Hundreds of thousands of users reached
Using these four strategies, the founder has grown multiple products to hundreds of thousands of users.
Thousands of users. Simple marketing strategies | Starter Story
A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users says the real secret is cross-promoting your own products — every user who tries one ends up trying them all.
Aug 2, 2026
3:56
Difficulty: Beginner
Played
Starter Story
Thousands of users. Simple marketing strategies | Starter Story
A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users says the real secret is cross-promoting your own products — every user who tries one ends up trying them all.
Aug 2, 2026
3:56
Difficulty: Beginner
Played
TL;DR
A serial SaaS founder reveals a four-pillar marketing playbook for growing multiple AI products to hundreds of thousands of users: start with a great product, then layer in SEO, social media (X, LinkedIn, Substack, Facebook), directory listings, and cross-promotion across your own product portfolio [1] — Guest "A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple AI products uses four channels in order: SEO first, then social media acro…" 00:07 . The single most useful takeaway: if you build a suite of products, every new user becomes a funnel into all your other products [2] — Guest "Cross-promo: users try multiple products: Every user who tries one of the founder's products ends up trying at least one more, and many try…" 00:44 .
#SaaS marketing
#AI product suite
#SEO growth
#directory listings
#cross-promotion strategy
#multi-platform social media
#micro SaaS
#product portfolio growth
#startup user acquisition
#marketing
#SaaS
#AI products
#SEO
#social media
#directories
#cross-promotion
#startup
#side hustle
#growth
#product portfolio
#user acquisition
#LinkedIn
#Substack
A serial AI SaaS founder reveals the four-pillar marketing playbook behind growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple products: great product quality first, then SEO, multi-platform social media, directory listings, and cross-promotion across his own product portfolio.
Chapter list
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The episode opens with a sharp, targeted question from the Starter Story host, who wants to know the secret sauce behind the guest's ability to grow multiple businesses to hundreds of thousands of users. The framing sets up an expectation of a contrarian or non-obvious answer — not the standard 'run ads and hope' advice. In just seven seconds, the host establishes the guest's credibility (many businesses, massive user counts) and opens the floor for what turns out to be a surprisingly simple four-part answer.
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The guest founder wastes no time: the key essence of good marketing, he says, is a good product [1] — Guest "A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple AI products uses four channels in order: SEO first, then social media acro…" 00:07 . From there, he sequences four channels in order of reliance — SEO comes first, social media second (run simultaneously on X, LinkedIn, Substack, and Facebook), directory listings third, and cross-promotion fourth [1] — Guest "A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple AI products uses four channels in order: SEO first, then social media acro…" 00:07 . The directory insight comes with a caveat: listings only work well if the product is genuinely interesting and clickbaity enough to earn the click. His AI-connected products pass that test easily. But the most distinctive element of his playbook is cross-promotion [2] — Guest "When you build multiple products, every new user becomes a potential customer for everything else you've built. This founder's cross-promot…" 00:43 : because he has built a suite of products, every new user becomes a pipeline into the rest of his portfolio. Many end up trying all of his products — a compounding growth loop that most single-product founders never get to use.
- SEO
- Search Engine Optimisation — the practice of improving a website's visibility in organic search results to drive free traffic.
- Micro SaaS
- A small, niche software-as-a-service product typically built and run by a solo founder or tiny team, targeting a specific problem with minimal overhead.
- Directory listings
- Product aggregator sites (e.g. Product Hunt, There's An AI For That) where founders submit their tools to gain visibility and drive traffic from browsing users.
- Cross-promo
- Cross-promotion — promoting one product to users of another product you own, turning your existing user base into a funnel for your other offerings.
- Clickbaity
- Describes a product, headline, or listing compelling enough to make a user want to click on it, often because it promises something surprising or highly useful.
- SaaS
- Software as a Service — a software distribution model where applications are hosted in the cloud and accessed via subscription rather than installed locally.
Chapter 1 · 00:00
Host Asks for the Marketing Secret Sauce
The episode opens with a sharp, targeted question from the Starter Story host, who wants to know the secret sauce behind the guest's ability to grow multiple businesses to hundreds of thousands of users. The framing sets up an expectation of a contrarian or non-obvious answer — not the standard 'run ads and hope' advice. In just seven seconds, the host establishes the guest's credibility (many businesses, massive user counts) and opens the floor for what turns out to be a surprisingly simple four-part answer.
