How Draft.dev got its first 100 users
Carl did not build a website or landing page to start. He created a single page on his personal website called "Carl's Writing" listing recent writing samples, and sent that link directly to his professional network asking if they'd pay him to write. His first 5–10 clients were all people he had met at some point in his career and stayed in touch with via a personal CRM: a spreadsheet of ~50 contacts he reminded himself weekly to reach out to — via lunch, email, or a quick call. He also cold-reached out to people working in "developer relations," a field he discovered while doing those calls, which helped him validate that real demand existed. Within 3 months of this approach he had more work than he could handle solo and began hiring contractors. The business was started part-time while he was still transitioning out of his previous job, which reduced pressure and let him prove viability before going all-in.