First week on Indie Hackers – 6 waitlist signups and a question
Hey everyone,
I joined IH recently after lurking for a while. I'm building Articulate by Voen, an app that helps professionals speak more clearly. You talk for a min of more, and AI shows you a better way to say it.
In my first week of sharing the waitlist (mostly with friends), I got 6 signups. All people I know personally who struggle with speaking clearly in meetings, interviews and everyday conversations.
Now I need to reach people I don't know.
My question: For those who've built tools around communication, career growth, or soft skills is where did you find your first strangers who actually signed up ?
I've started commenting on a few posts here and plan to share my journey. Any advice on where to focus next would mean a lot.
Happy to return the favor - drop your project in the comments and I'll check it out.
Waitlist link to Articulate by Voen if curious - https://articulate-by-voen-webapp.pxxl.click.
Congrats on the first 6 signups! I think it's actually a great starting point since they're people who genuinely have the problem you're trying to solve.
I'm at a similar stage building my own SaaS, so I can't speak from experience yet, but if I were looking for the first strangers, I'd probably spend time in communities where people already talk about interviews, public speaking, or career growth instead of trying to reach everyone at once.
Out of curiosity, have you spoken to those first 6 users yet? I'd be interested to know if they all signed up for the same reason or if there were different motivations.
Reddit for meetings is a smart specific angle — r/productivity, r/projectmanagement, the complaint threads about back-to-back calls are full of people who already know they have a problem. 'Don't pitch, just be helpful' really does work there. Good luck with week 2.
Nice start! 6 signups from people who actually need what you're building is solid validation. For finding strangers, I'd suggest trying LinkedIn - there are tons of professionals actively looking for ways to improve their communication for interviews and meetings. You could also try content marketing around specific speaking scenarios (interview prep, meeting presentations, etc.). What specific use case are you focusing on first - interviews, meetings, or everyday conversations? That'll help narrow down where to find your early adopters.
Appreciate this! LinkedIn and content marketing are pretty great suggestions, I'll lean into these.
For the use case, I'm starting with meetings (this is the use case I've noticed people would like to solve immediately). The core problem is people struggling to clearly state what's in their head or explain a concept smoothly. That's where I'm focusing first.
Nice start getting 6 signups from real users is actually solid validation 👏
For tools like this, I’ve noticed the first “strangers” usually come from places where people are already feeling the problem not just talking about it.
Think:
• people preparing for interviews
• professionals struggling in meetings
• non-native speakers trying to sound more confident
Those moments are where intent is highest.
Instead of just sharing broadly, I’d focus on being present in those conversations when they’re happening.
Have you noticed where your first users usually struggle the most (interviews vs meetings vs everyday communication)?
I Really appreciate your comment, and reading your post made something click.
I'm focusing on professionals struggling in meetings specifically. That's what I've personally struggled with, so it's where I understand the problem best.
Your point about being present where intent is highest is spot on. Instead of just sharing broadly, I need to be in conversations where people are actively looking for help in the moment.
From what I've seen, there are two types: people who need immediate help because of the difficulty of finding the right words to use during meetings, and people who struggle more with everyday communication. Both want clarity, just at different moments.
Also noted on the "professionals struggling in meetings" line, adding that to the marketing material. Appreciate you.
Love that focusing on meetings makes it much clearer.
And yeah, those two groups make sense, but the “in-the-moment” meeting struggle is probably where urgency is highest.
That’s where people are actively looking for help, not just thinking about improving.
If you can show up in those moments, even a simple “try this before your next meeting” angle could convert really well.
Where do those conversations usually happen for you right now?
Most people get the first 5 to 10 signups from friends, random curiosity, or founder communities, then mistake that for traction. The thing to watch is where each signup came from and whether any of them actually reply, book a call, or ask for the product. Six in week one is fine, but the real question is whether you can get the next six from the same channel on purpose.
Appreciate this, it's definitely the trap I'm trying to avoid. That's exactly why I'm asking about channels now. I want the next six to come from a repeatable source and not just friends being supportive.
Thank you for keeping things honest.
https://thegenius.blog
Appreciate this, giving it a read.
its a wordpress blog
6 signups from friends tells you people like you, not that the product solves a real problem. Before worrying about distribution, the question is whether any of those 6 actually completed a session and came back for a second one. If the answer is no or you don't know, finding strangers won't fix anything. 'Speak more clearly' is also doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Accent coaching and interview prep are very different markets with different buyers and different price sensitivity. Which one are you building for?
I appreciate the pushback. To clarify, I'm still in validation phase, not trying to drive usage yet. Friends on the waitlist are people who genuinely struggle with communication, so they're not just being nice.
You're right on the mark when you say finding strangers won't fix anything if people who try the product don't come back. What I'm after are strangers, people who don't know me, see the product, and think "yes, I need this." If they join the waitlist, that tells me it's a real problem worth solving. And if they come back after using it, that validates the product actually works the way they expect.
The audience is people who struggle to clearly express their ideas in meetings. What I've noticed is it often starts with everyday conversations, that snowball effect where you're never quite clear, and it carries over into professional settings.
Thanks for the honest take.
6 signups in week one from personal outreach is a real start. For finding strangers: Reddit is genuinely underrated for this niche. Subreddits like r/PublicSpeaking, r/jobs and r/interviews are full of people actively posting about exactly the problem Articulate solves. Don't pitch in them. Just be helpful, answer questions, be the person who gives good advice. They'll find you.
What's the main scenario your early users struggle with most — meetings, interviews, or something else?
I really appreciate this, Reddit is actually where I've been lurking and learning the most. The conversations there have shaped how I think about the product.
"Don't pitch, just be helpful" is advice I'm holding close.
and the main scenario I'm focusing on is meetings.
Thanks Amanda!.
Hi, yeah you are doing right things - comments, posts everywhere, talk to people. But in your case, I think, SEO could help better because your product is pretty niche and specific so it's very unlikely someone in this communities is highly interested in it. But if you post some content that people with that problem can find, it will help them discover your product (long tail, though). Good luck!
SEO is a brilliant suggestion, honestly a new one for me. I'll be learning more and leaning into this moving forward.
Thank you !
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