Lessons From a Dead Startup Dream 🪦

How to launch on Product Hunt 🎯

“Launching on Product Hunt is an exhilarating ride that I’d recommend to any startup founder or builder.”

Joseph Lee launched Supademo on Product Hunt, getting a Day rank of #3 and a Week rank of #6. 

In true open-source fashion, Lee shared a clear breakdown of what they did to prepare for and execute the launch.

Step 1: Establish a clear goal — There’s nothing worse than putting a ton of time into your launch, only not to know whether the effort was worthwhile. To avoid wasted time and effort, have a crystal clear goal of what you want to achieve. 

Step 2: Hunt down your launch date and choose your hunter — Weekends and weekdays differ greatly in completion and views. A Hunter isn’t a requirement, but they will amplify your product distribution and success.

Step 3: Create a “Coming Soon” page — Create an engaging “Coming Soon” page on Product Hunt with a teaser for your product. This page helps generate organic buzz and drive visitors to a page with clear intent.

Step 4: Identify and build your distribution — While being a megaphone and spreading the word about your launch can seem cringe and spammy, it’s almost a prerequisite to a successful launch. Use every channel, person and platform you have. 

Step 5: Prep tactics for Launch Day — There’s so much to do, but you should focus on prepping your calendar, assessing the competition, drafting your email sequences and messages, preparing your launch assets and getting your maker comment ready. 

Step 6: Launch and Grind — Getting to the first three spots will create organic momentum, so tap into your distribution the moment 12:01 a.m. strikes. Then, throughout the day, follow through and execute all the tactical activities. 

👉️ Go more in-depth here: The 6-Step Checklist for Successfully Launching on Product Hunt

Lessons From a Dead Startup Dream 🪦

“Did I go from multi-millionaire to bankrupt in one phone call? The dream was dead. At first, I was pissed. Then, I was sad.”

Pablo Srugo, now Partner at Mistral and host of The Product Market Fit Show, experienced the full startup rollercoaster. His startup was about to get a bumper valuation, then a huge purchase offer that would make Pablo rich. Then… it fell apart. And within two years, it was bankrupt, and the dream was over. 

From the ashes, Pablo has some observations for others following in his footsteps: 

1. Lower your ambitions — Aim to create a startup with real traction, and don’t worry about hype or being the billion-dollar story. Worry about delivering real value to customers. Maybe caps at $1M in revenue. Maybe $10M. But at least it works. At least it makes real cash, not paper gains and headlines. And at least, for your customers, it changes the world.

2. When they say startups are roller coasters, they mean it — Startups aren’t just hard; they’re emotionally taxing. What you build is hyper-fragile. You’re often one employee, one customer or one investor away from success and from death. It’s what you sign up for. And the more hype you build, the bigger the unicorn you chase, the more this is amplified.

3. There is no substitute for solving real customer problems — No smoke and mirrors, no massive round, no PR, and no hype will save you if you’re not solving a top-of-mind problem for your customers. It could be 10 customers or 10,000. But if you ask your customers if you solve their #1 or #2 problem, their answer needs to be “Yes”.

4. VCs want you to go for the jugular — Founders are told to dream big, build massive companies, and swing for the fences. But it’s VCs like me who sell those dreams. I win when all my portfolio companies swing for the fences — even if only a few make it. But if you put all your eggs in one basket, you better watch that basket.

👉️ Read Pablo’s incredible story here: I Was Supposed to Be a Millionaire at 25. Instead, I Went Bankrupt.

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