Learnings from launching on PH without stressing about it!
48 hours ago I launched on Product Hunt.
Here is what happened:
I launched with zero stress.
I didn't send a single DM for getting upvotes.
I found a random Hunter with no followers.
I wanted the whole process to be fully organic, to see how PH works.
I got 85 signups to my app from the whole launch.
I did not get featured on the main page.
Spoke directly with the PH team about how to get featured:
You need an innovative product.
You need clear visuals.
You need clear core messaging of your value proposition.
Your app needs to be easy to use.
Your app needs to be fun.
Things I found out that I DID NOT LIKE:
The bigger the community that backs your launch the better
So basically if you don't have one, you don't get your chance
In the end of the day, people decide if you are featured on the main page
That is ok, but it means that it is not guaranteed I will get my chance to be seen.
I love PH <3 But, as the majority of the "famous" platforms, it requires your whole attention without guaranteeing that you will get your chance. I am not shocked.
What you should do when you launch on PH:
Don't stress about it.
Being featured or your launch going well has no correlation to how valuable your product is.
If you launch, find a famous Hunter with many followers.
BIGGEST INSIGHT:
Give your attention to things that matter, i.e creativity, impact, solving a problem, helping people.
Keep doing that without being stressed about being featured anywhere.
Stay safe <3
Im launching a new product in 3 weeks.
@manuhortet thanks man, and good luck with your upcoming launch.
Well that, I learned the hard way haha (Well not that hard).
I spoke with the PH team about it and this is pretty much rumors. Emailing them when you launch will not get you featured. And if you do, it was not from the email, you would get featured anyways. Cause they spend time manually reviewing the products 24hrs before the upcoming launches. And they pick what, and they also adjust on the day of the launch, regarding real-time engagement. Because they cannot know everything beforehand ofcourse !
But no, they explicitly told me in an email "No need to email us for getting feature, has no impact" :P
@cryptosymposium haha yeah this makes so much sense. Thanks for the response man!
@manuhortet if you goal is to get featured, do a deep dive into launches that got featured and see what patterns you can spot. at the very least it'll give you an idea of the type of companies that get featured and those that don't
@manuhortet @taniabell yeah also a very good way to search the type of content that is more "acceptable" for the featuring.
eally appreciate this honest breakdown! Launching without stress and letting things happen organically is a refreshing approach. 🚀
I totally get the importance of community for getting visibility, but do you think there’s still a way for completely new makers to break through without a big audience? Maybe through a killer product demo or a creative launch strategy? Would love to hear your thoughts before your next launch!
@hussein_r hey hussein! well it definitely can happen, however like everything in this world if you are not a billionaire, odds are against us :P the fact that the moderators are the PH team itself, means that yes, if the stars align, you have the right product at the right time, seen by the right eyes, it can definitely happen. I think the approach that also increases probabilities here is to pick a well known hunter.
@cryptosymposium That makes sense! It definitely feels like a mix of timing, luck, and the right connections. How do you usually find Hunters? Do you just reach out directly, or is there a better way to get on their radar? I'm launching soon and would love to learn from your experience!
@hussein_r in the past, i got Kevin (he is one of the top hunters around). I just emailed him explaining my product and if he wanted to hunt. Just like that! Normal human interaction no spamming or anything (well digital human interaction haha). He accepted. He hunted it, my product was on top products of the day, i got the badge.
@cryptosymposium Appreciate the insight. Seems like the key is just a clear, genuine pitch without overcomplicating it. Might give that a shot for my launch—thanks for sharing!
Congrats on getting sign-ups! I was talking about something similar to a user from another site who asked whether they should have launched a landing page to get user validation on Product Hunt even though they didn't have an MVP. Many other users say to do it when they already have an MVP. I told them to do it a week before launching an MVP so they don't lose momentum (aka. user interests and then needing to reactivate them).
But from your posts, I'm inferring that everything doesn't matter. You should just post and see while you focus on building. Is that correct?
@psproductperson yeah exactly. I mean you should definitely launch it. And prepare for it, in the best possible way, cause that's how you should do everything in life, as good as you can. However, yeah you should not worry too much about the outcome cause is very random what will happen. And yes, momentum is key. But from what I know from PH team and good hunters, there is no really point to launch landing pages i think. unless you make them very clear and interactive or give something back to the users.
@cryptosymposium That's good to know! Like some people said, launching without stress is definitely underrated. I guess it also just depends on the pace you want it grow too. Do you think you'll keep trying to market it here or would you try other platforms?
@psproductperson good question. Well, this product for me was to solve one problem that I have, which it did. However, Im not sure it can be turned into a viable business, and if it can im not sure I want to take it to that direction. I will be launching more products this year, that I desperately want to build for more important problems. Those, I will market here and in other platforms ofcourse. I follow the Traction book like a bible haha.
@kay_arkain exactly. You shouldnt care about the outcome cause you cannot control. It literally depends on human opinion lol. But instead like the process of building, problem solving and remaining consistent with launching cool stuff.
@feliciana_liu yeah exactly. As long as you provide your visuals, explanations, screenshot and proper product descriptions, you should just enjoy the ride.
Solid breakdown! PH is definitely more about community + visibility than just the product itself. Organic launches are a great way to see how things truly work, but yeah—without an audience, it’s tough to break through.
Curious—do you think hunting strategies matter as much as people claim, or is it more about engagement on the day?
We’re launching Helix on Feb 17th! Would love your thoughts—just visit my page and click ‘Try Helix for FREE’!
@vishal_rayarao well i dont know. Does not seem so. However, i do believe that if you have a top hunter like Messina or Kevin, you will get way more exposure. I got top product of the day (top 5) when I launched a product with Kevin in the past.
Regarding your product, man a friend call me last night at 10pm. I was at my place chilling on the couch, and he was like bro i have a great idea, can I share? And he told me about AI Agents as user personas for entrepreneurs to test their products fast. I WILL CHECK YOUR PRODUCT 100%.
I got a great advice from @johnnymatson:
"Have everything pre orchestrated! It should feel like pressing a button when it goes live, rather than hustling"
That's a misstake we did our first launch. I was stressed out the entire day hunting upvotes.
This time around we will be able to focus on the discussions and conversations form people finding our product. We will know that we have done everything we can beforehand to make our launch as successful as possible.
@johnnymatson @alexandra_skagerholm same here. in my first launch, yeaaaars ago, i was super stressed as well, being all over the place for 24 hrs. I managed to get in the top products of the day, but I dont think it was the stressing out part that made it happen. But more the fact that the hunter was the top hunter on PH that day, and i also got lucky. So, yeah, prepare everything for a clean, profession, ready-to-help people launch, and the rest is out of our control.
These are really good. I think this thread would deserve more attention. Thank you for sharing it! :)
@busmark_w_nika thank Nika ! I guess the fact that i does not get it, validates the points of the post haha! It was definitely a very insightful experience chatting with the team directly, they were helpful and happy to share guidelines. I will post about it on Linkedin as well to get more eyeballs on it.
Hey man, this is pretty useful, thanks for sharing! 👏
Do you know any success stories re talking to the PH team to improve the chances of being featured? I just got redirected to the docs, so not sure what I need to work on harder to indeed increase those chances 🤔