Reddit can be a goldmine for founders. It’s full of high-intent communities where people are literally asking for solutions to their problems. So why do 80% of founders who try Reddit marketing crash and burn ? Because they treat it like every other social platform. In this post, I’ll break down: The three biggest mistakes founders make on Reddit How to avoid them The simple framework that’s gotten me paying customers without getting banned Mistake #1 — Pitching Too Early Most founders join Reddit, find a relevant subreddit, and immediately drop a link to their product. Here’s the problem: Reddit’s culture is anti-promo . If you come in cold and pitch, you’re not just ignored — you get flagged, banned, or downvoted into oblivion. How to be in the 20%: Spend your first week in a subreddit just engaging (commenting, upvoting, asking questions) Earn karma and recognition before you share anything about your product Treat your first product mention li...
If you think you need to spend money on ads to get paying customers from Reddit, think again. In this post, I’ll walk you through three real Reddit posts that together brought in 40 paying customers — without spending a single dollar on promotion. I’ll break down: The exact post format I used Why it resonated with the community How you can replicate it without getting banned Post #1 — The Transparent Build-in-Public Update Subreddit: r/SaaS Post Type: Build-in-public progress report Results: 16 paying customers in 7 days I posted an honest, screenshot-heavy update on my SaaS journey — including my mistakes, failed experiments, and small wins. Instead of selling, I simply shared my numbers, what I learned that week, and where I was stuck. Why it worked: Transparency builds trust fast Screenshots and metrics made it real I answered every comment (doubling post visibility) How to replicate: Share specific results (MRR, user count, or traffic) ...