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Ask HN: Our launch is trending on Product Hunt – now what?

22 points| neg2 | 9 years ago

We launched our iOS Framework earlier this week (http://www.redbeard.io).

We're trending on the front page of Product Hunt. Wondering what we should do to help ensure we keep the momentum?

30 comments

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[+] d0m|9 years ago|reply
Well, for one you could try to get on HN to keep the buzz moving. Oh, wait, I see what you did there.
[+] neg2|9 years ago|reply
we're at no 2. no hope of getting any higher...we can't compete against an automated marijuana making machine no matter how good Redbeard is :)
[+] tyre|9 years ago|reply
Short answer: Everything.

Longer answer: you keep building something people need. You spend 100% of your time either acquiring users, talking to users, or building what users need.

You set one metric for the company and work towards that. As an early company, that is usually users. Then it is revenue.

That's really all there is.

If being on product hunt gets you users, that's awesome. If not, it's a waste of time.

If being on HN gets you users or feedback from potential users, that's awesome. Otherwise, it is a waste of time. (I'm going to download this and see if I can spin something up for https://romuluscrm.com, so you got at least 1!)

1) Build something people want. 2) Get it into the hands of those people. 3) Charge them money in proportion to the value you're providing. ... 879412309) IPO

[+] neg2|9 years ago|reply
awesome post, thanks for the detailed reply I'm still deciphering everything. Literally making notes in Evenote.

If you need anything at all, tech assistance etc. please feel free to email me: zahid [at] redbeard.io

I'll be using my twitter too from now on that's @zahid

[+] evook|9 years ago|reply
Nothing you'll do now matters for the future of your product, not even your appearance on product hunt (which barely is read by your target audience anyway), so just continue with what you were doing before.
[+] minimaxir|9 years ago|reply
I second this, as the perception that PH traffic matters to the long-term success of a startup is a very toxic viewpoint that many naive entrepreneurs hold. (The content-less thought-pieces stating "How I Got #1 on Product Hunt" on Medium do not help)

Product Hunt in general is a negative externality on the startup ecosystem, but that's a topic for another day.

[+] stevewilhelm|9 years ago|reply
Take me for example. I downloaded your framework and will never look at it again.
[+] rgbrenner|9 years ago|reply
congrats. But traffic from product hunt (et al) and news articles, etc is always temporary. So here in a bit it's going to die down, no matter what you do. You may or may NOT get users from it, and there's nothing you can do about that--a lot of times on these types of sites, people are just curious and move on to the next thing tomorrow.

Just remember that, and don't let it discourage you. Keep doing what you're doing and stick to your plan.

Also, product hunt, hn, news articles are not a substitute for a marketing plan. So if you haven't thought about how you're going to get users without them, it's a good time to start thinking about it. Traffic from PH, HN, news, etc should be thought of as a bonus--a nice thing to have.. your startup should not depend on it at all. (Edit: to expand on this.. traffic like PH is semi-random. While marketing is a process. You can't depend on semi-random events. But you can execute and refine a process.)

[+] samblr|9 years ago|reply
Since you are getting plenty of traffic - will getting more feedback help ? If so, can you make giving feedback easily accessible at home page ? So what should be a good question be ? eg:question we are better than say a competitor (fill the name?) because ?

If gaining more users is what you want - will adding a forkme at github help ?

If gaining more traction : add social buttons to spread the word about page ?

[+] munirusman|9 years ago|reply
I saw this couple of days ago and was wondering how flexible this framework is? Will you be providing source code?
[+] tag2|9 years ago|reply
The source code is not available as it's a compiled framework however our plan is to soon launch a Marketplace of high quality end to end apps (think clones of Twitter/Instagram/Tinder etc) to give developers a boost when starting their projects. It's also a great way for new developers to learn iOS development.
[+] dthakur|9 years ago|reply
Continue working on your product.
[+] jv22222|9 years ago|reply
Capture as many email addresses as you can and start a list so that you can continue to reach out to those that showed initial interest as you build the business.
[+] neg2|9 years ago|reply
Currently we show a popup for newsletter signup and to download the Redbeard framework you need to provide your name/email. Which we collect.

The download link is emailed out. Myself and co-founder debated the merits of this . He is of the mind, getting emails is important. I think getting people using the framework and lowering barriers to in order to do that is far more pressing. What would you suggest?

[+] bdcravens|9 years ago|reply
You won't keep the momentum. Think of it as a burst of leads, similar to having a booth at a trade show.
[+] neg2|9 years ago|reply
do you (or anyone) know how the tail off it. Is it pretty much dead after coming off the front page for example?
[+] Axsuul|9 years ago|reply
Write a follow up blog post
[+] neg2|9 years ago|reply
like a medium post detailing how we got on to Product Hunt?
[+] xiaoma|9 years ago|reply
Stream about it on Facebook live and retain as many genuine users you pick up as possible.

Throwing up some surveys while you have enough traffic to make them feasible is a good idea, too.

(As others have pointed out, improving the product is still #1, but it doesn't look like you were looking for advice about that side of things in this post)