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Good morning!
Enjoy today’s guest post by Leo Luo, founder of Consumer Startups, on how to get your first 1,000 customers from Reddit.
In today’s newsletter,
Stop fraud before it starts
How to get your first 1,000 customers from Reddit
Your reviews need a social life
This issue takes just 2 minutes to read.
Let’s dive into it👇
Fraud Prevention
1. Stop fraud before it starts
Digital shoplifting steals revenue after purchase, bypassing traditional tools through false disputes, policy abuse, and wasted shipping.
If you are losing revenue to post-purchase fraud, you need Chargeflow
Chargeflow blocks fraud before fulfillment and cuts disputes by up to 90%
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Free playbook
2. How to get your first 1,000 customers from Reddit
Today’s guest post comes from Leo Luo, founder of Consumer Startups, a newsletter read by over 28,000 founders and investors every week.
Leo also founded Pikes, a generative AI platform helping DTC brands generate on-brand content at scale. Previously, he led AI product at TikTok, where he launched one of the company’s fastest-growing generative tools.
If you’re only focusing on paid ads, you’re probably missing out on Reddit, a channel that can drive high-converting customers for free:
Cost efficiency – Many startups acquire their first paying users on Reddit without spending on ads
Conversion power – Reddit threads often convert better than top-performing ad campaigns
Timing & visibility – Reddit is now the 5th most visible domain on Google, showing up for 97.5% of product review queries
Here is Leo’s tactical five-phase playbook for cracking Reddit:
Phase 1: Build Karma while identifying target communities
If you’re new to Reddit, start by creating an account with a normal, human-sounding username (not StartupFounderJohn).
New accounts can’t immediately post or comment in many subreddits, so you’ll need to build credibility first. Do this by commenting and posting thoughtfully in smaller, more welcoming communities. The goal is to collect Karma points (earned when people upvote or engage with your contributions), which unlocks access to larger, more relevant subreddits.
The most important principle: Reddit is about value creation and authenticity. If you come across as salesy, you’ll get ignored, or worse, banned. Focus on adding genuine value and avoid overt promotion.
The subreddit research framework:
Tech Talk Tuesday
Welcome to a new section where every Tuesday we’ll spotlight a tool worth your time.
3. Your reviews need a social life
We all know visual reviews are better at building trust. But how to turn customer reviews into social-ready posts?
Screenshotting, copy-pasting into Canva, adjusting colors and fonts—it eats up hours of time and energy.
Loox makes collecting reviews easy and also turns them into social media posts with a single click.
Have questions or feedback? You can write to [email protected]