I was asked to delete a featured launch, but it's actually missing the point.
I had an experience today I wanted to share and get some thoughts on. Someone reached out to me asking if I could delete one of my past Product Hunt launches – a product that was featured and received great attention on its launch day.
The reason given? They're planning an "official," coordinated launch next month and, based on their stated "research into PH rules," believed that a previous launch within six months would prevent their launch from being featured. They wanted a guaranteed feature, so they hoped removing the previous record would help.
The person seemed to be from an agency, and while they offered verification, I couldn't immediately confirm their direct ties to the product team itself.
This isn't the first time a maker team has discovered I've hunted their product. Usually, the reaction is surprise and excitement – especially if the product was unexpectedly featured! My immediate instinct in those cases is always to connect with the makers, add them to the launch page, and make sure they receive the spotlight and recognition. That's a core principle for me. Those past interactions have always been positive – expressions of gratitude, not accusations about why I hunted their product. Until today.
I won't name the specific product here. This might just be the approach of one individual or agency, and the actual development team behind the product still deserves immense credit for creating something excellent – something good enough to attract a hunter's attention and achieve success organically.
But the interaction left me feeling a bit disappointed and reflecting on the situation. Perhaps the true Product Hunt spirit should be about genuine sharing, unexpected discoveries, and authentic engagement with this community.
I'm a maker myself, like many others here, primarily focused on my own products. Hunting started as a fun way to share cool things I found – much like @chrismessina said – it also become "a side hustle run amok" to me. I genuinely want to help more people discover the great products being built in this era, especially in the AI space I follow closely.
So, maybe this small episode is just a lesson in the diversity of approaches out there and a reminder to keep a level head. Launching on Product Hunt, much like building a startup, involves embracing uncertainty!
Replies
Hey, Zac.
Yeah, this is an interesting problem. And definitely I can relate to your sense of maybe frustration or dismay at being misunderstood or having your efforts not well understood. This has happened to me many times.
Sometimes makers are upset with me. Sometimes they are confused; most of the time, you know, they don't care or they're somewhat like happy that I put in the effort for it.
So, I suppose the perspective that I've taken and the approach that I tend to take is that when possible, I will attempt to reach out to founders and give them a heads-up to help and let them know that I've launched their product or, more importantly, I usually will ask permission to launch their product.
And as a result, sometimes they'll say yes. Sometimes they'll say no. Sometimes they'll want to know more. I mean, it's honestly a lot of work. Especially if there are many launches happening on any given day, you know, I could have reached out to like, you know, several people and then I have to maintain my list, basically my head about who I might've talked to and what status they're in.
So, oftentimes it's just easier for me to just go for it and just launch it. And you know, that's sometimes when feelings get hurt.
So, at the end of the day, what I've come to accept is that it's their product, it's their story, and if they want to do it themselves, fine. I do think that having a visible or well-known hunter can be a useful way of gaining some credibility.
But of course, if they're not part of the community, they don't understand that. And maybe they're coming from a different platform or context where owning everything is the most important thing to them.
Hey Zac, from all of those stories I read here, this is the very first time I have seen a negative impression from being featured by Hunter.
I actually see the opposite – this outcome should be their advantage because their product will receive attention twice. Probably got their point – they want to be the only original launch but they are missing the point of marketing: they will have more backlinks, and there will be increased WOM. It is their pity.
Have you tried to contact the official founder of the product and learn more about his/her standpoint?
App Finder
@zaczuo I understand your frustration with the situation, and I appreciate your work with hunting other's products (and the makers should sure appreciate it also).
However, I can understand the frustration of the makers also. I agree with @chrismessina that it's better to contact the makers before launching their product.
Because there's clearly always a possibility that the makers
have planned a launch already
maybe have even already prepared special content for the launch
or want to launch themselves after hearing about PH the first time
And I think it's always better when a product is launched by the makers themselves (or by a hunter in cooperation with the makers) since the makers
know their product best, can best explain its advantages etc.
can create special content and provide interesting background information that makes the launch more engaging.
If the makers are not reachable that's another situation of course.
As a maker, I would only express gratitude to hunters, especially when being discovered products. So the first time I saw this viewpoint, I was very shocked.
I think they are ignoring the credibility and long term effects that come with the product matrix and wasting a publicity program for nothing. It's their loss.
But you are really very kind hunter, Zac :)
Indie.Deals
Nearly 3% of over 225+ hunts, I have faced this.
PH being completely organic discovery has changed to evolved that people think it can be gamified to get that top rank or cross those upvote numbers. Unfortunately they don't realise it is a vanity metric these days.
FuseBase
With appearance of Product Hub they can control their product page, manage launches, have their own forum thread etc. Still Hunter only hunts one launch, so I don't see the problem to claim Product Hub and operate everything in their own way.
Hi Zac, it happens and it's alright. :)
Most of my small hunts, I inform the makers in advance. For the big tech hunts, I do not ask for permission. However, sometimes big tech has acknowledged my hunts and even asked me to hunt their future launches. And I have gladly hunted them.
I once hunted @agent.ai from Dharmesh Shah because I liked their idea. Dharmesh Shah being an ex-hunter at PH understood how the platform works and happily shared the launch to his network.
The premise of Product Hunt was discovering and hunting new products. I don't think apart from veteran users anyone understands it fully. :)