We plan to bring eChai across 100 cities in India. It starts with eChai Startup Demo Day on 26 September, all in person. 11 cities confirmed, 161 founders registered. Any city that reaches 20 interested founders is on too. See your city
Launch & get your first customers

Pre-launch & building an audience

Have people waiting before you open the doors.

Level All Beginner Intermediate
Market All India Global
Who's asking Everyone Aspiring Brand Builder Maker / Artisan Just-Launched Founder Scaling Brand Bootstrapped Side-Hustler Product Person Tier-2/3 Founder
How do I build an audience before I even have a product ready to sell? Start the audience before the SKU - post your process, your problem statement, and your prototype on Instagram/WhatsApp from day one, because the f... Beginner 4 resources → Should I collect free email signups or charge a small deposit for my waitlist? Free signups feel safer but convert at roughly 1-2%, while even a token refundable deposit (say Rs 99-499) filters for buyers, not lookers, and con... Intermediate 3 resources → How many people do I actually need on my waitlist before I launch in India? There's no magic number - a few hundred real, warm signups who've said what they'd buy beats 10,000 cold emails from a giveaway. For a first India ... Beginner 3 resources → What's the fastest way to start a WhatsApp/Instagram following before I even have inventory? Post the making-of, not the finished product - sourcing trips, sample fails, packaging tests - because process content earns saves and shares that ... Beginner 3 resources → Which one pre-launch channel should I actually focus on instead of trying everything at once? Use Gabriel Weinberg's Bullseye method: list every channel you could try (Instagram, WhatsApp, a waitlist landing page, referrals, PR, offline pop-... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I make sure all this pre-launch hype actually turns into sales on day one? A waitlist only converts if you warm it up before launch - send 2-3 "coming soon" touches in the final week (WhatsApp broadcast, Instagram countdow... Intermediate 3 resources →

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