What Dropbox, Notion, And Slack Got Right About Their First Users

Forbes

a day ago

getty
Most startups don't fail because of bad technology. They fail because they never find a group of people who care . First users are the proving ground for any product. They show you what matters, what doesn't, and what to fix next. The early strategies used by companies like Dropbox, Notion, and Slack show how much intentionality goes into building that first layer of usage and how different those approaches can be.
This article breaks down what these companies got right and what other early-stage teams can take away when thinking about their own launch and user development.
1. Start Narrow, Not Loud
When Dropbox launched, they didn't go broad. Their first wave of traction came from a short demo video posted to Hacker News and Digg. This wasn't accidental - it was targeted. They knew the first users needed to be tech-savvy, early adopters who would give feedback and test edge cases. That 3-minute video brought in 75,000 signups almost overnight. More importantly, it brought in the right kind of users.
Too many startups treat launch like a megaphone moment. In reality, it's a filtering tool. Who shows up first tells you everything about who you're building for and whether your message is resonating.
2. Use Waitlists To Shape Demand
Notion didn't rush into the public spotlight. In its earliest days, it operated almost like an invite-only tool. The product wasn't fully ready, and the team used this constraint to their advantage. By keeping access limited, they created a natural feedback loop: users who got in felt invested, and their feedback helped shape the product.
More importantly, this approach helped Notion focus on the quality of usage, not just the quantity. The team knew they didn't need millions of users; they needed depth with a few hundred. That focus set the foundation for a highly active user base, which became a powerful growth engine later on.
3. Build In the Open (But Not for Everyone)
Slack's public release was preceded by a long period of internal use. It started as a tool built for Stewart Butterfield's own company (Tiny Speck), and only became a standalone product after proving its value internally. Once they released it more broadly, they were still selective in how they scaled awareness. Slack worked hard to earn teams who would use it all day, every day, not casual signups.
That focus on embedded usage led to organic growth: early users became evangelists within their own companies, helping Slack spread without big budgets. This highlights a core lesson: depth of engagement matters more than breadth in the early days.
4. Your First Users Are Not Just Customers, They Are Collaborators
Each of these companies treated their early users like contributors, not just test subjects. Dropbox emailed users personally. Notion founders jumped into user forums. Slack had team members in every support thread. These companies weren't just watching metrics - they were listening to what their clients were saying.
Early adopters are often the people who shape product language, feature sets, and priorities. In fact, many of the best-performing startups built marketing messages directly from early user conversations..
5. Support Can Be A Growth Lever
What many teams miss is that user support in the early days isn't just a cost - it's a growth function. Notion's founders handled support themselves in the early months. This gave them a front-row seat to problems and a direct line to users. More importantly, it made early users feel like insiders, not just customers.
When teams use support to build relationships instead of deflecting issues, they create loyal users. These are the people who write your first reviews, refer friends, and justify your pricing. No ad campaign beats that kind of user-driven distribution.
6. Product-Led Doesn't Mean Passive
Dropbox, Notion, and Slack are all considered 'product-led growth' companies. But that doesn't mean they relied on organic usage alone. They engineered user experiences that encouraged sharing, referrals, and internal virality. Dropbox famously rewarded users with more storage for inviting friends. Slack made it seamless to spin up a new team workspace.
A common misconception is that good products just grow. In reality, growth is designed. These companies built feedback, sharing, and engagement into the product from the start. Early users didn't just use the product; they helped spread it. These strategies are explored in more detail in our startup marketing guide , which covers how to turn feedback loops into positioning
7. Ignore Vanity Metrics Early On
Across all three companies, the focus was on usage quality, not on downloads, press, or social buzz. Dropbox tracked how often files were shared. Slack looked at messages per user. Notion paid attention to how many people built their second or third document. These metrics were tied to retention, not reach.
If your first users aren't coming back, you don't have a product yet. That's why successful early-stage teams obsess over engagement signals, even if the numbers are small.