We launched Hashnode on Product Hunt and probably acquired 100+ users from there. Since we didn't want to spend money on marketing, we relied on word of mouth and organic traffic to build audience. A few things that worked:
- Friends and family, of course. We invited them and they invited some of their friends.
- AMA sessions - This was a big one
- Quality discussions and stories
We always made sure to share our discussions/stories on twitter, reddit and other social media platforms. Honestly, we didn't do anything extraordinary to acquire first 1000 users. I guess good content and attractive design got people hooked. Moreover, our primary value proposition was "friendly and inclusive" community. So, that resonated with a lot of folks who were frustrated with the toxicity on other platforms.