Those who launched a product this year on Product Hunt, what would you do differently next time?
Every launch comes with new learnings. The platform is changing over time, but many things don’t depend on the platform itself – they depend on how you approach the launch: your pricing, customisation, or how early you show up, and more.
What did you learn from your launch, and what will you adjust for next time?
Although I haven't launched anything this year, I recall thoughts from a few years ago when I launched for the first time. My idea was: "I should gain more followers who could be notified about my launch."
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Oh, great topic, Nika!
Honestly, I’ve been launching on Product Hunt for almost two years now. I’ve been part of several launches as a maker, and many more as a strategist and hunter. The platform has evolved. A lot.
Here are a few things I believe are more important than ever, and I always share them with founders:
1. Do everything possible to get featured.
This is your number one priority. Spend a week or two polishing your images, video, tagline, description, maker’s comment, and your landing page. Especially the landing page. It needs extremely clear copy and clean UI.
The Product Hunt team reviews submissions, but they receive around 200-300 products a day. If you don’t instinctively convince them that your product looks great, you have no chance.
2. Spend a few weeks preparing/outreach.
Yes, everyone wants to launch immediately, but preparation is mandatory. And by that, I mostly mean: become part of the community. Don’t try to launch and expect upvotes out of nowhere. Try to be recognizable on the platform. Also : don’t buy upvotes. Most upvote farms don’t work anymore, and your product can even get unfeatured if you try.
Connect with other founders and teams who are launching.
3. Combine your Product Hunt launch with launches elsewhere.
Yes, it sounds strange, but don’t put everything on Product Hunt. Think of it like tennis : Product Hunt is the Grand Slam tournament. A tournament where only the best succeed (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer/OpenAI, Claude etc). Competition is brutal. But there are many smaller tournaments/platforms where competition is lower and your product might actually find users. You’ll also get valuable feedback you can use.
4. Having a hunter is more valuable than ever.
I believe no one needs a hunter to launch but with the changes on the platform, the feedback hunters provide is priceless.
Every improvement to your website, tagline, and images has value. It increases your chances of getting featured which is the single most important thing for your launch. And their name adds credibility.
5. Use the Product Hunt discussions like a social feed.
Your followers will receive notifications in Product Hunt’s discussion feed. Use it regularly to announce important updates and news. This way many more people will see your latest progress.
Oh, I probably missed a lot, but these are some of the most important points.
@mbeaulieu76 yes, it's always hard
MultiDrive
@byalexai Thank you so much for your advice - you always share something important.
May I ask: to be featured, does it have to be a landing page 100%? Our website is quite minimalistic, but it's not a single landing page since it covers four main pages for each feature. However, our main page includes all information and a CTA.
@tetiana_hryshmanovska It’s more about making sure that whatever you’re launching is instantly understandable for both the PH team and the audience and that it looks good.
@byalexai this is actually great insight. I just launched my first product and I did NONE of that lol. I should've researched the platform first.
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@byalexai This is so complex and extensive that you should post it as a single post here (Seriously) – so many good points) – guys, read this comment!!!
@busmark_w_nika
Oh, you might be right, Nika, but for now I prefer to keep it here. Lately I just haven’t felt like posting topics.
Maybe I should start.
MultiDrive
@busmark_w_nika @byalexai I vote for you posting more often! I read both Nika’s and your posts. :)
@busmark_w_nika @tetiana_hryshmanovska Thank you for the kind words Tetiana! It means a lot!
@byalexai Thanks a lot, this was really helpful! Have you got any tips on how to get more supporters before we launch?
SourcePilot
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@lucas_oliveira10 Same for me :)
@lucas_oliveira10 I keep seeing this advice on Product Hunt and would love to hear more about your approach. I’m having some trouble connecting with active members as we get ready for our launch, so any tips would be amazing!
@lucas_oliveira10 @info_team3 Same here!
I have no idea how to build followers on Product Hunt organically. Any tips from folks who've cracked this would be super helpful.
Preparing for launch and want to do it right.
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@lucas_oliveira10 @info_team3 My suggestion is also check the leaderboard, active commenters and hunters :)
MultiDrive
Nika, thank you for the valuable content - as always. We considered using a “Coming Soon” page (Aleksandar actually told us about this option), but Product Hunt hid that feature in September, so we had to rethink our next steps. We’re launching on December 1st, so we’re still researching, checking what others are doing, and talking to people, since the Product Hunt community is very friendly and welcoming when you ask questions. :)
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@tetiana_hryshmanovska The best thing you can do at the moment is:
1. To be visible on socials
2. Ask people to follow your product page
I have my fingers crossed for you! :)
MultiDrive
@busmark_w_nika Thank you so much, Nika! 🤗🫶
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@tetiana_hryshmanovska You are welcome! :)
@tetiana_hryshmanovska
Set a date for your launch. And start inviting your audience to follow you.
MultiDrive
@byalexai Thank you a lot, Aleksandar!
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@tetiana_hryshmanovska @byalexai Guys, you are so awesome to each other. I am impressed :)
Most people relaunching on Product Hunt feel confident because they already have a network or have previously won Product of the Day. But reality hits when their second launch post generates less results than expected.
The truth is, Product Hunt isn’t a platform where past success automatically guarantees future results. If you’re not warming up your network, staying in touch with your PH friends and maintaining relationships consistently, your outreach becomes transactional and far less effective.
Once you stop being active after a launch, the impact of your next one drops sharply.
Relationships compound. You never know which of your connections will become advocates, supporters or even customers.
Beyond the usual advice everyone repeats, this is the most important one: one successful launch doesn’t secure the next. Every relaunch demands equal, if not greater, effort and relationship-building.
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@rohanrecommends The fact is that many people from the past have left and have been replaced by a new audience. So you need to be visible constantly.
I wish to pin this comment at the top, because it is true!
@busmark_w_nika Thanks for your vote of agreement, Nika! :)
Super valuable topic and super grateful to read so many helpful things in all comments, thanks@busmark_w_nika :) To share our two cents as super new founders with @ggange - we received a lot of helpful advice by @byalexai and also by @murad_hoque and we actually had a pretty surprising (at least for us) result, because we managed to be 9th for the day from among 370 products even though we were not featured. I think that networking with other founders and talking to others from the PH community in general helped a lot, but I also think we underestimated ourselves a little bit as we had very low expectations. For next time, I would say we need to work more on how we position ourselves in the PH community before the launch :)
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@ggange @byalexai @murad_hoque @rokypm I think that PH is a long-term platform, and as Alex and Rohan said, you need to build relationships to be recognised and to be in the memory of users. With Alex's suggestions, you can achieve great results :)