What Happened After I Launched My Waitlist Tool

A few weeks ago, I wrote about building ReferralLoop in 2.5 months. That post covered the tech stack, challenges, and lessons learned during development. But building is only half the story.

This post is about what happened after I hit publish. The first users, the real feedback, the things that worked, and the things that completely flopped. No sugarcoating—just the honest reality of launching a product.

The Launch Day

I didn't do a big launch. No Product Hunt, no coordinated social media blitz. Just a quiet release to a handful of people I'd been talking to during development.

Why the soft launch?

I've seen too many indie hackers blow their one shot at a big launch with a buggy product. My strategy: get real users first, fix the obvious issues, then do a proper launch with confidence.

The first day looked like this:

Shared in a few indie hacker communities
Posted on Twitter/X (modest following)
Sent DMs to people who'd expressed interest
Wrote a short thread about the journey

Results: 47 visitors, 8 signups, 2 people actually created waitlists.

Not viral. Not impressive. But it was a start.

First Real Feedback

The first feedback came within hours, and it was humbling.

The Good

"This is exactly what I needed for my launch next month"
"The referral tracking is way better than what I was using before"
"Setup took me 10 minutes, not days"

These comments validated that I'd solved a real problem. People did need this.

The Bad

"I can't figure out how to customize the widget colors"
"The dashboard is confusing—too many options"
"Where's the Zapier integration?"

Every piece of negative feedback stung. But each one was a gift—real users telling me what mattered.

The Ugly

One user found a bug where referral counts weren't updating in real-time under specific conditions. Another discovered the email templates looked broken on Outlook (classic). A third pointed out that the mobile experience needed work.

Lesson learned: No amount of internal testing replaces real users in real environments.

What Actually Worked

After a few weeks of iteration, patterns emerged. Here's what actually moved the needle:

1. The "Build in Public" Effect

I started sharing updates on Twitter/X—not polished marketing, just real progress. Screenshots of new features, bugs I was fixing, decisions I was making.

Impact: More engagement than any marketing I'd done. People love following along with a journey. Several early users came directly from these posts.

2. Solving One Problem Really Well

I initially tried to be everything: waitlist tool, email marketing platform, CRM, analytics suite. That was a mistake.

When I narrowed the focus to "waitlists with built-in referral mechanics," everything clicked. The messaging became clearer, the product became simpler, and users understood what they were getting.

Impact: Conversion rate on the landing page doubled when I simplified the value proposition.

3. Quick Response to Feedback

Every piece of feedback got a response within hours. Every bug report got acknowledged immediately. When I shipped a fix, I'd message the person who reported it.

Impact: Early users became advocates. They felt heard, and they told others.

4. Templates and Examples

I added pre-built waitlist templates for common use cases: SaaS launches, product drops, newsletter signups, beta programs.

Impact: Reduced time-to-first-waitlist significantly. Users could see what was possible and customize from there.

What Completely Flopped

Not everything worked. Some ideas failed spectacularly.

1. Cold Outreach

I tried reaching out to people launching products on Twitter, offering to help them set up waitlists.

Result: Mostly ignored. A few polite "no thanks." Zero conversions.

Why it failed: Cold outreach without existing trust or relationship feels spammy. People are bombarded with pitches.

2. Feature Announcements Without Context

I'd ship a new feature and post "New feature: X is now live!" with a screenshot.

Result: Minimal engagement. Crickets.

Why it failed: No one cares about features. They care about outcomes. "Now you can increase referrals by 2x with our new milestone rewards" works better than "New feature: milestone rewards."

3. Trying to Be Everywhere

I spread myself thin across Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Indie Hackers, Discord communities...

Result: Burnout with mediocre results everywhere.

Why it failed: Better to dominate one channel than be forgettable on many. I eventually focused on Twitter and one or two communities where my target users actually hung out.

4. Premature Optimization

I spent two days optimizing database queries for scale we didn't have. Classic.

Result: Wasted time that could have been spent on user-facing improvements.

Why it failed: Premature optimization is the root of all evil. Solve problems when they're actually problems.

The Honest Numbers

Here's the reality after the first month (no vanity metrics, just truth):

Traffic:

~1,200 unique visitors
60% from Twitter/X
25% from direct/referral
15% from organic search

Conversions:

89 signups (7.4% conversion rate)
34 waitlists created
12 active users (using it weekly)
3 paying customers

Revenue:

$147 MRR (three customers on the basic plan)
Not life-changing, but not zero

Engagement:

Average session duration: 4 minutes
Waitlists created per active user: 2.8
Referrals tracked: 1,200+

These numbers are small. But they represent real people finding value. And small numbers that grow are infinitely better than big numbers that don't.

Pivots and Changes

Based on feedback, I made several significant changes:

Simplified Onboarding

The original onboarding had 7 steps. I cut it to 3. Users can now create their first waitlist in under 2 minutes.

Impact: Completion rate went from 45% to 78%.

Better Default Templates

Instead of starting with a blank slate, users now start with a template they can customize. Less intimidating, faster time-to-value.

Impact: More users actually launching their waitlists instead of abandoning during setup.

Removed Features (Yes, Removed)

I removed three features that were confusing users and rarely used. Less is more.

Impact: Support questions dropped. User satisfaction increased.

Added What Users Actually Wanted

Custom domain support (requested by 4 different users)
Better email customization
Webhook integrations for developers
CSV export for their data

Impact: These features directly led to upgrades and reduced churn.

What I'm Doing Next

The soft launch is over. Now it's time to scale (carefully). Here's the plan:

Short Term (Next 30 Days)

Content marketing: More blog posts, guides, and tutorials
SEO optimization: Target long-tail keywords around waitlists and referrals
Product Hunt launch: Preparing assets and building anticipation
Integrations: Zapier, Make, and webhook improvements

Medium Term (Next 90 Days)

Case studies: Document success stories from early users
Referral program for ReferralLoop: Eat my own cooking
API documentation: Make it easier for developers to integrate
Partnerships: Connect with other indie hacker tools

Long Term Goals

$1K MRR (sustainable indie business)
100 active users
Community around the product
Profitable without external funding

Lessons From the First Month

If you're about to launch something, here's what I wish I'd known:

1. Launch Before You're Ready

I waited too long. The product was "good enough" weeks before I launched. Those weeks were wasted perfecting things users didn't care about.

2. Your First Users Are Gold

Treat them like royalty. Respond fast, fix their issues, ask for feedback, and thank them genuinely. They're taking a chance on something new.

3. Numbers Don't Lie

Gut feelings are useful, but data is better. Track everything. Let the numbers guide your decisions.

4. Consistency Beats Intensity

One post per day for 30 days beats 30 posts in one day. Show up consistently. Build momentum over time.

5. It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

The first month is just the beginning. Success comes from sustained effort, not launch day heroics.

6. Comparison Is the Thief of Joy

Some indie hackers hit $10K MRR in their first month. Good for them. My journey is my own. Small progress is still progress.

7. The Product Is Never Done

Shipping is the beginning, not the end. The real work starts after launch.

Final Thoughts

Launching ReferralLoop has been one of the most educational experiences of my career. The highs are high (first paying customer!), and the lows are low (bugs in production at 2 AM). But every day, I'm learning something new.

If you're building something, I hope this honest look at my first month is helpful. It's not all hockey-stick growth and viral success. It's grinding, iterating, and slowly building something valuable.

The journey continues. I'll keep sharing what I learn along the way.

Building a waitlist for your next launch? Try ReferralLoop—built by an indie hacker, for indie hackers. Follow the journey on Twitter for real-time updates.