I grew up finding products on Product Hunt.
So we've now launched there twice.
- 2023 - Create. Fresh pivot, zero customers, old PH rules. Ended Top 3, got 1k beta users, earned a backlink for our new site. Felt worth it.
- 2025 - Anything. Big launch, new PH rulebook. Finished #2, but traffic felt diminished. New game.
So was it worth it?
Only if you know the real reason:
Product Hunt gives you a great excuse to tell every person in your life what you’re building. Family, friends, old coworkers, investors. You get to text them and say "hey I'm launching this". They now know about it and random connections will come from that.
Everything else is a bonus.
Winning is a status game
Top 3 of the day, Top 5 of the week, Top 5 of the month. Nice badges, modest impact.
Your audience either lives on Product Hunt or they don’t. You want to be near the top, but it's just status. As Naval says, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
But the launch day still matters because it forces conversations you wouldn't have otherwise.
2023 playbook
- Ship something great. No launch saves a weak product.
- Publish a teaser page weeks ahead, collect emails.
- Nail the first impression assets: tagline, 15-second video, real screenshots.
- Pre-condition your network with direct messages: “We launch Wednesday, can I count on you?” Warm, no link yet.
- Day-of, tell supporters to search for the name. Don’t drop the direct link. PH punishes it.
- Own the midnight PST window. Stack global friends and insomniacs; the first 300 votes keep you at top of the feed.
- Close hard 8 pm–midnight. Make sure you
- Plaster it across X, LinkedIn, Discord, Reddit.
- Reopen old email threads and ask.
Result: Top 3, 1,000 beta users, backlink, instant credibility.
2025 playbook
PH has changed the rules a bit. They now prioritize existing PH accounts more and discussions on the launch.
- Get featured. Email Product Hunt support early.
- Segment your supporters. Votes from brand-new accounts now count for crumbs. Identify people who already use PH and put them on your “ask first” list.
- Seed true discussion. Comments matter more now. Plant questions, invite stories, respond to everyone.
- Realized that blasting a 600K customer email list yielded less than 500 power votes. Existing PH accounts > volume of reach.
- Understand that shadow markets exist. People buy votes. We didn’t. Decide where you stand.
We still finished #2. Traffic bump was meh.
But every investor, friend, and ex-teammate knew we shipped Anything. That mattered.
Tactics worth keeping
- Script launch day in advance—posts, DMs, comment prompts. Chaos kills.
- Map time zones; plan sprints (midnight, mid-morning, close).
- Offer value in your ask: ask for comments, not just upvotes. Comments carry weight.
What we ignore
- Vote trading. Makers aren’t your ICP and coordination is a time sink.
- Paying for boosts. Smarmy, short-term, and against the spirit.
- Buying “hunters.” Irrelevant in 2025; Product Hunt handles featuring in-house.
If you launch with Anything, tag us as a maker tool in your launch. We’ll amplify.
So now
- Launch on PH because it’s the best excuse to shout about your product, not because you worship the leaderboard.
- Learn this quarter’s rule tweaks before you go live; they change constantly.
- Focus your energy on supporters who already use Product Hunt.
- Orchestrate a 24-hour run (midnight spark, morning flood, evening close).
- Drive discussion. Upvotes without comments won’t stick.
- Treat conversations as the goal. Product Hunt is a forcing function.
Do it if you want the momentum & milestone for your team.
Skip it if your audience lives somewhere else.
Either way, know the real game you’re playing is getting in touch with everyone you know.
