They help with launch copy, visuals, outreach, follow-ups basically most of what used to take days can now be done in hours.
But I keep thinking about something. Are AI agents actually improving product discovery on Product Hunt or are they just making launches look more polished?
Yes, AI speeds things up. You can test messaging faster, create better assets, prepare more efficiently.
Yesterday, I came across a post saying that OpenAI projects a $14 billion loss in 2026. They ve gone through several funding rounds, offer monthly subscriptions, and are now planning to integrate ads into search results (which means another revenue stream).
Realistically, I don t think this loss will be covered in the short term, and profitability might only come over a longer horizon (if at all).
After our first launch on Product Hunt, our team spent a little over a month upgrading the product. There were major changes to the UI and several new features added, so the process took time from discussions and redesigning the interface to testing, fixing bugs, and updating AI prompts.
We re also a very small team, so everyone had to push themselves to give 200%. Time and resources are limited, and at the same time, we also had to work on securing funding for the next six months to keep the team running and continue developing the app.
As a measure of the impact of vibe coding and the need to focus on positioning, narrative, and marketing and distribution, I noticed that that 610 products were submitted to the Product Hunt leaderboard today, but only 16 were featured which is less than 3%.
The previous high was just over 500 products in December.
After more than three years of observing this platform (mainly in the forums), I can see which posts have helped you the most. [Yes, I can tell based on their performance.] In addition to updated news from the tech industry, you liked the most:
website roasting and
tagline adjustments/improvements for launch day (mostly from @aaronoleary )
Today, I read in Techcrunch that India has an ambition to "compete" with the US and China in the startup scene:
India has updated its startup rules to better support deep tech companies in sectors like space, semiconductors, and biotech, which take longer to mature.
Our team is planning to launch a new version of our product on Product Hunt next week, after a period of optimization and improvements. As we get closer to launch day, I realize there s a lot to prepare, and I m curious about how other teams usually approach this process.
So far, here s what we ve been focusing on:
Most importantly, making sure the product works well and delivers real value
Continuous testing to ensure performance and stability
Designing clean and clear product screenshots
Preparing a summary of what s been updated, fixed, or optimized
Writing launch content (tagline, description, first comment, etc.)
Maintaining good health and a stable mindset for the launch
Expanding our network and connecting with other makers
After four long years of grinding, building, fundraising, and hiring, we decided to pivot. I wanted to write down my thought process and timeline because I wish I d seen more honest pivot stories when we were stuck. Not just we pivoted and everything was instantly great but the real version where we kept trying to make the original idea work for way too long because we already put so much into it.
I went through YC S20 (the first COVID batch) as a solo founder working on @Basedash. After YC, I did what you re supposed to do. I talked to users. I built product. I did founder-led sales. I hired a great team. It felt like progress because I was constantly busy and the product kept getting better.
Today, the productivity domain in tech is very well developed - there are tools for almost any need!
But at the same time, there s always a feeling that there might be something else, something better. All the time.
What I like about this space is that once people start using tools like Miro, Notion, Trello, ClickUp, etc., they tend to keep testing new things and experimenting with different tools.
The last 4 months have been intense, launching, testing, getting #1 product of the day and #1 productivity tool of the week here, late night bug fixes, getting featured in FORBES, & feature requests from hundreds of YOU! But watching this community grow has made every late night worth it.
Seeing this for the first time? Here's what AI Context Flow does:
It's a Chrome extension that creates one unified memory across all major AI platforms i.e. ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini, and Perplexity.
As usual, Y Combinator came up with segments that are worth investing:
1. Cursor for Product Managers
2. AI-Native Hedge Funds
3. AI-Native Agencies
4. Stablecoin Financial Services
5. AI for Government
6. Modern Metal Mills
7. AI Guidance for Physical Work 8. Large Spatial Models 9. Infra for Government Fraud Hunters 10. Make LLMs Easy to Train
