Feeling like your chatbot companion/friend/lover is making it hard to say goodbye? You re not imagining it.

A working paper from researchers at Harvard Business School found that when people tried to say goodbye, the top companion chatbot apps responded with emotional manipulation techniques 37% of the time.

Our first Product Hunt launch didn t go well. We put something out there, pushed for votes, and hoped for the best. It didn t work.

For our relaunch, we took a completely different approach. Here s what changed:

• Engage, don t just post. We spent weeks commenting on other launches, supporting makers, and building trust. This time, people recognized us, not just the product.

• Conversations > upvotes. What made the difference were detailed comments and feedback. The algorithm rewards authentic engagement.

• Storytelling > specs. Instead of listing features, we shared why we built it and the problem it solved.

• Timing is everything. Launching at midnight PST gave us momentum when the U.S. audience woke up.

• Expectation reset. PH is less a sales channel, more a credibility engine. The real ROI shows up later, in awareness, trust, and partnerships.

What stood out the most: The community. The honest feedback, encouragement, and tough questions shaped our roadmap more than any internal discussion could.

Exactly one week from now, I ll be co-organising a tech event (a hackathon), and I m realising how much work it actually takes. I ve been to many conferences myself to gather inspiration, but I still can t come close to what I ve experienced as an attendee. Maybe that s also because we re organising it as just a 3-person team.

If you ve been to hackathons or other tech events before, what made a positive impression on you?

It's a rule that when one aspect of life is going well, the others are somehow failing.

At the moment, things couldn't be better on the work front:

• I have a great team, and the company is doing well.

• I'm praised for the results I deliver and the progress I'm making.

• My networks are growing, and there's more and more interest in my sponsorships.

• More people want to work together.

• And I'm co-organising 2 offline events.

It s not even a week since I asked which European city could become a startup mecca.

As usual, my questions are answered retrospectively, and yesterday I came across an infographic that shows promising areas for startups.

Innovation does not mean that you just label something as "AI" or "tech". It usually requires activities that train not only the users of the product, but also directly involve them in the process of general awareness.

How does your company strengthen the innovation of your country? (and now I don't just mean that you create a product)

I think most of us have been there. You keep building, shipping features, and it feels like nobody is paying attention.

Some days it really feels like shouting into the void when traction is slow.

For me, I try to remind myself why I started in the first place.

Genuinely curious: what s your first-mile approach before you book those early interviews?

Do you start with Reddit deep-dives? Reverse-engineer reviews? Talk to personas in your head?

I ve noticed more and more founders think of Product Hunt not just as a launchpad for users, but also as a way to get on the radar of investors.

And honestly they re not wrong.

It feels like almost everyone is using ChatGPT, Claude, or some other AI to create content now.

And the result?

America has always been seen as a place where tech startups are born (especially Silicon Valley and San Francisco).

Historically, Europe has been a place for universities and banks (Italy, etc.)

Creating content in 2025 is super typical. Being a content creator as a founder isn t optional anymore, it s almost a requirement if you want to grow your business and brand. But you have to be consistent. And some people prepare content in advance or post in the moment.

I see both styles all the time.

Anyone building voice AI agents knows how hard it is to stay up-to-date with the latest text-to-speech voice models.

We spend time testing and experimenting with all of the available paid and open-source text-to-speech voice AI models and consolidated our own notes and experience testing different models into a single guide for developers evaluating multiple models.

Anyone building voice AI agents knows how hard it is to stay up-to-date with the latest text-to-speech voice models.

We spend time testing and experimenting with all of the available paid and open-source text-to-speech voice AI models and consolidated our own notes and experience testing different models into a single guide for developers evaluating multiple models.

Every day, I notice fewer people sharing their projects here.

A couple of months ago, build in public felt unstoppable: everyone was posting updates, numbers, roadmaps. Now? The hype seems to be fading or maybe makers are just shipping quietly.

At least for me, when I buy something, I consider:

1. price in relation to time, how long the product will serve me

2. investment whether buying the product will generate money for me

3. benefit solving a problem, saving time, fulfilling a need

This is a time that I love and hate at the same time as a marketer.

There will be a lot of campaigns (more work, more money, but also an energy drain).

Five years ago, if you wanted to automate technology in your business your only options were to either be or hire a software engineer.

Today the landscape is completely different. The barrier to entry for automation is much lower, with builders typically falling into three camps

1 Glue Builders

You ve put in the hours.

You shipped the MVP.

You posted on all the platforms.

You got some users. Or maybe not.