Most startup advice about growth is written for companies with budgets. Here's what actually works when you have $0-500 and need to find your first 1,000 users.

1. Cold DMs that don't feel cold

Find 50 people on Twitter/LinkedIn who publicly complained about the problem you solve. DM them something specific about their situation, not a pitch. Conversion rate: 15-25% to a call.

2. Build in public on Twitter

Post your metrics, your decisions, your failures. People root for transparency. One founder I worked with went from 0 to 2,400 followers in 6 weeks doing daily build-in-public threads. 340 of those became early users.

3. Strategic comments on relevant newsletters

Find the 10 newsletters your target customers actually read. Leave genuinely insightful comments on every issue. Include your one-liner and link in your bio. This compounds fast.

4. One viral piece of original research

Survey 100 people in your niche. Turn it into a report with real numbers. Founders love data they can cite. This single tactic drove 1,200 signups for a SaaS tool I advised last year.

5. Partner launches with complementary tools

Find 3-5 tools your users already use. Propose a co-marketing email swap. You promote them, they promote you. Zero cost, warm audience.

The real unlock: you don't need all 5. You need ONE that clicks, then you double down until it's maxed out before adding the next.

I break down execution details on each of these (with templates and real examples) inside The Marketing Lab.