I decide what's featured on the leaderboard - AMA w/ Gabe from Product Hunt
Hi everyone, Gabe here! I lead curating Product Hunt's leaderboard.
First thing I will say is that if I could feature every single product that works, I would. I love supporting makers and demoing products. I actually try to test every single thing that gets hunted every day... which is A TON. But I view our job as to surface the most interesting, novel, useful, and innovative products - daily. Now we may not always get it right, the process isn't perfect, but we're trying to do right by the community.
Hopefully, you've noticed that over the past months the quality of the leaderboard has felt really good. (Please share your thoughts!) Some of the things that I've been doing aside from testing and reviewing products is reaching out to makers to help them with their launches, provide feedback on why something may not be featurable, and help makers craft their best launch as possible. Scalable -> no. Huge impact -> I think so. I'm working with the team on how to create a more scalable version of this but for now just know I try to make myself available to you all.
Top mistakes I've seen
Product is waitlisted
People schedule a draft.... (we have a draft function!)
Maker's profile is their product/business and not an actual user account
Tagline does not describe the product ie. "Best way to earn users" vs "Capture user data with a single button in your iOS app"
Too much marketing jargon, not enough product description / story
NO PRODUCT SHOTS/VIDEOS -> just marketing fluff images
Only one image that is a low quality screenshot
Using a paid service for upvotes/hunters -> this will get you unfeatured or severely impact your launch
Some other notes to consider:
We've gotten stricter on keeping true to our Featuring Guidelines.
We highly recommend making a draft and sharing with folks to make sure it passes the "mom test" -> do they get what you're launching?
If you can quickly Google a solution that similar to what you're launching then really make sure your launch stands out. Focus on highlighting what's special about your product vs being too general.
Highly recommend having a loom or some sort of visual that showcases the start process, the end result your product produces, and what's special about your product.
Be honest, authentic, and have fun.
With all that being said, AMA! I'll try to answer as much as I can without getting fired
Replies
Launched once on here before - It went reasonably well although didn't get the feature - For our next-one, I'm compiling all the advice we need & hoping to nail it!
Seriously impressive that you try each of the products, do they have to be 'HUNTED' specifically to try them, or if they are 'launched-normally' do you not bother?
Thank you Gabe!
Product Hunt
@cranqnow keep at it, Sam! Products don't have to be "hunted" as long as they're scheduled to launch, I'll review them. I try to keep it fair game and review all launches equally, regardless of who hunts them :)
@gabe I appreciate you taking the time to explain that!
Thanks Gabe, looking forward to getting the launch off the ground :)
Dropboard
Thanks @gabe! I have a product that requires payment for access but has a no-questions, money-back guarantee. Our marketing is very transparent about how the product works and we have walkthrough videos and other ways to see full functionality.
Do you see a paid-only product as less "feature-able" than a freemium or free trial product?
If so, we might consider allowing anyone coming from our PH page to get a free trial for a limited time. Or if you had any other advise for pay-first products, I'd love to hear it!
Product Hunt
Hi @colinmathews! Paid-only products aren't necessary less "featurable". What would make them less featurable is no way to preview what the user can expect to experience (interface, output, workflow, etc).
If you're marketing is really clear and the product is available upon sign up/purchase then that's perfect! I took a quick look at your landing page and I would highly recommend some sort of demo video, either a @Loom or an @Arcade are great! Adding the demo to the launch would be helpful as well.
The key thing is to share and show why your product is special and how it's different than what is currently on the market.
Dropboard
@gabe Great, thank you!
Thanks @gabe Glad I saw this. I am planning my first PH launch in about 1 month. I am gate keeping my landing page with "Join Waitlist" as I build my campaign and do some outreach. Product is there just need to change the links.
Interesting to see that PH team tries the products before hand. Would access to staging environment with demo account be enough for the team to vet? (Saves you a ton of time). Production is exactly the same minus the onboarding!
Given the time frame when would be the ideal time to get the product vetted? I need a nudge to commit to a date!
Much appreciated.
Thanks and great suggestion to change to an onboarding call. Easily done. When I mentioned staging I was specifically talking about the vetting process for your internal review. The product will be available in full, it actually already is. We'll cross that bridge when we get it.
Indie.Deals
I remember Product Hunt changing its stance on directories and curation sites around 2023-24 saying it won't be featured anymore (in a way, its a good thing) but recently I noticed a lot of such "products" being featured.
Before you say "there could be something different", nope it was typical directory site with linked pages and details. Has something changed in the criteria of such products/projects?
Product Hunt
Hi@adithya - we take a pretty hard stance on directories. Can you point us to an exact example that was recently featured? Want to make sure nothing slips through, or if there are some we're understanding why. I appreciate you pointing this out!
Indie.Deals
Sure @gabe Let me see if I can find it. It was something related to AI Tools which I noticed in the last 1-2 weeks.
Btw, I would also highlight another issue. Take it up on email?
AQX
Thanks for sharing! Really helpful considering I'm doing my first launch in a couple weeks
Stellify
Potentially stupid question incoming... Do you feature products without a scheduled launch?
Product Hunt
@stellify_software launches can only be scheduled - if it's in a draft, I don't review it.
Stellify
NewOaks AI
@gabe Thanks for the clear guideline! What methodology or process will you recommend for polishing the tagline or refining value proposition of a new product?
Product Hunt
@ray_luan keep it simple and clear. Read your tagline and think "will my mom get it". Try to avoid marketing jargon as well.
For example:
NOT GOOD:
The best to do list - forever free
GOOD:
Todo list that syncs w/ Spotify to play tracks according to the task
Hope that helps!
NewOaks AI
Gabe, thanks for the comments! Very insightful. I am launching my product EZsite AI on April 8th, hope my tagline can make my mom understand and upvote for it.
what outliers have you featured, @gabe ? you cover a few just-fo-fun products, which is great. what about service businesses? I'm thinking something like @Hue back in the day which rebranded to designjoy since his launch on here
Product Hunt
@taniabell we do not feature services. In the past we may have, but we haven't done so for quite a while. You can see this reflected in our FAQ as well. The reasoning is simply that they are typically not products.
Deamoy
Thanks for the insights, Gabe! 🙏 Love the "mom test" tip. Quick Q: How do you balance featuring truly novel products vs. "better versions" of existing tools? And any plans for a "Hidden Gem" category for niche-but-critical solutions? Keep fighting the good fight! 🔥
Deamoy
@gabe thx :D
Trangram
I really appreciate long posts, it took hours to prepare and put thoughts together. Thanks for the effort and for being so passionate about improving how the leaderboard works.
Quick question:
Will it affect my launch or chances of being featured if I use the same domain but a different path for my next product?
For example, I’m planning to launch my puzzle game at https://www.trangram.com/games/mathstick, but I’ve already launched Trangram (a vector editor and animation tool) at https://www.trangram.com.
Thanks again for your time!
Product Hunt
@derek_liu_dev it won't directly impact but what will happen is the new launch will be part of @Trangram's Product Hub!
Trangram
@gabe Thanks your prompt reply! Great to know this is allowed and will be considered. BTW, thanks for the tips on how to reference a launched product by using @ 👈, this is new to me since my last launch. very useful~