Getting Reddit hobbyists onboard is a kind of trial by fire.
I have seen this work many times for YT channels on cooking, comedy and car subreddits, but make one mistake and they will eat you alive. The likes of RCR, Babish, Kenji, Gus Johnson,etc. only got popular because their offerings were incredibly high quality. Additionally they all brought something fresh to a relative stale scene.
Additionally, if you come off as even 1% inauthentic, then you are toast.
Enthusiasts can be the harshest people out there, if your creds are considered invalid. But, if you are building a product for enthusiasts, then you likely are one too. In that situation, it makes sense to build credibility and become a regular there. By the time you are willing to 'show off' you product, you're already deeply rooted in that community.
So I'll revise the OP's advice. Once your product ready, reach out to your preexisting reddit network to help it get past the bootstrapping problem. Any sooner and you'll lose redditors for life.
I have seen this work many times for YT channels on cooking, comedy and car subreddits, but make one mistake and they will eat you alive. The likes of RCR, Babish, Kenji, Gus Johnson,etc. only got popular because their offerings were incredibly high quality. Additionally they all brought something fresh to a relative stale scene.
Additionally, if you come off as even 1% inauthentic, then you are toast.
Enthusiasts can be the harshest people out there, if your creds are considered invalid. But, if you are building a product for enthusiasts, then you likely are one too. In that situation, it makes sense to build credibility and become a regular there. By the time you are willing to 'show off' you product, you're already deeply rooted in that community.
So I'll revise the OP's advice. Once your product ready, reach out to your preexisting reddit network to help it get past the bootstrapping problem. Any sooner and you'll lose redditors for life.