Do not index
Do not index
Imagine this - You build a product. A great one.
Your friends love it.
And on the launch day, you post it on a product directory.
BOOM.
Your phone notifications aren’t stopping. t-ding. t-ding. t-ding.
$20 subscriptions start rolling in. Stripe graph looks like mount Everest.
And by the end of the day, your net worth is increased by $120,000 (10x ARR multiple ofc 😅)
Sounds insane?
This was Product Hunt in 2021.
But now:
"Product Hunt is dead."
At least that's what everyone's been saying. Including me.
The complaints are everywhere:
- Losing market share
- Hundreds of competitors
- Rankings don't hit like they used to
So I decided to test this theory with real data for Outrank.so
Here's what happened 👇
The Experiment
When launching Outrank.so, I actually launched twice:
- Launched on Product Hunt
- Launched on Uneed (their closest competitor in my opinion)
Here are the final results:
The Raw Numbers
Product Hunt:
- 3,324 unique visits
- 144 subscriptions
Uneed:
- 990 unique visits
- 19 subscriptions
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Product Hunt to win. And definitely not by a margin THIS big.
Product Hunt won. By a lot.
But here's the interesting part:
Back in the day, a Product Hunt launch would get us 500+ subscriptions easily.
So yes, it's declining. But it's still the king.
The Real Problem with this:
While launching on Uneed, 15+ people slid into my DMs asking me to post on their platforms.
This can only mean 1 thing:
The market isn't dying. It's fragmenting.
This got me thinking…
Something bugged me about those Uneed numbers.
Were those 19 subscriptions actually FROM Uneed?
Or just from promoting our launch on Uneed to our existing audience?
Big difference.
Why Product Hunt Still Worked For Us
Two reasons:
- Perfect audience fit (Outrank helps people who launch on PH)
- They're still the biggest player (even if declining)
The Future of Launch Platforms 🔮
Here's my spicy take:
The next Product Hunt won't be the "next Product Hunt."
The winner will be niche:
- Product Hunt for lawyers
- Product Hunt for pet products
- Product Hunt for retailers
- Product Hunt for [niche market]
The market is too fragmented for a one-size-fits-all solution.
Maybe a specialized player can attract a much higher quality and alpha audience.
What This Means For You
Building a launch platform?
Go niche. Go deep. Don't try to be the next Product Hunt.
And 1 more learning -
Create a community like Product Hunt.
Look at their Twitter to understand what I'm talking about.
Launching a product?
- Product Hunt isn't dead (yet)
- But don't put all your eggs in one basket
- Find platforms where your exact audience hangs out
The Bottom Line
The era of the single dominant launch platform might be ending.
But that's not a bad thing.
It means:
- More targeted audiences
- Better fit for specific products
- New opportunities for builders
Hit reply and tell me - Do you think Product Hunt survives in the next 2 years? Yes or No?
Keep building 💻
Tibo