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Launched on March 21st, 2024
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!
I feel like it would be pretty awesome to have a short video scrolling feature to discover the products that maybe could not make it to the top but have so much value.
Then even if your launch flopped you can redeem yourself by appearing in the feed of others.
Could be a good way to discover products.
