50,000 People on Waitlist & No Product

A startup with no product but a 50,000-person waitlist?

No ads. No massive PR budget. Sounds crazy, right?

And Levels, a metabolic health startup, pulled it off.

They built an audience, created massive demand, and positioned themselves as the go-to brand for glucose monitoring.

Trust me, all that before they even had a product to sell.

This story should get your attention because the biggest challenge in launching something new isn’t building the product.

It’s getting people to care. And Levels cracked the code on that.

The Big Idea:

Levels Strategy Decoded

Most startups follow the same predictable path:

1. Build a product.

2. Try to market it.

3. Struggle to find users.

Levels flipped the script. Instead of waiting for launch day, they focused on building demand first and the product second. And it paid off big time.

Before Levels had anything to sell, it had:

• 50,000+ people on their waitlist.

• Influencers and experts talking about them.

• A thriving community excited about its vision.

How did they pull this off?

By using a content-first growth strategy built around three key elements:

1. A strategic waitlist that made people desperate to join.

2. Targeting early adopters to get the right voices amplifying their brand.

3. Community-driven marketing to turn potential customers into passionate advocates.

All this is the best example of how you can make people care about your product before you launch something, be it a product or service.

Let’s break down how the brand did it (so you can do the same!).

Behind the Magic:

Building Hype Before Having a Product

Most startups struggle to get traction because they wait until launch day to market.

But Levels’ did the opposite.

They knew that if they could get people excited early, launching would be easy. And this is what the brand did to build massive anticipation before they sold anything:

1. Turning Curiosity into Urgency [Waitlist]

Most waitlists are boring. People sign up, forget about it, and move on. But Levels made their waitlist feel like an exclusive club.

Yep, just like the one you didn’t want to miss out on.

• They framed it as exclusive access. We hear it from everybody - join our waitlist, but Levels positioned it as - Be the first to experience the future of metabolic health.

• They used scarcity. They hinted that only a limited number of people would get in. That created urgency and FOMO.

• They built a viral referral system. If you referred friends, you moved up the list. So, people actively promoted it for them.

They finally launched their product to 50,000+ people on the waitlist.

How You Can Apply This?

• Position your waitlist as exclusive. Instead of just collecting emails, make people feel like they are unlocking something special.

• Use scarcity wisely. Phrases like Limited spots available or Founding members only drive urgency.

• Incentivize sharing. Give people a reason to invite friends by offering rewards or priority access.

A good waitlist doesn’t just collect emails. It builds anticipation.

2. Getting the Right People to Talk [Early Adopters]

Most startups target everyone, which means they end up marketing to no one. And to avoid that, Levels spent resources on understanding its core audience better:

• Health-conscious biohackers optimizing their bodies.

• Tech and startup enthusiasts who love experimenting with cutting-edge products.

• Influencers and thought leaders in the wellness and longevity space.

Instead of shouting into the void, they focused on making these people excited initially, and they did this by:

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