I'm seeing more products launch on Product Hunt that require payment to actually use any features. No free trial, no freemium tier, just a download that leads straight to a paywall.
Part of me thinks this makes sense. If your product has real value, why give it away? People on Product Hunt understand they're looking at premium tools. Plus offering free access can attract users who will never pay anyway.
But I also see the argument for temporary free access during launch. Product Hunt users want to actually try what they're upvoting. How can they give meaningful feedback or become advocates if they hit a paywall immediately?
Many of us appreciate tools that save us time or money in our businesses. But there are also projects out there with a bigger mission (improving lives, supporting the planet, and helping those in need, to name a few).
Do you know of any inspiring projects that aim to make the world a better place?
I ve been thinking a lot about how chaotic the first phase of any project is especially for early-stage founders.
You get the idea, you get excited and then you freeze.
Do you validate?
Do you sketch out a landing page?
Do you research competitors?
Or just build something to get feedback?
Personally, I ve been experimenting with different ways to make that early direction clearer I ve journaled, built mini systems, even started working on a validation tool with a few people to help test ideas faster.
I have been thinking a lot about how AI is quietly transforming the way we work, not replacing jobs entirely, but definitely reshaping them.
At a recent Fortune summit, the CEO of Indeed said AI can now handle over half the tasks in most roles. But no single job can be fully automated. OpenAI s Chief People Officer even called it a reimagination of work.
