4 builders who never spoke to each other

Answer every reply while the account is small

A post with a live conversation beneath it earns more distribution than one that just sits there, and the first hour after publishing is when that gets decided. Replying to everyone with something that invites another answer also signals to early users that someone real is on the other end.

The method

1. 01

   Work the first hour after posting: answer every comment with something that invites a further reply, from the commenter or from anyone reading the thread.

2. 02

   Answer every comment while you are still small, so a post becomes a conversation rather than a broadcast.

3. 03

   Reply and engage person by person rather than broadcasting, because a relational approach is what produces unusually high engagement rates on social.

4. 04

   In the early days answer users one at a time on social, so they can tell there is a person behind the product.

What it returned

• 19

  One of Tom Alder's replies generated 19 follow-up comments, and more comments earn more distribution from the LinkedIn algorithm.

• 4

  Ivan Zhao spent a lot of his early time replying individually to users on Twitter; Notion passed 4 million users in 2020.

Sources

• [Coaching: Maia #24] Maia’s Final Episode + Reflecting on the Journey to 6 Figures - Double Your FreelancingZach Swinehart · doubleyourfreelancing.com · AI-Generated Summary: · 2024-05-15
• Building the world's most customizable workspace with Ivan Zhao, co-founder of NotionIvan Zhao · nesslabs.com · Building the world's most customizable workspace with Ivan Zhao, co-founder of Notion · 2021-03-12
• Friday Feature: Strategy BreakdownsTom Alder · sparkloop.app · 🙋 How Strategy Breakdowns does it · undated
• You don’t need 10,000 followers to winTibo Louis-Lucas · tmaker.io · 10. Reply to every comment when starting out · 2026-07-09