Latest / The Indie Hacker Podcast with Fexingo: Solo Developers, SaaS Side Projects, and Independent Tech / How a Solo Dev Used Twitter DMs to Find First Paying Customers
Transcript
- Lucas: So, I want to talk about a growth channel that almost nobody in the indie hacker community discusses in a tactical way: Twitter DMs. Luna: Like, just sliding into the DMs of strangers and asking for money? Lucas: Exactly that. But with a specific, repeatable structure. I came across a solo dev — let's call him Alex — who built a small analytics tool for newsletter writers. He had a prototype, zero users, and no budget. His entire customer acquisition strategy was sending DMs to people who tweeted about newsletter metrics. Luna: And that worked? Lucas: He landed five paying customers in two weeks, at fifty bucks a month each. So $1,200 MRR — before he even had a proper landing page. I want to unpack exactly what he said, and why it worked. Luna: Okay, I need to hear the script. Because my DMs are either spam or people asking for follows. Lucas: Right. So the key is: he didn't start with a pitch. He started with a question. He'd tweet something like, 'Anyone struggling to track open rates across multiple newsletters?' and then DM the people who liked or replied. His first DM was: 'Hey, saw your tweet about newsletter metrics. I'm building a tool that solves that exact pain. Would you be open to a 5-minute call this week?' Luna: That's so much better than 'Check out my product.' But still — I'd probably ignore a DM from a stranger. Lucas: He got ignored a lot. But the ones who replied — he'd hop on a quick call, show them a prototype, and ask one question at the end: 'If I could make this do X by next week, would you pay for it?' Not 'Would you use it?' — 'Would you pay?' Luna: That's a big distinction. Use is free. Pay is commitment. Lucas: Exactly. And the people who said yes — he asked for a credit card right there. Not a pre-order, not a placeholder. He used a Stripe payment link. And because they'd already committed verbally, they followed through. That's how he got the first five. Luna: But what about the objections? I mean, someone could easily say 'I'll wait until it's finished.' Lucas: He had a response for that. He'd say: 'I get it. But if I build this with your feedback, it'll be exactly what you need. I'm offering a founders' rate — fifty bucks a month, which is half what it'll be at launch. And I need at least three paying users to justify building it.' That scarcity — three spots — created urgency. Luna: So he was basically preselling an unfinished product. That's bold. Lucas: It is. But it's also honest. He wasn't promising a finished thing. He was promising to build it with them. And honestly, that's more valuable to a certain kind of customer — the ones who want to influence the product. Luna: I can see that working for a niche B2B tool. But what if you're building something for consumers? Would DMs still work? Lucas: It's harder. Consumer products don't have the same pain points people tweet about. But for B2B? It's almost ideal. You find people complaining about a problem in public, you offer a solution in private. The signal to noise ratio is actually pretty high. Luna: What about the people who ask for a free trial? Did he ever give one? Lucas: He did, but only after they'd been through the call. He'd say: 'I'll give you a free month. But I want you to commit to a call in two weeks to tell me what's broken.' That way, he got feedback even from free users. Luna: Smart. So the real work wasn't building — it was having conversations. Lucas: That's the indie hacker secret that doesn't get talked about enough. The hardest part isn't code, it's getting someone to care. And DMs are the lowest-friction way to start that conversation. Luna: You know, it's funny — we talk about tools and frameworks on this show, but the thing that actually moves the needle is just talking to people. A couple of dollars a month from listeners is genuinely what keeps these episodes coming. If you've gotten something out of this, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo helps us stay ad-free and focused on tactics like these. Lucas: Absolutely. Even five bucks helps keep the lights on. And we don't run ads, so listener support is the whole engine. Luna: Alright, back to Alex. So he gets these five customers. What happens next? Lucas: He builds the MVP in about three weeks — mostly because he's now accountable to real people. They're emailing him with bugs, feature requests. And he turns around updates in hours, not weeks. That speed is his competitive advantage against a team. Luna: And the DMs — does he keep doing them? Lucas: He does, but now he's more efficient. He created a Twitter list of people who tweet about newsletter analytics, and he monitors it once a day. He also started using a tool that auto-replies with a DM to anyone who uses a specific phrase — like 'open rate.' But that feels a bit spammy to me. Luna: Yeah, automation can kill the personal touch. The whole point was that it felt like a real conversation. Lucas: Exactly. Alex told me that when he automated, his reply rate dropped from 30 percent to about 10. So he went back to manual. Now he sends maybe ten DMs a day, but they're all tailored. Luna: That's sustainable. Ten DMs a day is what — 15 minutes? If you can close one customer a week from that, it's a huge ROI. Lucas: Right. And over six months, he got to about 50 customers — $3,000 MRR. Not a unicorn, but a solid lifestyle business. And he never ran a single ad. Luna: So the takeaway for indie hackers listening: if you're stuck at zero users, look for the people already talking about your problem on Twitter. Don't pitch them — start a conversation. Lucas: And be willing to ask for money early. The worst they can say is no. But if you've built a little rapport first, a surprising number will say yes. Luna: I'm curious — did Alex ever try LinkedIn DMs or email? Lucas: He tried cold email to newsletter authors. Open rate was decent — 40 percent — but reply rate was under 5 percent. LinkedIn DMs were even worse. Twitter had the best signal because the people he was reaching had just tweeted about the pain. They were hot leads. Luna: Timing matters. Someone who just tweeted 'ugh, my open rates are tanking' is way more receptive than someone who read a blog post last week. Lucas: Exactly. That's the core insight. Twitter is a real-time stream of pain. DMs let you tap into it without any friction. Luna: So for next week's episode, should we talk about how to handle the inevitable awkwardness of asking strangers for money? Because I know a lot of founders hate that part. Lucas: That's a great idea. We'll do a whole episode on the psychology of asking. But for now — if you're building something and you have zero customers, go open Twitter. Luna: And maybe send ten DMs tonight. Lucas: Do it. Report back. We'll see you next week.