>'You can call it the Reddit of tech products, the Hacker News of product launches, but none of these descriptions really capture what Product Hunt is.'
Neither does this article, or the linked site, for me at least - the article uses the word product 41 times, but I'm still not sure what is meant by 'product'.
Honest question, is there some particular criteria for being a 'product' or is it just the hot catch-all lingo for app / site / tool / service?
Perhaps the incredible similarities between many of those 'products' is adding to my confusion - I thought I was seeing some sort of design competition / template collection for a while.
Great questions, incision! Product is somewhat vague. On Product Hunt you'll find a variety of "products" from mobile apps, to websites, to chrome extensions, to electronics. The loose definition is intentional so that there's a variety and serendipity.
Since the community is largely startup folks (founders, investors, marketers, designers, engineers, etc.), you see a mix of products that generally appeal to that audience.
I participate heavily on PH, and while within a particular day you often see some theme emerge (one product shakes the memory of others), so far since inception it's been a really broad selection of "product types".
Many are tech/web/mobile based, but physical products that impress (new backpack designs, mattresses, etc) and other forms find their way into the mix and are some of my favorite finds.
Hmm... I don't completely agree that adding Show HN would be a replacement for Product Hunt. It feels like the two communities are pretty different, and creating a separate community for product launches gives you the flexibility to incorporate new social protocols (like the AMA) more easily, and add in visual elements like mockups.
I love that Romain referenced PG's Do Things That Don't Scale essay. That's exactly how Product Hunt has grown. Tons of emailing, tweeting, etc. and when it comes to building a community, being personable is the best way to build a healthy culture, imho.
Spot on. Reaching out to your earliest users directly - and not via a canned email - is really effective for building trust and loyalty in a community. Communities are often a reflection of the founder him/herself and this sort of grassroots outreach goes a long way toward attracting others.
I laugh when I read that quote because really it's a daily leaderboard of products that just launched. There's no way for the to say what's best when everything's only 5 days old.
It's true many of my startup friends are on Product Hunt. I trust that they will add useful contributions to the site because I know them. But the majority of the people (95%+) aren't my "friends" per se. The community has grown largely by referrals of existing community members and founders who's products have been submitted at some point.
I recognize the frustration some people have in not being able to contribute but the product as it's designed right now, will not scale if it's completely open to the public. We're implementing some changes in the coming weeks to prepare for this.
Again, I don't want anyone to feel "excluded" and are making a concerted effort to grow the community carefully. In the meantime, please add your name here and we'll send you a note once it's opened up: http://bit.ly/ph-contributor :)
Is it just for products that people have created, or do people suggest products they have found or are aware of hut not involved in?
EG: a friend of mine created MicroMuff, a windmuff for DSLRs. I have no connection with that, apart from knowing him. Is that a product welcome on product hunt?
I do like the idea of product hunt and I look forward to reading it.
Do they have an "AskProductHunt" feature? I'm looking for "contextual mapping of large organisations" - the user enters a bunch of stuff about an organisation and then other people can interrogate it to generate diagrams of the organisation. This would prevent similar information being used many times to create similar but slightly different charts. (If it helps: imagine an NHS health trust. There are exec and non-exec directors and then managers under them and under those people; and a bunch of different services; and a bunch of different staff; and a bunch of different patients. So a chart could be "management structure", or it could be "you are here, and in future we'd like you to progress to there but if things get worse you'll move to there" etc.)
Not only is Product Hunt important because of the visibility it provides to new products (and entrepreneurs), but also because it's arguably the most dense collection of high quality discussions about product development decisions. Notably, Ryan and his team have managed to accomplish this without being unnecessarily exclusive.
This is tremendously valuable for the technology community.
I appreciate that, Jason. I hope Product Hunt can help both large VC-backed startups and some kid that built a cool product, get the attention they deserve. It's early but we're seeing examples of this already. It's exciting.
I look forward to the 'Top Hunts of the Day' email in my mailbox every morning. Its probably the only newsletter subscription that sends a daily email that I haven't unsubscribed from.
Looking forward to the direction of Product Hunt now that Ryan Hoover is working full time on it.
Very Cool! Let me know if you'd like any help with Design. I can think of a few things that might help (both in terms of mobile/tablet UI and responsiveness). Not sure if you're looking for recommendations, but I'd add Sharing links/buttons for more Platforms than just Twitter (this is in the comments panel). Sharing to Twitter seems to be the only growth mechanic related element on the Site. Adding more links will make it easier for people to share their favorite products on more platforms, which will put you in front of more people. This will drive more traffic (and engagement) back to your Site.
Huge fan of Product Hunt. Show HN is great, but PH just makes it too easy to quickly discover, comment on, and share new products. Not to mention, the community there seems more "real" thanks to names/profile pics.
Can you explain this? I've looked at the site a long time ago and again today, and I still don't see any way to sign up (for an account, not the newsletter) or suggest products.
