Field manual · vol. 1 · AI startup marketing
Build your audience on X before you launch.
You have an AI product. You have a launch date. You have 212 followers, most of them from college. This manual is the fix: numbered plays for growing a founder account on X in the months before launch day.
The pre-launch math
- 90
days out
Fix the profile. Post the problem. Reply where your buyers read.
- 60
days out
Threads that show the product working. Start the AI creator list.
- 30
days out
Open the waitlist. Warm up AI creators. Announce the date.
- 0
launch day
Hundreds of people who already know you, waiting for the post.
The problem
Most AI launches on X are posted to an empty room
The pattern repeats every week. A founder ships something good, writes a launch thread, and posts it to an account nobody follows. It gets 9 likes. Two are from cofounders.
The product was not the problem. The order was. Audience comes first, then the launch. On X that takes weeks of showing up in the right replies, posting the problem before the product, and getting to know the AI creators your buyers already follow.
What this manual covers
- Turning a dormant founder account into one buyers follow
- Threads that explain an AI product without hype
- Build in public that people actually read
- Warming up AI creators before you need them
- A posting rhythm you can keep while still shipping
What it does not cover: ads, paid shoutouts, follower trains. None of them build an audience that shows up on launch day.
The plays
Ten plays, in the order we would run them
- 01How AI founders grow on X before launchPick one narrow problem, post about it every day from your own account, reply to the people who already talk about it, and warm up AI creators weeks before you need them.7 min
- 02Build in public on X: a week by week plan for AI startupsBuild in public for twelve weeks with a clear arc: the problem first, then the decisions, then the product, then the countdown. Share the reasoning, not just the screenshots.7 min
- 03How to write a Twitter thread that sells an AI productA Twitter thread sells when it teaches something true about the reader's problem and lets the product show up as the obvious next step. Hook, problem, insight, proof, ask.8 min
- 04Twitter marketing strategy for AI startupsA pre-launch Twitter marketing strategy has four parts: one narrow audience, one founder voice, a steady posting plan, and AI creators warmed up long before launch day. Write it on one page.8 min
- 05Viral tweets from AI launches, broken downViral tweets for AI products are not luck. They follow a handful of patterns: a visible before and after, a surprising number, a clear enemy, or a clip that needs no explanation. Practise them before launch so they work on the day.7 min
- 06X content strategy for technical foundersYour engineering work is your content. Pick three pillars, turn each week of building into a few honest posts, and write for the person with the problem, not for other engineers.7 min
- 07Twitter for business: founder account vs company accountBefore launch, the founder account does the talking and the company account holds the facts. Put nearly all your effort into the founder account and keep the brand account quiet and tidy.6 min
- 08B2B Twitter marketing for AI toolsB2B buyers are on X, but they do not follow hype. Post for the operator who feels the pain, give them something they can forward to the person who pays, and turn quiet readers into waitlist teams.7 min
- 09Startup marketing strategy when X is your main channelWhen X is your main channel, your whole marketing plan is an audience plan. Pick one number to grow, run the months before launch in three phases, and say no to channels you cannot feed.7 min
- 10Social media marketing for AI startups: why X comes firstFor an AI startup before launch, X is where the conversation, the buyers and the AI creators already are. Start there, earn an audience, and add other networks only when X runs on habit.6 min
Annotated threads
Thread structures you can copy
Six example threads we wrote for hypothetical AI products, with a margin note on every post explaining why it is there.
From the 30 day calendar
Day 1. Fix the profile. Rewrite the bio as "who you help + what changes for them".
Day 2. The problem, as a scene. Describe one specific moment where your buyer feels the pain.
Day 3. First reply block. Thirty minutes, twenty replies under posts your buyers read.
Day 4. Why I am building this. Origin thread, six to eight posts: the problem you hit, what you tried, why existing tools fail, what you are building, when people can try it..
See all 30 daysWork with us
The X pre-launch audience sprint
We are an X launch team for AI startups. In the sprint we set up the founder account, plan and edit the threads, and warm up the AI creators who will talk about your launch. You keep shipping. On launch day, the room is full.
It starts with a free teardown of your account. If the sprint is not the right fit, you still keep the teardown.
How the sprint worksGet your free X teardown
Your handle, your product, your launch date. We send back the five changes that matter most.
Questions founders ask
When should an AI startup start marketing on X?
Three months before launch is comfortable, six weeks is the minimum. An audience needs time to see you show up a dozen times before they care that you are launching.
Founder account or company account first?
Founder account. People follow people. The company account matters on launch day, but the founder is the one who builds trust in the months before.
Do we need AI creators to launch well?
They help a lot, but only if you warm them up early. A cold DM a week before launch rarely works. A month of real replies and early access usually does.
What does the free X teardown include?
A written review of your profile, your last posts and your plan to launch, with the five changes that will matter most. No sales pitch inside it.