SaaS ~8 hours to build

Viral Waitlist Manager

Referral-powered waitlists that grow themselves.

The Problem

Startups spend months building products in stealth, then launch to crickets. Building a waitlist is table stakes now, but most founders just use a Google Form or basic email capture. They miss the opportunity to create buzz and virality before launch—the exact moment when hype matters most.

The Solution

A waitlist tool with built-in referral mechanics. Users sign up, get a unique referral link, and move up the waitlist when friends join. Leaderboards, milestone rewards, and social sharing turn every signup into a potential viral loop.

How it works:

1

User signs up

Gets position + unique referral link

2

Share to move up

Each referral bumps their position

3

Unlock rewards

Hit milestones for early access perks

Market Research

The viral waitlist model has been proven by companies like Robinhood (1M+ waitlist), Morning Brew, and Superhuman. Yet affordable tools for indie hackers are limited.

Viral Loops charges $49+/month—expensive for pre-revenue startups
Harry's razors famously grew to 100K signups in one week using referral mechanics
New AI startups launch weekly—constant demand for launch tools

AI Prompts to Build This

Copy and paste these into Claude, Cursor, or your favorite AI tool.

1. Project Setup

Create a Next.js app for a Viral Waitlist Manager. The app needs: - Public signup page with email input and optional referral code field - Post-signup page showing: current position, referral link, share buttons (Twitter, LinkedIn, copy link) - Leaderboard showing top 10 referrers (anonymized by default) - Admin dashboard for waitlist owners to see: total signups, referral stats, export emails Use Supabase for auth and database. Make the signup page embeddable as an iframe.

2. Core Feature

Implement the referral position system: 1. On signup, create user with initial position = total signups + 1 2. Generate unique referral code (8 char alphanumeric) 3. When someone signs up with a referral code: - Credit the referrer - Move referrer up by X positions (configurable, default: 3) - Track referral relationship in database 4. Position calculation should be real-time based on referral count Add API endpoint to check position and referral count for the status page.

3. Rewards System

Add milestone rewards: - 3 referrals: "Founding Member" badge - 5 referrals: Early access priority - 10 referrals: Lifetime discount unlock Show progress bar on user's status page. Send email notifications when milestones are hit. Allow waitlist owners to customize milestone thresholds and rewards from admin.