I spend a lot more time on PH at the moment to see what indepedent makers are spending their time on. I've noticed some patterns and also want to share a little bit about my journey at South Park Commons. Most startup stories begin at zero when there s already a team, an idea, maybe even a prototype. But at South Park Commons (SPC), the philosophy is different: people gather in the -1 to 0 stage. That liminal space where you don t yet know what you re building or even if you should build at all. It s a place for exploration, experimentation, and being brutally honest about what s working and what s not.

A hallmark of SPC is how often industry leaders drop by to share what they ve learned in the wild. Recently, I was in a small chat with Tyler Payne former Google and LinkedIn AI lead, startup builder, who has spent the last decade helping teams actually ship real-world ML systems. We're always talking about what's being launched at SPC.

By engagement, I mean upvotes, comments, shares basically anything that helps your product get to the top of the voting.

Do you have an overview of which tactics were most effective in this regard?

Common Sense Media published a report on this topic, and it reminded me of how big a bubble I live in.

When Meta announced back in 2024/2025 that they wanted to create AI avatars to boost engagement, I was skeptic, but data speaks clearly  young people enjoy AI interaction.

At what age did you really start, whether that meant full time job, freelancing, building, exploring, experimenting, or just helping someone with a skill?

For me, it was age 16. I landed an internship as a social media handler and content writer for a small Aussie e-commerce shop. Nothing too fancy, but it taught me how real work works. Since then, I've been exploring everything

I ve seen people start at 12 coding games, others at 25 making bold pivots. There s no right timeline, just a lot of interesting journeys.

How about you? What was your first real thing?

I know people who never miss an email, even on a Saturday night.

And I know others who won t even open their inbox until Monday morning no matter what.

We just launched our new Agent Builder that enables you to build any agent through natural conversation.

Now all you need to do is describe the agent you want and our powerful AI will build it for you.

Big CTAs. Landing pages shouting Sign up now. Everything optimized to convert not to connect.

That era feels over. Or at least, fading fast.

We re now in a strange but exciting new phase , where people don t just want a tool. They want a feeling. They want a story. They want to know why this product exists, who made it, and how it fits into their weird little corner of the internet.

I call this the Post-Hype Era of Marketing.

I read in TechCrunch today that Perplexity is trying to dominate the Indian market, which could potentially increase the number of users (and thus compete with OpenAI).

Perplexity is trying to attract more users by offering a free 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription normally worth $200 to all 360 million Airtel subscribers. (That is the cost for them.)

What's one feature you're completely torn about pricing. Should it be free to hook users or paid to drive revenue? Builders, let's help each other out!

Not talking about the big stuff like electricity or the internet.

I mean those small but powerful innovations that quietly save your day every single day.

For me? Headphones.

Good music, noise-canceling peace, even clear calls on a noisy street.

Many teams still treat launching on Product Hunt as a one-time thing, like something you do once and move on.

From working with teams who use Product Hunt strategically, I ve seen a different pattern, and I d love to share it here.

I believe every project should have a website to showcase its offering, not to mention for SEO purposes. Whether SEO will still be relevant due to AI is another discussion.

Do you have any favourite websites that are both functional and beautifully designed?

I ve been thinking a lot about branding that actually sticks. The kind that doesn t just look good, but makes you feel something. Not just a nice logo, but the entire vibe. The emotion. The precision. The energy.

Whether it s a campaign, launch moment, rebrand, or even a website, we ve all come across branding that made us stop scrolling and say: Damn, that s brilliant. I want to hear about those moments from you.

Here s one that really hit me:

Notion s early product videos and landing pages.

We ve talked a lot about the pain points in video creation, but what about the parts you actually enjoy?

Is it scripting? Storyboarding? Editing? That final moment when everything just clicks?

Curious to hear what parts of the process make it worth the effort for you. Drop your favorite bit below would love to see what others vibe with too.

Before starting any discussion on Product Hunt, make sure you're not violating the PH community guidelines and the PH Forum Guidelines.

From my experience of actively contributing and spending time on this platform, I ve noticed a few things, and I d love to share them with you.

I ve been working on a smart home product (launching soon) that takes something overlooked (outlet) and gives it modern intelligence without adding complexity.

It got me thinking so many everyday things in our homes and lives still feel stuck in the past. So here s my question:

I ve been fairly active on Twitter and have come across several founders and creators who hold very different views when it comes to having a family.

The opinions vary, and I really appreciate that people are open about discussing it.

I experience 2 types of inspiration:

• Internal my drive to improve based on my results and aspirations for where I want to be.

• External people around me, talks, success stories, etc.

I ve been building a smart home product that s meant to quietly improve people s lives without adding complexity, which got me thinking

What s one simple product (physical or digital) that genuinely made your daily life easier, better, or just a bit more enjoyable?

Maybe it s a tool that automates something boring.