Launch Day Happened - My Product Hunt Experience

Launching Loopjam on Product Hunt was a whirlwind of emotions, lessons, and small victories. Here's how it all unfolded: 🧑🏽‍💻The Day Before the Launch: 👉Finalising the Details I proofread and tweaked my first Medium post, explaining the "why" behind Loopjam. Pressing publish on my first-ever Medium post was scary. 👉 https://medium.com/@DonnieSuazo/no-baby-photos-i-forgot-you-were-not-born-here-6570396cb2ee 👉Preparation Overdrive - I reviewed the Product Hunt (PH) page to ensure it was polished and complete. I also popped into the PH community to say hello. - Tested the latest app builds—discovering a minor iOS bug and a show-stopper in the Android version, which led to a tough decision not to publish Android just yet. - Updated Loopjam's promo assets (though some, like the video, couldn't be changed due to ties with the Microsoft Founders Hub). 👉Scheduling & Communication I set up a LinkedIn post and emailed contacts to announce the launch. By the end of the day, I went to bed at midnight, only to wake up at 2 am in a spiral of second-guessing: "Is it too early to publish without certain features?" "Should I wait for the Android build?" "Should I reschedule?" After mentally wrestling with these questions, I finally accepted: It's a milestone there is the next day. 🚀Launch Day: 👉The Morning Rush I rolled out of bed and double-checked everything on PH. The teaser page counter was lower than I'd hoped, a sign I should've done more pre-launch buzz. But it was too late to turn back now. 👉The Launch Goes Live The Loopjam page went live, and I couldn't stop refreshing PH—every two minutes. I joked to myself that I was riding a "slow horse." 👉Engagement & Discovery While LinkedIn caught fire with upvote promoters, I dove into the PH community, trying out new products and drawing inspiration from other makers. It reminded me why I started this journey: to build something meaningful. 👉The End of the Day No champagne, no big celebrations—just relief. I gave myself a small pat on the back for hitting a milestone. ☕️ Key Takeaways: 👉Launching is Tough: There will always be doubts about timing and readiness, but sometimes, you must push forward. 👉Engage Early: Building momentum on platforms like PH takes time and effort. Next time, I'll focus more on generating pre-launch excitement. 👉Celebrate Small Wins: Even without the fanfare, achieving this milestone is incredible. It's one step closer to building something great. On reflection, it's clear that this is just the beginning. While imperfect, this launch is a marker of progress and a reminder to keep pushing forward.