Whenever I browse product launches, I somehow subconsciously judge not only the product itself and its quality, but also the quality that is reflected in the effort the makers put into preparing it.
It may sound insignificant, but in my case, these things also make a significant difference:
Icon GIF at the launch it enlivens the overall impression and is dynamic
Quality graphics and video
First, a properly filled-out comment
Photos in the makers' profiles (it's less trustworthy for me when there's only the letter "J" or something similar)
Whether any of my contacts or acquaintances on the platform reacted to the launch
Years ago, depression wasn t a topic I studied. It was something I lived with quietly. Some days, just functioning felt like a win. Reflection became the only tool that helped me make sense of my own thoughts and emotions.
At the beginning, my reason was very simple: I needed a job and I genuinely liked the product.
I graduated with a Marketing degree, but I never felt like I belonged in agencies or similar environments. It just wasn t for me. At the same time, I didn t have much experience in tech either. So I took a leap of faith and applied for a Customer Support role, almost blindly.
The early days were tough. I had no technical background, no real understanding of how apps were built, and everything felt overwhelming. But the product itself became my motivation. I started from the most basic things: learning simple technical terms, understanding how an app is structured, and slowly exploring how everything works behind the scenes.
Today, I read in the news that OpenAI is considering "expanding its data footprint" and possibly buying Pinterest, as there is a lot of data on it just for the sake of users finding inspiration (which can be key for purchase decision making and understanding personas Pinterest has 600M+ users).
I also take into account how Pinterest started to resent the proliferation of AI content there users do not like it so much (as far as I know, OpenAI also wants to have its own social network, and Sora curation is a bit reminiscent of that)
For me, productivity means getting (more) results faster in less time. My goals for 2026 are closely linked to the fact that I want to learn a lot of things, which will require a lot of concentration.
Therefore, I think that a large part of what I want to gain will be ensured by:
I'm Shige, Co-founder of Giselle an open-source AI app builder we just launched today! This is my first time launching on Product Hunt, and I'm super excited (and a bit nervous ).
I'm working remotely from Japan, which means I'm navigating a pretty challenging timezone gap with PT. We've got about 15 hours left in our launch day, and while I wish I could stay awake for all 24 hours, I'm about to take a quick nap to recharge.
I ve been watching the discussions here over the holidays, and it s inspiring to see so much passion. But it also got me thinking. After 35 years in the entrepreneurial world, I ve realised that my biggest mistakes didn't happen because I wasn't working hard enough they happened because I was running on an empty battery.
As founders, we are obsessed with "optimisation." We optimize our code, our funnels, and our growth. But this week, I m trying something different: I m optimising for rest.
I ve spent the last few days intentionally stepping away from the screen. Not to plan the next pivot or to "reflect on KPIs," but to actually let my mind go quiet. I m finding that the better I use this week to truly recharge my own energy, the more excited I feel about 2026.
It s a strange feeling to not be "productive" for a few days, but I m learning that my energy levels are the most important asset I have. If that battery isn't green, nothing else I build will be sustainable.
365 days is more than enough time to get burned, mess things up, and (most importantly) learn some hard lessons.
My biggest wake-up call this year was neglecting my health until it completely derailed my business I had to turn down collabs, miss conferences, meetups, and a ton of opportunities.
I have to admit I m a tragedy when it comes to being first at trying new technology or so which means I ve fallen for more scams and shady situations than I d like to count.
(At least I can warn my friends and family before they make the same mistakes, so that's the only advantage.)
I decided to share some best practices I regret not doing sooner:
After a recent Product Hunt launch, I saw the usual pattern strong initial traffic, followed by a drop once the launch window passed.Instead of immediately shipping new features, I spent time watching where first-time users hesitated or dropped off during their initial experience. A few small fixes ended up mattering more than expected.
For builders who ve been through this phase: what was the first concrete thing you fixed post-launch that noticeably improved retention or repeat usage?
Was it onboarding copy, activation flow, a missing use case, or something you only noticed after observing real users?
Looking to learn from specific examples rather than general advice.
Ten years ago, if a Facebook post didn t receive enough reactions, I would delete it immediately.
Yep, 18-year-old Nika was terrified that people would notice her failure. Reality check: when a post flops, almost nobody sees it anyway. The only person who actually suffers from the low engagement is the original poster.
Users can now get instant answers to questions about the platform and documentation at any time. The AI assistant is available 24/7 and helps developers onboard faster, resolve issues quickly, and understand how to use Bult.ai more effectively.
More improvements to our support experience are on the way.
Ship designs 10× faster with a library of 2,000+ ready-to-use Figma components, from wireframes to templates, and eliminate repetitive grunt work.
You’re early. Grab 60% off 🎉
We just wrapped the Orbit Awards for AI Dictation and now we re moving to the next category: AI Automation.
This one is for the tools that actually do work for you clearing chores, running workflows in the background, or quietly taking over a chunk of your week without turning into another dashboard you have to babysit.
A tagline is the first piece of content a user will see about your product on the leaderboard. It's so important that you get it right. You should be able to get a really solid idea of what your product is just by reading a handful of words.
In the spirit of forever optimising our taglines, I wanted to do a little experiment:
A tagline is the first piece of content a user will see about your product on the leaderboard. It's so important that you get it right. You should be able to get a really solid idea of what your product is just by reading a handful of words.
In the spirit of forever optimising our taglines, I wanted to do a little experiment:
