Like a lot of startups, Multiplayer has been going through some big changes lately.
We’ve doubled down on what we believe in (full stack session recordings), and decided to go all in on the usual GTM playbook: launches, talks, docs, community, the works.
And of course, somewhere on that playbook checklist is the rite of passage: Product Hunt.
Now, I’ll be honest: I’m not usually lurking on Product Hunt. I’m more of a “heads down in docs, building with users, hanging out in obscure Slack channels” kind of person. Also, Product Hunt is just one of the many activities we planned to raise awareness, and not even the most interesting IMO.
But before launching, I tried to do my homework.
I read the Hacker News threads. I saw the pieces about how “Product Hunt is dead,” how the game is rigged with launch agencies, paid boosts, and the same handful of giants always climbing to the top.
So I went in with realistic expectations.
I thought I was ready. Spoiler: I wasn’t.
Scheduling your launch is… a thing?
None of us had posted in Product Hunt in years. Our designer was the most active user but even his main activity was mostly in 2016 when he "hunted" Slack Beta! 😅
Imagine our surprise when we learned you can’t just hit “publish”. You actually have to schedule your launch for a specific day.
We picked Tuesday. No special strategy, just Tuesday.
Turns out Tuesday is the day. A kind of Thunderdome for launches. That week? Claude, DeepSeek, OpenAI, Lovable, Squarespace… basically the Avengers of product launches.
So within minutes, we looked at each other and said: “Okay, we’re not winning this game. Let’s not even try. Let’s just play it for the feedback.”
Feedback > upvotes
That became our mantra. We literally told people NOT to upvote us. Our CEO even sent an email saying, “Don’t upvote us, just give us feedback.”
And people did. By email, in DMs, on our social. We received some insightful feedback on Multiplayer features (and what people liked and wished to see on our roadmap), and that was way more valuable than any orange number on the leaderboard.
But somehow… #8?!
Here’s the twist: even though we weren’t gunning for the top, we ended up #8. Above Lovable. Above OpenAI (?!).
To be clear: I’m not about to start believing Product Hunt is suddenly fair, or that it’s worth sinking weeks of effort into having a "successful launch". I’m still skeptical.
But I am grateful for everyone who left a comment, shared a thought, or yes, upvoted anyway.
The takeaway
Launching on Product Hunt didn’t magically change our trajectory. It didn’t flood us with signups or website visits.
But it did give us a moment to tell our story, collect real feedback, and laugh at the absurdity of finding ourselves in the top 10 on one of the busiest launch days of the year.
At the end of the day, I’ll take feedback over upvotes any day.
(Though… if you want to roast me for picking Tuesday of all days, or just plain launching on Product Hunt that’s fair too 😅).
Top comments (1)
Spot on. Product Hunt definitely is a great place to launch developer tools. Take Supabase or Warp for example. Both keep launching there. 1 2
From my perspective, the question isn't if you should launch, it's how. You're just right. Some people overthink it. You kept it simple. We followed this path when we launched Kilo Code on Product Hunt. No 4-week plan, no cold outreach. 3
Define your objectives, keep it simple, and enjoy your launch day.
Looking forward to your next launch.
Supabase on Product Hunt ↩
Warp on Product Hunt ↩
How we launched Kilo Code ↩