When is the right time to launch on Product Hunt?
Because building products has become much more accessible thanks to AI, the bar has had to rise a bit, or at least the expectations have become stricter.
I built my own tool – SafeLimit, but personally, I wouldn’t launch it on Product Hunt yet because it’s still very basic and doesn’t even have a website. 😀
Personally, I wouldn’t use Product Hunt only to validate an idea or a problem anymore.
I would feel ready to launch once I reached these points:
– the product works with its core features (it doesn't break)
– it has been properly tested by developers, UX/UI testers, and a few potential users (with bugs fixed)
– it has its own landing page explaining the product
– it already has a version with payments integrated
– it follows Product Hunt’s launch and community guidelines (novelty, uniqueness, etc.)
– it has a small but engaged user base that can support the launch with comments or reviews (social proof)
When would you personally feel ready to launch on Product Hunt?
What would be your minimum requirements?
Replies
@busmark_w_nika Every item on your list except one, I had covered before launching Aug 2 working product, tested, real landing page, payments live, followed the guidelines. The one I didn't have: the small engaged user base. And that's the one that actually mattered most.
Launched with 6 followers on the page. Got a couple upvotes, a handful of real visitors from the launch link, but nothing like what a genuinely pre-built audience would have produced. Everything else on your list is table stakes the product not breaking, having a real page but the audience piece is the one that determines whether launch day is an event or just... Tuesday.
If I did it again, I'd spend the 4-6 weeks before building the follower base on the page itself, not just assume the product being ready was enough.
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@farrukh_ahmed8877 Were you featured or not?
@busmark_w_nika No special placement. No homepage push. Just a standard launch.
And the outcome only proved the point: without that initial push, the existing audience carried the entire load on day one. Featured status might have compensated for a sparse following. Without it, that following was the sole factor in play and it hadn’t been cultivated sufficiently beforehand.
@busmark_w_nika @farrukh_ahmed8877 This is the part I keep getting stuck on. Launching in about three weeks and I don't have an existing audience to carry day one — just a product and whatever I've built up commenting here.
For anyone who launched without that list: what actually moved the needle on the day? Or is the honest answer that you build the audience first and the launch is the victory lap?
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@farrukh_ahmed8877 @hammad_shams_uddin I would recommend creating social media and PH audience too. It is important to have an initial audience that backs you.
BetterClaw
Launch when you've built genuine community first.
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@better_shaya I am doing it atm :)
BetterClaw
Small engaged user base makes all the difference.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@better_shaya I am trying to collect my first 100 active users and then will probably launch :)
Hey Nika! That's interesting. How and where would you validate it?
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@martin_herran First, I would like to go on social media (in my case) and try to identify whether people use keywords like "LinkedIn account restricted." I can already see that trend :)
I launched three days ago with none of the last item on your list, and I can give you the number everyone in this thread is circling: 3 upvotes.
Everything else was done. Product works, payments in, landing page, guidelines followed. What I did not have was a single person who knew me before launch day. My Product Hunt account was four days old.
Satchmo and Abdullah are right that the audience item decides the day. I would put it more bluntly: the other items decide whether you deserve traffic, that one decides whether you get any. Mine got none, so the rest never got tested. I still do not know whether the positioning works, which was the actual thing I wanted to find out.
What I got wrong was thinking the launch was the start of the conversation. It is the end of one that should already be a few weeks old.
For calibration, in case it helps anyone pick a date: cold account, zero followers, midweek, building a marketplace for abandoned side projects. That is a 3. Not a disaster, just nothing. Build the room first.
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@onhae Did you ask for upvotes via DMs on social media platforms?
I think that people (makers) have it way easier when they are recognisable by the community.
@busmark_w_nika No DMs. Asking for upvotes breaks the rules here anyway, and I did not have anyone to ask. The account was four days old.
You are right that recognisable makers have it easier. I would use a different word though: not recognisable, just present. Abdullah put it well upthread, the ask converts an audience, it does not create one. I had nothing to convert.
The part I would not repeat is treating launch day as the deadline for the product instead of the deadline for the conversations. I finished the product on time and started the conversations on the day, which is backwards.
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@onhae Ou,... next time, I would recommend having a longer history here :) 4 days could result in restrictions or not being featured :)
@busmark_w_nika That part I did not know. I assumed four days only mattered for how people read the account, not for what the site itself does with the launch. Restrictions or not being featured is a different kind of cost. Good thing I am in no rush to launch anything again, this thread has been worth more to me than the launch was.
