Dorothy M. Danforth

Dorothy M. Danforth

Human-centered AI Systems Architect
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Dorothy M. DanforthhuntedShine
60% of recruiters cite excessive buzzwords as the biggest resume mistake (State of Hiring, 2025) Your career isn’t a list of keywords. It’s your story. How you think. Work. The problems you solve. Shine is a positioning partner that helps you articulate what’s been hard to pin down. It brings hiring data and your story together, and gives you the tools to tell it clearly. Situation Analysis, Roadmap, Career Docs (resume, bio, social), Job Posting Application Analysis and Customization
Shine
ShineTell your story.
Dorothy M. Danforthleft a comment
Nika always has great info to share. That said, I'm building the platform, doing customer support, talking with my few users for hours at times, engaging my professional network, and developing my social channels from zero. Three hours, or even one hour per day on Product Hunt is time away from those activities. I'd love to chat each day on the forums, maybe if I wasn't actually building the...
Nika
What does it "cost" to build a community on Product Hunt?
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Dorothy M. Danforthstarted a discussion

How are you using Reddit for traction without being a spammer?

I'm hitting a wall trying to gain alpha users for a live app with a fairly specific use-case. My fear of becoming "Spammy McSpamerson" has been so strong that I've paralyzed myself into doing nothing. I had been responding with useful advice here and there but I'm not sure when or how to bring up my solution. I'd love tips from founders who've successfully used Reddit to naturally connect with...

Dorothy M. Danforthstarted a discussion

How delusional does a solo founder really have to be?

Serious question. I'm at that stage where I'm doing category education (which, iykyk, is a hard slog). Some days I think "this is obvious, why doesn't everyone see it?" Other days I wonder if I'm completely off base. The thing about category creation is you're not selling something people know they need. You're teaching them to see a problem differently. So, maybe the right amount of delusion...

Dorothy M. Danforthleft a comment
I'd say this depends on what you're spending that money on, when (what stage), and what your signals are. So, if you come out strong and start dropping cash (because right now you have it) and miscalculate the actual runway you need, you're in for a rough ride. Double your runway, triple it. As example, I get asked for tips by people looking to start a services practice, since that's what I've...
Nika
How much money would you be willing to spend from your own savings to start a business?
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Dorothy M. Danforthleft a comment
Hello Product Hunt! I'm Dorothy, founder and builder of Shine ✨. I've been watching people I respect, colleagues with 10, 20+ years, successful in their fields, suddenly unable to get interviews. They're doing everything 'right' according to the advice out there. Optimizing keywords, tailoring resumes, blasting applications. And it's not working. The job market isn't down. It's restructured....
Shine
ShineTell your story.
Dorothy M. Danforthstarted a discussion

Any other AI builders thinking about token economics?

I'm an old school developer but have been building my first AI platform. Most of the development is familiar (i.e. basic systems architecture work hasn't changed much) but I’ve run into some counter-intuitive (for me) stuff… Too much instruction gives the model more ways to fail; too little leaves it without guidance for your use case, so it’s a careful ongoing curation process. There's a...

Dorothy M. Danforthleft a comment
Depends, if the workflows and tasks are smooth I think people will ignore a less than beautiful UI, no problem. I have, however, tried to use some new apps that I really wanted to like (a cool device sim dev tool comes to mind) but were too confusing to use, so I gave up. The key word there is clarity. I think I'm not alone in preferring a smooth but low-fi experience over a beautiful but wonky...
Alex Cloudstar
Do you think early users care about design or just function?
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Dorothy M. Danforthleft a comment
My platform is built, working as designed, and currently live with some early users. My current struggle is with outreach. I’m a solo bootstrap developer, despite many years as a product strategist for large corporations. So, this part is new to me. I'm ready to begin a launch on PH, but don't want to just barrel in without first understanding community expectations. My platform is in /...
Gabe Perez
I decide what's featured on the leaderboard - AMA w/ Gabe from Product Hunt
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Dorothy M. Danforthleft a comment
The "fight vs. friendly" debate is a great way to frame it. In my product strategy work (i.e. not marketing directly, but work that feeds into marketing), I help companies decide this by looking at market maturity and their strategic position. It's less a hard rule and more about choosing the right game to play. The fight approach is often a calculated choice for a challenger in a mature...
Nika
How do you treat your competition? Is your stance more adversarial or friendly?
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Dorothy M. Danforthstarted a discussion

Thinking about human-centered AI?

Hey Product Hunt - I'm Dorothy. Solo founder working from home in suburban Philly. Chickens in the yard, cavalier pup on the couch, teens who may or may not be in their rooms. I've built products and strategy for companies like Comcast, Schwab, and Merck. Took a broadband startup to IPO, co-founded a national nonprofit with $300M+ impact. I'm working on a SaaS platform and exploring whether...