Hi everyone! Pretty exciting to be doing this on the same day forums is launching. A little bit about me - Currently the founder of Airtop, previously known as Switchboard. I previously founded Adap.tv, which AOL acquired in 2013 and prior to that co-founded Shopping.com, which went public and later sold to eBay. I'm now focusing on helping devs automating web tasks with AI-powered cloud browsers that seamlessly handle authentication. I'm happy to help answer any questions about AI automation, how I view the future of AI and work, why automation matters, knowing when to pivot, building successful companies, and any advice I can share for future founders. Really feel free to ask me anything!

Yesterday I was thinking about how users of this platform can get the most out of Forums. Here are some ideas: 1️⃣ There aren't that many posts in the "Introduce yourself" section, so if you contribute something, there's a better chance of getting noticed by the community. 2️⃣ Even if you are an old member of the community, you can "reintroduce" yourself. A lot of people came here, so not everyone may remember you or know about you. At the same time, you can provide help to people in the areas you excel in – just mention it in a post. 3️⃣ Recent posts allow you to tag people. When you are co-creating a product with someone, tag other collaborators in the "Self-promotion" section. This will automatically notify them as well and they will more likely support the post. 4️⃣ Ask questions that can help you improve the product. Conversations are now more moderated and even commented on by PH team members. This way you can get a professional perspective and improve your product or your next launch. 5️⃣ You can also take advantage of the Product Forums – contribute to "p/Figma", "p/Supabase", "p/Notion" and other popular product forums... You can, for example, break down the most common problems of that particular tool and provide solutions. (Forum Threads appear e.g. in the sidebar for a given product for extra visibility) If you have any other ideas on how to take advantage of this new feature, I would like to see the opportunities from your perspective. 🙂

It is ~7 days with a new format (changing Discussions → Forums) The biggest changes I noticed in my behaviour and reflecting towards UX, and UI: • On the Forums page, we can see besides the title also the part of the description (it is like a hook to participate in one of them) 👍 • Conversations are better moderated. 👍 • Less bots, more genuine feedback. 👍 • Tagging users via the handle. 👍 • You can contribute apart from General, Introduce yourself, and Self-promotion to the Product forum – instead of choosing these 3 topics, you can start typing the name of the product. 👍 Things, I haven't figured out yet: • When I receive an email stating that some of my friends posted a discussion and I want to check it, I am redirected to the 404 page (maybe their posts weren't approved?). • I often slip into the fact that General discussions are always at the top as trending, I tend to overlook Self-promotion, Introduce yourself, and AMA discussions. • How does AMA work? (Cannot choose the option for the topic.) • It would be fine to have some button in the side panel that redirects users to Forum guidelines so there are higher chances that the discussion will be approved instead of deleted. Do you have your observations? What do you appreciate and what would you find useful?

For me it is the following: - Adding 200 targeted connections to my Linkedin on a weekly basis. - Messaging them just to connect or to try out my product. - Make sure my profile links to my product. A boring one i know. But it works. I have addedd 3,000+ (targeted) followers to my account in 2.5 months. However, it is not scalable. AT ALL. What's yours?

Personally, for me, the hardest part has been reaching out to others for help. 😅 (But this is more of a personal challenge than a technical one.) What has been the most difficult part for you when launching a product?

I've been on PH since 2015. But this question remains in my mind: What's the value of streaks? Does it help with your K-points? Or credibility?

I’ve attended a few conferences and meetups over the past two years – always for a different purpose. Sometimes it was just 1. to socialise 😅, other times 2. to interview guests, 3. find PR or 4. sell products. I have to say that the last item on this list was the least fulfilling – we recruited a few trial users, but there were minimal paying customers. How do you approach similar events? What positive results have you seen from it? [If you have any recommendations for meetups or conferences where people are more open to buying a product, I’d be grateful if you could share them.]