2 builders who never spoke to each other

Let people in a few at a time, not all at once

Releasing access in small batches keeps support survivable and lets you fix what each cohort trips over before the next arrives. Requiring a reply to get in adds a filter that costs the keen person nothing and hands you a conversation with every early user.

The method

1. 01

   Run a waiting list during early access and release invitations in small batches you can actually support.

2. 02

   Work a pre-launch list in batches of twenty: walk twenty interested people through the product on calls, fix what they trip on, move to the next twenty, and only mail the full list on launch day.

3. 03

   Put beta access behind a reply, so anyone who wants in has to answer the email and you meet them one at a time.

What it returned

• 25

  Transistor dripped out invites at 25, then 16, then 8 per month before launch.

• 200

  Zue's example uses a list of 200 people known to be interested, emailed in batches of 20 with Zoom walkthroughs in between

• Asked waitlist readers to reply to the mail or message him on Twitter to be set up with a Feather blog, free of charge during the private beta.

Sources

• Feather ↔ MDX.oneBhanu Teja · bhanuteja.dev · Feather ↔ MDX.one · 2021-03-11
• How many trials should I be getting for my SaaS?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How many trials should I be getting for my SaaS? · undated
• Using Coding Skills to Make Passive IncomeCory Zue · coryzue.com · The transcript · 2025-01-14