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Ask HN: How do you recruit beta testers for your SaaS?

13 points by clmntrg ↗ HN
I work full-time at slite.com. We've been around for 5 years and done well. For a number of reasons, we recently decided to pivot.

We're developing a unique product for a small, growing, market we love: async-first communication (understand documentation + discussions).

Our success will massively rely on growing our (free) beta waitlist: 1. Bringing design partners on board and iterate with them on new releases 2. Hoping this will lead to a big public launch

→ Do any of you have experience building beta waitlists? How would you approach that in our context?

Thanks, and looking forward to reading your thoughts!

@clementrog

8 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 25.2 ms ] thread
JSeymourATL
Can you describe your ideal target client/user? The more detailed the better—

Try sorting individual profiles on LinkedIn. Start reaching out one-by-one, with personalized messages.

It’s time consuming, you’ll get tons of rejection. But the individuals who do respond favorably will be pure gold.

clmntrg
Thanks for taking the time to reply!

Teams we want to recruit: - 10+ employees - ideally software/service companies - early adopters with tech profiles - Geography doesn't really matter since they should be remote/async-first

On 1:1 outreach I thought about it, but I don't feel comfortable with that. That's a good call still. Have you ever had success with that?

JSeymourATL
> On 1:1 outreach I thought about it, but I don't feel comfortable with that.

To be fair— recruiting users is a sales/marketing process. There may be someone on your team more naturally disposed to this task.

Still — it’s solid advice to go out and talk to your customers.

Good food for thought from PG >

http://paulgraham.com/ds.html?viewfullsite=1

clmntrg
If anyone is interested in the Beta → slite.typeform.com/discussions
amanaplanablog
Don't think of them as "beta testers". They are users. Slapping beta in front makes it sound like you lack any confidence in what you're doing. 1:1 outreach is great advice. Think of it as finding users, hopefully users that are not afraid to give you feedback.
clmntrg
The product is so early-stage that's a big commitment to be a user. But you're right. I'll try 1:1 outreach for users, definitely. Thanks!
drewrv
I think it's builds trust to signal to your users that the product is still young. That sets expectations that there may be bugs but you're looking to actively fix them, and that half baked features will become more stable and usable over time.

The phrase "beta testers" isn't great though. People don't want to pay to test other peoples software. I think "early access" is better phrasing. I'm working on an idea and planning to preview a feature grid with different tiers, then grey it out and have an overlay saying something to the effect of "early access only right now, open your account now and get locked into this lower price." Followed by a list of available features and "coming soon".

Jugurtha
I can go on and on about finding and talking with hundreds of users, but I'm on mobile and can't type a lengthy answer. Can you send me an email to remind me of this?

My contact information is in my profile. Talk with you soon.

PS: Launch. There's no 'big public launch'. Launch even with early request access and invite links. Put it online. Onboard users one by one. No, you don't need to send an automated email for those who signed up for early access. Just put in a database and contact them individually.

Your product will change based on the conversations you will have. Launch already. Put the link in your profile and a way for those interested to contact you.