We Tanked our Product Hunt Launch on Purpose

There are a hundred posts about how to succeed on Product Hunt.

This is about how to not fail.

Our latest Product Hunt launch was a disaster. Just as we had hoped.

Here's what happened:

We built Yo—a Figma plugin that creates AI personas to give you instant feedback on your designs.

Before launching, we did something meta: we used Yo to test our own launch materials.

The AI personas (modeled on typical PH users) said nice things to start.

Then I asked: "If you saw this launch on Product Hunt, what's missing that would stop you from upvoting?"

Suddenly, brutal honesty:

"I need to see a demo video showcasing how this actually works in Figma"

"Show me actual user testimonials or concrete examples"

"The description is clear, but I need evidence of value—data or use cases"

"A quick demo of the AI interviews in action would seal the deal"

We had a choice: fix everything... or launch as-is and see if real PH users would echo the exact same things.

The Experiment:

We deliberately broke every PH rule:

❌ Launched 15 min before site opened

❌ Zero network outreach

❌ No video for first hour

❌ When we added video, opening frame was a static slide

Result: First 4 hours: 10 upvotes. No feature. Dead in the water.

Then we reached out to our network and posted a forum article.

Even stranger result: 30 upvotes on forum post, but only 6-8 translated into actual launch upvotes.

The Payoff:

Our AI personas were eerily accurate.

Real PH users responded exactly as predicted. The lack of engaging video hurt us. The unclear value prop confused people. The missing social proof made it feel risky.

We validated that our product actually works—by deliberately failing in the exact ways our AI personas predicted we would.

Your Turn:

Want to see what AI personas would tear apart in your launch?

→ Try it out on this Playground file I made in for Figma

It's pre-loaded to generate PH user personas. Plug in your launch page and ask the hard questions:

"Why would you scroll past this?"

"What's confusing here?"

"Why wouldn't you upvote?"

Or drop your PH URL below and I'll run it through the personas for you.

Sometimes you learn more from a controlled burn than a wildfire success.