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I launched on Reddit first - best decision EVER

May 16, 20258 min read

Before working on Hyikko, I never used Reddit.
I looked for a platform that would allow me to get feedback from engaging users, to test and validate my idea.
I found Reddit to be the PERFECT platform for this.

Free QA Testing

Reddit users are brutally honest. Within hours of posting, I received detailed feedback about bugs, UX issues, and feature requests. This free QA testing would have cost thousands if done through traditional testing services.

What Reddit Found:

  • • Missing features like "save flight" functionality or budget constraints (i.e. "under 200$")
  • • UI/UX improvements lile mobile responsiveness issues on certain phone sizes
  • • Other issues like confusing error messages

Free Stress Testing

Dont have time for proper stress testing? When a Reddit post goes viral, you get real stress testing. My first post in r/OpenAI, got tens of thousands of views in less then 24 hours, bringing thousands of users & concurrent chats.

Stress Test Results:

  • • In-Memory chat saving caused memory issues
  • • I needed to set limitations onthe amount of flex a user can have in one prompt, so that everyone will get a fair share.

Free Marketing

Reddit's organic reach is incredible. A single well-received post generated over 10k views, 3k searches made and 100+ subscribed users. Plus, Reddit users share content they find valuable, creating an upward effect. Ever since my first post, I see users online with active chats when I randomly check it.

Marketing Benefits:

  • • 10,000+ unique visitors from first post
  • • 3k searches made in 24 hours
  • • 100+ user registrations in 24 hours

My Mistakes

1. Choose the Right Subreddits

r/travel, r/digitalnomad, r/solotravel, r/backpacking - all are great sub-reddits, and since not knowing Reddit so well, I pretty much ended up getting blocked by most of them.

Certain sub-reddits have strict ruls regarding self promotion (even if your product is free and made for the community).

After getting blocked by those sub-reddits, I turned to sub-reddits that allow for publishing projects: r/SideProject, r/Saas, r/OpenAI, r/ChatGPT etc.

A Good Starting Strategy

1. Start Early

No need to wait for the project to be 100% ready. Start posting about it as soon as you have a working prototype.

This will help you gather feedback, improve your project as you go, and re-post as things improve.

This is exactly why we chose Reddit - fully anonymous, no need to worry.

2. Choose The right sub-reddits

Learning from my mistakes, I would have chosen 2-3 sub-reddits that relate to app/project development, and 2-3 sub-reddits that relate to your domain.

3. Consistency - 3/4 Posts a week

Take the subreddits you chose, and post daily about your project. For the app development sub-reddits, post about your project, the value it brings (preferable with examples) and ask for feedback.

For the domain specific sub-reddits, it get's trickier. Depends on your product and the sub-reddit rules, it will probably have restrictions on self promotion.

In hind-sight, what I would have done is: "Here's a list of sub 200$ flights I found from NYC to Europe in August". That way, I would bring value to the community, and if someone will ask how I found it (which would probably happen), I'll mention my tool.

4. Engage Actively

Respond to every comment, even the negative ones.
This shows you care about user feedback and are actively improving the product.

Also, comment on other's posts, this helps your Karma (Reddit's way of socring users, basically the more Karma you have the more sub-reddits are open for you) as well as getting to know the style of people that are in your sub-reddit, and what kind of posts are going viral.

5. Provide Value First

Even if you're product costs money, it doesn't mean you can't let users try it for free.
The ability to do proof of value is a must IMO to gain traction in those communities.

Lessons Learned

The Reddit launch taught me that early users are your best teachers. They'll find bugs you never imagined, suggest features you didn't know you needed, and help you understand your product-market fit better than any market research.

Key Takeaway

For bootstrapped startups / projects, Reddit is the ultimate launch platform. It provides free QA, stress testing, marketing, and community building - everything you need to validate and improve your product before scaling.