The market has never been this crowded. AI has made it possible to go from idea to shipped product in days which means Product Hunt is now flooded with launches every single week. More products, more noise, more competition for the same front page.
So I've been thinking about this a lot: what actually separates the products that make it to the top from the ones that quietly disappear by noon?
From where I sit as a builder, here's what I genuinely believe matters:
Every day I open my phone and see: If you re not learning AI now, you re already behind. AI replacing humans countdown has started.
There s this constant pressure like if you don t jump in immediately, you ll be left behind. We ve seen this before. When blockchain was everywhere, the narrative felt almost identical. But if we zoom out and look at it over time: How many people actually built something sustainable? How many truly created value? And how many just paid tuition to the hype cycle? Curious how builders here see it Are we at the start of real transformation, or just another speculative wave with better storytelling?
There has always been a framework for pricing that considers: Costs Competitor pricing Typical price ranges in the country What the client or company can afford to pay (meaning their business size) Your personal brand and authority
The more people ask for my services and want to claim my time, the higher I need to set my price (not surprisingly, I then often get ghosted).
When I first started, I believed that as long as I built a great product, it would naturally become popular. But as I zoomed out, I realized the market is incredibly competitive. Having a good product alone isn t enough to truly convince users.
That s when I began building my presence on social media creating content about myself, sharing my journey, and talking about the product I m building. I ve come to see this as a very effective way to build trust and spark genuine interest not only in what I make, but also in who I am as a founder.
At the beginning of the year, 2 co-founders reached out to me because they wanted to scale their personal LinkedIn profiles. The reason: In a few months, they re planning to raise funding and believe their personal brand could help.
A few days ago, another founder contacted me with a similar intention, although he s not planning to raise funding. For him, LinkedIn has become the platform that generates the most leads. He doesn t particularly enjoy the network itself, but he still wants to keep building it.
When I interviewed for my current company, I had a conversation with the Founder and PM that lasted more than an hour. Interestingly, only about 30% of the discussion focused on my experience which made sense, since my background wasn t directly related to the role I applied for.
The remaining 70% of the conversation was about how I approach real-world problems, my mindset toward the work I would be doing, and how I envisioned growing in the role. They also asked why I chose this product and company, what it meant to me personally, and how I hoped to contribute moving forward.
Hi, I'm Jay from TutorFlow. We just launched our instant slide creation feature on Product Hunt :)
TutorFlow is built for educators, L&D teams, and technical trainers who need speed without sacrificing structure.
We designed TutorFlow to turn prompts into structured, ready-to-teach slide decks in seconds. It builds real instructional flow, not just polished slides.
Honestly, I was nervous. Putting something you ve built out into the world isn t easy.
I chose Product Hunt because I wanted real feedback from real people and that s exactly what I got. I also gained great visibility, connected with many new clients, and met founders who truly get the journey.
What surprised me most was how supportive the community is. It didn t feel noisy or competitive it felt human.
If you re building something and hesitating to share it, I get it. But Product Hunt made that step feel a lot less scary.
I have to admit I m a tragedy when it comes to being first at trying new technology or so which means I ve fallen for more scams and shady situations than I d like to count.
(At least I can warn my friends and family before they make the same mistakes, so that's the only advantage.)
I decided to share some best practices I regret not doing sooner:
That's what @fmerian, one of the most active and successful hunters on Product Hunt, shared with us while discussing how developer tool launches work today.
Product Hunt works as a repeatable surface when teams launch early and continue returning with progress. An early launch creates visibility, feedback, and a baseline presence on the platform. Each subsequent launch builds on that foundation.
Early adopters anchor this process. An initial launch brings the first group of users into the product. As the product evolves, those users provide context during future launches by sharing how they use the tool and what has changed since the last release.
@Supabase followed this approach. Their first Product Hunt launch happened when the product was still in alpha. They kept shipping, gathering feedback, and launching again with meaningful updates. Over time, this built familiarity and momentum, leading to stronger outcomes in later launches.
Is there something you feel you missed and if you could go back, would you make the same decision, or choose differently?
I ve only recently started my professional journey, working at a startup that builds an app. I don t have a long or glamorous career yet, nor a lot of experience. But one thing I do regret is not trying to work earlier, and instead spending most of my time buried in academic studies.
When I finally entered the workplace, I realized that much of what I learned in school was no longer aligned with the market or the speed at which things evolve. The job required soft skills that textbooks and theory never taught. I learned quickly that without self-learning and constant adaptation, it s easy to fall behind.
Ten years ago, if a Facebook post didn t receive enough reactions, I would delete it immediately.
Yep, 18-year-old Nika was terrified that people would notice her failure. Reality check: when a post flops, almost nobody sees it anyway. The only person who actually suffers from the low engagement is the original poster.
In 2025, we witnessed a true Product Hunt (r)evolution so many things changed dramatically. I honestly think this was the most intense year of changes the platform has ever had.
For example, we got to experience all of this:
Verifying profiles (badges)
Alternative product suggestions on launch pages
Views and online count on forum posts
Adding/Removing the ambassador program
Forums instead of Discussions
Changing the UX/UI of launch pages
Removing Coming soon (Notify me pages)
Adding/Removing downvotes on comments
Forum comments now showing up on our profiles
More extensive footer
Redesign of the main page UI (e.g., new notification icon)
