VEED's founder recorded 40+ YouTube tutorials himself — then hired someone to post one a day
- 20
- Paid users in first 48 hours of the paywall
- 40
- Tutorials he recorded himself
- Not disclosed
- Budget
- Not disclosed
- Duration
Sabba Keynejad grew VEED's first 1,000 paid users by recording 40+ YouTube tutorials himself and answering questions on Quora, Reddit and Facebook groups — until he was banned from Quora and most subreddits. YouTube stuck: VEED later hired someone to post a tutorial every day, and the channel passed 50K subscribers.
01The problem
Get an online video editor its first paying users with no budget.
02The experiment
He recorded 40+ YouTube tutorials on how to use VEED, answered 100+ questions on Quora and showed up daily in Reddit and Facebook groups — until he was banned from Quora and most subreddits.
After a YC rejection he added a watermark paywall, and got the first 20 paid users in 48 hours. Talking to every paying user showed that subtitles were why people upgraded, so VEED doubled down on auto-subtitles and made content around what users searched for.
YouTube became a core channel: VEED hired someone full-time to make one tutorial a day, and built 20+ long-tail SEO landing pages.
03Results
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Paid users in first 48 hours of the paywall | 20 |
| Tutorials he recorded himselfstated as “40+” | 40 |
| YouTube subscribersJune 2022 | 50,000 |
| YouTube viewsstated as “over 11,000,000”, June 2022 | 11,000,000 |
| Share of new paid users from YouTube“about 10%” in a 2021 interview | Not disclosed |
| Spend | Not disclosed |
“Not disclosed” means the source doesn't say. We never estimate or fill in missing numbers.
04What worked — and what didn't
What worked
- Tutorials showing how to use the product
- A watermark paywall: first 20 paid users in 48 hours
- Talking to every paying user — subtitles were why people upgraded
- Hiring someone to post one YouTube tutorial a day
What didn't work
- Promoting in communities: banned from Quora and most subreddits
“No magic growth hack.”
05Source & evidence
- View original
Originally shared on X · Aug 11, 2026
How I got my first 1,000 paid users
- View original
Also on X · Jun 21, 2022
We have had over 11,000,000 Views and now 50K Subscribers
- View original
Also on Podcast · Jan 19, 2021
SaaS Club #274: VEED — bootstrapping a SaaS to $2 million
Public source. Extracted from publicly available content by the founder.
Want to try this?
Copy this experiment
A checklist built from what Sabba Keynejad actually did. Their numbers are a reference, not a promise.
- 1
Pick the channel and tactic
YouTube — Founder-recorded tutorials, then a daily tutorial hire.
- 2
Set a budget cap
Sabba Keynejad didn't say what it cost. Decide your cap before you start.
- 3
Set an end date
Sabba Keynejad didn't say how long it ran. Pick a review date before you start.
- 4
Copy what worked
From Sabba Keynejad's experience:
- ☐Tutorials showing how to use the product
- ☐A watermark paywall: first 20 paid users in 48 hours
- ☐Talking to every paying user — subtitles were why people upgraded
- ☐Hiring someone to post one YouTube tutorial a day
- 5
Avoid what didn't
Where it went wrong:
- ☐Promoting in communities: banned from Quora and most subreddits
- 6
Track the same numbers
So you can compare like for like:
- ☐Paid users in first 48 hours of the paywall
- ☐Tutorials he recorded himself
- ☐YouTube subscribers
- ☐YouTube views
- ☐Share of new paid users from YouTube
- 7
Compare, then share what happened
Sabba Keynejad's headline result: 20 paid users in first 48 hours of the paywall. Yours will differ — that's the point. Win or flop, the result is worth sharing.
Was this experiment useful?
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Sabba Keynejad hasn't published a step-by-step playbook. If enough readers ask, we'll ask Sabba Keynejad for one.
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