Chapter 2 · 00:07
The Four-Pillar Marketing Playbook: Product, SEO, Social, Directories, Cross-Promo
The guest founder wastes no time: the key essence of good marketing, he says, is a good product [1] — Guest "A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple AI products uses four channels in order: SEO first, then social media acro…" 00:07 . From there, he sequences four channels in order of reliance — SEO comes first, social media second (run simultaneously on X, LinkedIn, Substack, and Facebook), directory listings third, and cross-promotion fourth [1] — Guest "A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple AI products uses four channels in order: SEO first, then social media acro…" 00:07 . The directory insight comes with a caveat: listings only work well if the product is genuinely interesting and clickbaity enough to earn the click. His AI-connected products pass that test easily. But the most distinctive element of his playbook is cross-promotion [2] — Guest "When you build multiple products, every new user becomes a potential customer for everything else you've built. This founder's cross-promot…" 00:43 : because he has built a suite of products, every new user becomes a pipeline into the rest of his portfolio. Many end up trying all of his products — a compounding growth loop that most single-product founders never get to use.
Great Product Is the Real Secret Sauce
Before any marketing channel, the quality of the product is the foundation. Good marketing amplifies a good product — it cannot rescue a bad one.
The Four-Pillar Marketing Playbook for AI SaaS
A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple AI products uses four channels in order: SEO first, then social media across X, LinkedIn, Substack, and Facebook, then directory listings, then cross-promotion across his own portfolio. The playbook is simple but the sequencing matters.
Good product = best marketing
The founder argues that the foundation of all effective marketing is a great product — without it, no channel works.
4 marketing channels used
The founder uses four main marketing channels: SEO, social media, directory listings, and cross-promotion.
SEO as primary growth channel
Before other tactics, the founder defaults to SEO as the first and most-used growth channel for new products.
Multi-Platform Social Media: Be Everywhere
Rather than picking one social platform, this founder runs social media marketing simultaneously across X, LinkedIn, Substack, and Facebook. Presence everywhere maximises reach across different audiences.
Social media on 4+ platforms
The founder runs social media marketing on X, LinkedIn, Substack, and Facebook simultaneously.
Why Directory Listings Work for AI Products
Directory listings are a powerful but underrated growth channel — but only if your product is genuinely interesting enough to earn the click. AI products have a natural advantage here because they're easy to package in a compelling, clickable way.
Directory listings as growth lever
Directory listings are described as a very effective growth channel, especially for AI products that are clickable and interesting.
All products connected to AI
The founder's entire product portfolio is AI-related, making it easier to package products attractively for directories.
Clickbait-friendly products win directories
Products that are inherently interesting or clickbaity are much easier to drive traffic from through directory listings.
Cross-Promotion: Turn Your Product Suite Into a Growth Engine
When you build multiple products, every new user becomes a potential customer for everything else you've built. This founder's cross-promotion strategy means users who try one product reliably discover — and adopt — his others.
Cross-promo is unique differentiator
The founder describes cross-promotion across his own product portfolio as a strategy that is quite unique to him.
Cross-promo: users try multiple products
Every user who tries one of the founder's products ends up trying at least one more, and many try all of them.
No indexed bits in this chapter.
Show stoppers
Cross-Promotion: Turn Your Product Suite Into a Growth Engine
When you build multiple products, every new user becomes a potential customer for everything else you've built. This founder's cross-promotion strategy means users who try one product reliably discover — and adopt — his others.
The Four-Pillar Marketing Playbook for AI SaaS
A founder growing hundreds of thousands of users across multiple AI products uses four channels in order: SEO first, then social media across X, LinkedIn, Substack, and Facebook, then directory listings, then cross-promotion across his own portfolio. The playbook is simple but the sequencing matters.
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Key Quotes ()
This episode
Claims & Sources
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Factual claims made this episode, and whether a source was named.
Good product quality is the foundational requirement for effective marketing.
SEO is the most popular marketing method the founder uses.
Social media marketing across X, LinkedIn, Substack, and Facebook is the founder's second most effective growth channel.
Directory listings are a very effective way to grow a product if the product is interesting and clickbaity.
All of the founder's products are connected to AI, making them easy to present attractively on directories.
Every user who tries one of the founder's products ends up trying at least one more product.
Many users try all of the founder's products, not just one or two.
Cross-promotion across a personal product portfolio is a growth strategy that is unique to the founder among the marketing methods he described.
This episode
Cast
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Named as one of the social media platforms the founder uses for marketing.
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Named as one of the social media platforms the founder uses for marketing.
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All of the guest founder's products are connected to AI, which makes directory listings particularly effective for him.
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Named as one of the platforms the founder uses for social media and content marketing.
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Named as one of the social media platforms the founder uses for marketing.
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