Weren't you featured on Product Hunt? You still shouldn't give up. [Try it again]
I remember many people getting demotivated after not being featured and leaving the platform.
In my opinion, that's not the best idea.
Why?
One product shouldn't define your aversion to it in the future.
Once you build a community or personal brand, you can try again next time (for example, with a better product update) or with a different product.
You never know if the next one will be good enough to reach the top spots.
My recommendation for using the platform isn't only for validating a new product, but also for giving more visibility to an existing one. If you deliberately avoid the platform, you'll miss out on potential benefits.
You know what they say: the easiest thing is to give up, but if you don't try, you're not only risking nothing, you're also guaranteeing you gain nothing. Zero results.
What advice would you give to people who, despite not being featured, still found their way on this platform?
đ¨ My tip: Connect with people who were featured and reached the top spots. Ask them what worked, study their product, and learn how to "copy success."
Replies
Great topic, Nika!
This is the biggest nightmare for makers who launch products on Product Hunt. In many cases, they end up completely rejecting Product Hunt. They stop launching. They start hating the platform.
Which is childish. Itâs like stopping posting on LinkedIn or Twitter just because you didnât go viral. Obviously, everyone wants their product to be #1 and to be featured, but sometimes it just doesnât happen.
There have been cases where a product was genuinely overlooked and not featured. But in most cases, thereâs a reason.
Thatâs why I always advise makers who are launching:
Improve your product.
Make sure it has a great website and a great onboarding flow process. Donât try to launch with designs from 2015 or with a lovable vibe-coded landing page. And if you do, donât be upset if youâre not featured. Itâs like going to a car expo and expecting to see a car from 2002 there. Then wondering why you didnât see it at the exhibition.
After that come the video, images, as well as the tagline and description. They are also extremely important. But they come after the product. Donât underestimate them, but donât spend weeks or months creating images. With shots.so you can create unique mockups in minutes. You donât need to be a Figma specialist. Same with videos.
So if youâre not featured, my advice is simple: improve your product. Of course, for inspiration you can look at the top products, talk to the most active community members (like Nika), or work with a hunter (like having a personal coach). These things will definitely help you improve your product. But at the core of whether youâll be featured or not is the product itself.
@byalexaiÂ
Thank you for the advice. The thing is, itâs even more painful to prepare all this and then not get featured.
Honestly, I convinced myself a few days ago that itâs better to launch early and just prepare enough, and be okay with not getting featured and launching again stronger if that happens, rather than over-preparing and feeling bad about the work I put into it.
I recently checked the products on the second page and beyond, and honestly I was impressed by the quality of some launches that didnât get featured. It must be tough for them. Shoutout to them.
Iâm launching tomorrow. Feel free to tell me what I could have done better if you have a minute or two.
@bengeekly I agree that itâs unpleasant. But it can also be motivation to do it again in a few weeks and get featured and become a top-3 product. In fact, there are quite a few examples like that.
One team I worked with launched in December and wasnât featured. I told them the homepage needed to be fixed. They improved it and ended up in second place for the day. So you never really know how your launch will go.
Whatâs your product. Can you share a link?
P.S. Good luck.
@byalexaiÂ
Oh wow, I canât see right now what really makes the difference. What would you say are the biggest differences between the products that get featured and those that donât?
Is it the idea itself?
Or how much effort you put into the product?
Or some kind of checklist you should have?
Or is it more of an overall feeling about the product and what things we should optimize for?
Or maybe none of this, maybe itâs more about the hunter or the maker themselves?
Here is the link, still fixing the landing page âşď¸
https://www.producthunt.com/prod...
Feel free to give honest and raw feedback, I will appreciate it
Thank you
minimalist phone: creating folders
@byalexai It is not realistic, not everybody at the same time can be #1.
There are better products, better strategies to market, so the winner can be only one :D
The parallel with social media platforms and getting viral is so accur8. đ
I agree. A launch that doesnât get featured is still useful if you know how to read it properly. You may not get the badge, but you can still get feedback, visibility, positioning, and clarity on what needs work. Quitting after one attempt turns one disappointing result into a permanent loss.
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@mahmoud_kamal Feedback can help you next time to be featured ;)
Wholeheartedly agree. Launch days can be emotional, especially when youâve spent months building something and the rankings donât go the way you hoped.
But showing up still matters. You learn how the platform works, meet other builders, and start building relationships that compound over time.
One launch rarely defines a product. Sometimes itâs the second or third iteration, when you already have a small community behind you, that really takes off.
Even just being part of the conversation here is a win in itself and the true accomplishment should be perseverance when things aren't going great but you keep showing up and doing better each time, regardless of the outcome.
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@minhajulll Minhajul, just build a community. I was also nervous, even after being here 3+ years, but nothing happened when the launch didn't go according to expectations. You are here to network and possibly find investors, co-founders, advisors, and feedback from possible users :)
On the same page fully!
I've been on Product Hunt for +5 years, only lurking until last year when I had my first launch. The community you can build here feels very different from anything else available now online. It feels more supportive, more curious, more open to help, and it's worth being active even if you don't get featured with your product on your first try.
I'm yet to be featured, but I'm more grateful for the feedback and the active users my products got from being active here. With@PostGod launching today, I'm curious to see the aftermath post-launch!
minimalist phone: creating folders
@ruxandra_mazilu I supported your launch! :) BTW, I am happy that I see you here more often! :) You are becoming a recognisable face here.
About to launch my first product here soon and I'd be lying if I said the "what if I don't get featured" thought hasn't crossed my mind. But this thread is a good reminder that one launch is just a data point, not a verdict. Going in with that mindset!
minimalist phone: creating folders
@jared_salois Yes, you should detach from that.
â It is an extra exposure
â You can make more content about that
â You can launch on other platforms too, and earn an authoritative domain
Don't limit yourself.
what are the ways to increase the chances of getting featured
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@deepmishra1283Â
You need to impress juries (internal PH team first) â so very specific/unique product
Quality visuals and a properly edited launch
Filled profile
BUT point 1 is the most important