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fmerian
fmerian Subscriber

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Launching a dev tool on Product Hunt? Keep it simple

The question isn't if you should launch on Product Hunt. It's how.

To start, some definitions:

  • Maker: a user who works on a launch
  • Hunter: a user who submits a product and doesn't work on it
  • Upvoter: a user who upvotes a launch
  • Commenter: a user who comments on a launch
  • Launch post: where your launched product lives
  • Product Hub: lists your previous launches, reviews, and threads
  • Product Forum: where users discuss all-things products 
  • Kitty coins: Novice (Level 0-100), Bronze (Level 101-500), Silver (Level 501-1,000), Gold (Level 1,001+)
  • Ranking: Product of the Day / Week / Month

Let's be upfront. Over the years, I've contributed to launching many dev-first products and, is there a secret sauce? No.

When Specify launched, we planned weeks ahead and launched on a weekday — we thought it would maximize exposure. We ranked #2 Product of the Day, #9 Product of the Week. We hit 2.5K unique visitors.

When Documenso launched, it was the opposite. We had no plan and launched during the weekend. We ranked #1 Product of the Day and #9 Product of the Week. We hit 2.5K unique visitors, too.

Two different launches; same results.

Take Peer Richelsen. Peer is the co-founder and co-CEO of Cal.com. He launched 6 times on Product Hunt and got 10 awards. He puts it very simply:

Have a good product.
— Peer Richelsen, Co-founder and CEO, Cal.com

You don't need to overthink to launch on Product Hunt successfully. Keep it simple.

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