How Lemon Squeezy got its users

Read their /about page before copying anything: it names what existed first. Nivo Slider (5M+ downloads), Premium Pixels (10M+ downloads), ThemeZilla, MOJO Marketplace (6M+ users), and 15 years of friendship between the three founders. That WordPress seller network is why one launch tweet moved. You do not have it, so skip the tweet and copy the mechanic underneath: a written list of 50 people already selling digital products, named, with their URL, emailed one at a time.

done whenCan you name 50 people, with their product URL, who already sell the thing your product would serve? If you need a search engine past number 30, this channel is not open to you yet.

Their beta post was titled 'Calling all beta testers, please give us a squeeze' and pointed at an application form, not a waitlist, to 'make sure Lemon Squeezy would be a good fit'. 250 invites went out with the test scope published first: digital downloads, one-time purchases, subscriptions, license keys, card and PayPal, Mailchimp and ConvertKit. Lemon Drop #01 then reported what beta users pushed back on (payouts) and what shipped because of it. Write the scope before you send an invite.

done whenOf the beta accounts you approved, how many put a real transaction through in week one? Logins and signups do not count.

The 'Tastes like lemonade' update posted percent complete per area: Storefront 90%, Website Editor 25%, Dashboard 25%, People 10%, Communication 10%, plus screenshots of live screens and a video of adding a product. Teasers ran on Twitter and Dribbble, then got rolled up as numbered Lemon Drops, #01 to #09. The public roadmap is Now / Next / Later, no dates, nothing planned past six months. The numbers are what make it readable by people who do not know you.

done whenHand your last update to someone outside the project. Can they tell you what is finished and what is not, without asking a follow-up question?

Lemon Squeezy hosts Wedges on its own domain at lemonsqueezy.com/wedges: free open-source React components built on Radix and Tailwind, plus a downloadable Figma file. They also backed months of work by Laravel core team member Dries Vints on the official Laravel package. Both sit in front of the developer who will later need a checkout. Pick the one framework your buyers already live in and write the integration nobody has written yet.

done whenIs your free tool used weekly by people who have never paid you, and does it live on your own domain rather than someone else's marketplace?

Make Lemonade, hosted by JR Farr and James McKinven, books guests who are the buyer: Aaron Francis, Jay Clouse, Rob Hope, John O'Nolan. It does not dodge either, one episode carries the timestamp '42:37 Are Lemon Squeezy fees too high?'. Same instinct as their Black Friday roundup, where they asked merchants on the platform for their own deals and printed every coupon code. Book customer #3 as your first guest, not a founder who will not reply.

done whenAfter a guest episode or a customer roundup goes out, does the guest share it without being asked? If you have to chase them, the piece was about you, not them.