection is a really good idea. It suddenly seems way more plausible to achieve.

Posting on here could get some traction. In fact, there's a thread that HN is thinking of starting a monthly feedback wanted thread.

You could also try reddit subs. I'm not sure what quality you might get there.

I haven't looked into LinkedIn, but there might be a way to reach out on there.

Oh I didn't know about the monthly feedback thread - it'll be awesome if they ever end up doing that. I was thinking of reddit too - but I am not in the right subreddits yet, so will need to figure that out. Will definitely try Linkedin!

Link

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27901265

This is great - thank you so much!

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