Unrelated to that, and ignore it if it is not useful. You mentioned SafeLimit does not have a website yet, and that it is the thing keeping you from launching it. I build landing pages for a living, small ones mostly. If you want I can look at what you have and tell you what I would put on one page. No charge, I am not selling anything here, it is just the part I happen to be able to do.
Also, my English is not good enough to write these replies myself. I draft with an LLM and rewrite before posting. Mentioning it because someone called me out on it elsewhere this week and it was a fair hit.
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Some people have mentioned they'd launch as soon as it has a clear idea and a landing page, but I have to disagree with that.
Product Hunt is a unique site in a few ways.
1. It's a big discoverability boost (you want people to land on your site which you have already tested and got feedback so you know it converts)
2. It's a big DR boost so you have to make it count.
3. Most people get in touch with you and you get additional links, contacts if the launch is successful.
Other reasons to count perhaps...
But yeah, you should definitely launch at PH once it has a certain "early" maturity.
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@ozandag But they should have a page, no? I think that people should have a landing page for their product to describe more precisely the product + prelink it :)
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@busmark_w_nika
My comment was around the point that the product / landing page / UX has settled a bit.
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@ozandag aa okay, so I misuderstood it first :)
@byalexai Thinking about launching here too. This is super helpful, thanks!
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@byalexai @ivory_xuxuxu which product do you want to launch? :)
@busmark_w_nika I’d use a failure-based launch gate rather than a feature checklist: can a new user complete the core promise without your help, can they recover from the three most likely mistakes, and can you see where they drop off? Payments are optional unless charging is itself part of what you need to test; safe data handling, a working support path, and basic activation analytics are not. If those checks pass, launching can generate useful evidence. If they fail, Product Hunt traffic mostly measures onboarding defects rather than demand.
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@getosmo In that case, my tool needs a solid onboarding, because not everyone can get it. I see in my users they need explanation :)
Honestly? The right time is when you are terrified but not embarrassed. 😅
Here's what I mean:
If you launch too early and the product breaks, has no landing page, or looks unfinished you are not terrified, you are embarrassed. That's the wrong kind of fear. It means you're not ready and the community will smell it from a mile away.
But if you've checked all your boxes and Nika, yours are solid and you are still feeling that knot in your stomach? that's the sweet spot. That's the fear of putting your real work out into the world not the fear of being caught with your pants down.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@gaius_loxley What can I do when I am terrified and embarrassed at the same time? :D
That's a question I've been asking myself for the last few months, to be honest. I know some people launch their product as soon as they have a minimum viable version ans improve it based on feedback from their first users. I'm more on the opposite side!
To launch my product, I had set myself a few rules:
Have the website's layout and style clearly defined
Have the core features implemented and fully tested
Have proper user management in place
Have a payment system integrated
Have good online documentation
Support multiple languages
So, I think I had a minimum viable product ready by mid-March, and a version that met my launch requirements by the end of May.
However, in the meantime, I fell into the "add more features" trap. While implementing the core features, I kept coming up with additional ideas and configuration options, which piled up on my to-do list and, as a result, made the whole product feel like it was never quite ready. By focusing too much on development, I lost sight of the original goal: actually launching the product!
In mid-June, I took some time to reconsider my approach and made a few decisions:
First, and most importantly: don't launch the product during summer, and set a launch date for early September.
Second: plan the launch in details an prepare the messaging, visuals, etc. to use on Product Hunt.
Third: review the growing pile of new features and build a roadmap. identify the quick wins to implement over the summer, and postpone the others until after the launch.
So, for me, the right time to launch isn't when the product is "finished", because it probably never will be. It's when the core experience is solid enough and you've set yourself a date you are willing to stick to. And you must also resist the temptation to add extra features along the way, and start building your roadmap instead (which can also be a good communication tool as users see you are continuously improving your product).
Another factor I think is worth considering is the calendar. Depending on your product and target audience, some periods of the year may simply be better for launching than others. In my case, I also realized that lauching during summer probably wasn't the best option, so postponing the launch until early September felt like a better choice.
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@napryc I would maybe wait with September too. Some people tend to take vacations in September as well, since costs are lower, so they benefit from that. Maybe I would personally aim for October :)