I dig visiting PH every couple of days but it would be nice to get comment/submission access. Or some kind of notice about what to do to join the commenters' club.
We're in the process of making changes to the product to scale the community and will be opening it up slowing afterward. Please add your name here if you'd like to be notified: http://bit.ly/ph-contributor
Are you allowed to re-submit your project multiple times on PH? Or is it just a one time thing? I'd love to submit again after adding cool new features to my projects.
What I would love on Product Hunt is a separate listing for beta products; either to try out and give feedback, or to find beta testers for my own products.
Hi Ryan, I remember seeing somewhere that you had recently applied to YC with Product Hunt.
It seems like you guys did not make it this time, which is unfortunate and surprising given PH's great traction and the impressive community you've built.
If that's the case, I was wondering if you had gotten any feedback on why PH wasn't accepted. Would love to hear your thoughts!
I like the layout of the site. I like that clicking links opens up a new tab. I like that comments don't pull you away from the main page. Seems quite well thought out.
Ryan - good chatting yesterday. Please give me a way to hunt out product leaders by date, ie. X product was #1 on 1/13, Y product was #1 on 2/14, etc :-)
[+] [-] incision|11 years ago|reply
Neither does this article, or the linked site, for me at least - the article uses the word product 41 times, but I'm still not sure what is meant by 'product'.
Honest question, is there some particular criteria for being a 'product' or is it just the hot catch-all lingo for app / site / tool / service?
Perhaps the incredible similarities between many of those 'products' is adding to my confusion - I thought I was seeing some sort of design competition / template collection for a while.
[+] [-] rrhoover|11 years ago|reply
Since the community is largely startup folks (founders, investors, marketers, designers, engineers, etc.), you see a mix of products that generally appeal to that audience.
[+] [-] dshanahan|11 years ago|reply
Many are tech/web/mobile based, but physical products that impress (new backpack designs, mattresses, etc) and other forms find their way into the mix and are some of my favorite finds.
[+] [-] hashbanged|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] staunch|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mayank|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rahimnathwani|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yakshaving|11 years ago|reply
Just my 2 cents!
[+] [-] rrhoover|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brianmwang|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yakshaving|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arek2|11 years ago|reply
Compare that with a more lasting ranking of the best old and proven products: http://5000best.com/tools
[+] [-] bx_|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cyphunk|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rrhoover|11 years ago|reply
I recognize the frustration some people have in not being able to contribute but the product as it's designed right now, will not scale if it's completely open to the public. We're implementing some changes in the coming weeks to prepare for this.
Again, I don't want anyone to feel "excluded" and are making a concerted effort to grow the community carefully. In the meantime, please add your name here and we'll send you a note once it's opened up: http://bit.ly/ph-contributor :)
[+] [-] DanBC|11 years ago|reply
EG: a friend of mine created MicroMuff, a windmuff for DSLRs. I have no connection with that, apart from knowing him. Is that a product welcome on product hunt?
I do like the idea of product hunt and I look forward to reading it.
Do they have an "AskProductHunt" feature? I'm looking for "contextual mapping of large organisations" - the user enters a bunch of stuff about an organisation and then other people can interrogate it to generate diagrams of the organisation. This would prevent similar information being used many times to create similar but slightly different charts. (If it helps: imagine an NHS health trust. There are exec and non-exec directors and then managers under them and under those people; and a bunch of different services; and a bunch of different staff; and a bunch of different patients. So a chart could be "management structure", or it could be "you are here, and in future we'd like you to progress to there but if things get worse you'll move to there" etc.)
Micromuff: http://www.micromuff.com/
[+] [-] jason_shah|11 years ago|reply
This is tremendously valuable for the technology community.
[+] [-] rrhoover|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cmadan|11 years ago|reply
Looking forward to the direction of Product Hunt now that Ryan Hoover is working full time on it.
[+] [-] rrhoover|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shawnreilly|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tgoldberg|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gk1|11 years ago|reply
Can you explain this? I've looked at the site a long time ago and again today, and I still don't see any way to sign up (for an account, not the newsletter) or suggest products.
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] instakill|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rrhoover|11 years ago|reply
We're in the process of making changes to the product to scale the community and will be opening it up slowing afterward. Please add your name here if you'd like to be notified: http://bit.ly/ph-contributor
[+] [-] jaequery|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Dramatize|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rrhoover|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pshin45|11 years ago|reply
It seems like you guys did not make it this time, which is unfortunate and surprising given PH's great traction and the impressive community you've built.
If that's the case, I was wondering if you had gotten any feedback on why PH wasn't accepted. Would love to hear your thoughts!
[+] [-] giarc|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] breakingcustom|11 years ago|reply
Ryan- I'd be curious to know what the click through rate on the 'Show More Products' link at the end of each day is?
[+] [-] prawn|11 years ago|reply
http://www.producthunt.com/
[+] [-] harryzhang|11 years ago|reply
HZ
[+] [-] colbyh|11 years ago|reply