Post-launch: When you’re not in the top 10 but didn’t do that bad either
Yesterday, we launched NiceJourney and ended up at #23!
Not bad, not great, just somewhere in that weird middle zone.
And honestly, today we’re not sure how to feel about it.
Most people prepare for two scenarios:
Either “we’ll crush it” or “we’ll flop.”
But what about everything in between? What happens when you do "just fine?"
Here’s what we learned: connections matter.
Almost all of our upvotes came from people we’ve connected with here on PH and on LinkedIn: makers we chatted with, commented on, and supported. That sense of community really does make a difference.
So we’ll keep going: listening to feedback, showing up here, and improving what we built. Slowly but consistently.
If you’ve ever landed somewhere in the “middle” after your launch, how did you handle it?
What did you do next to keep the momentum alive?


Replies
AI Context Flow
Hi @pamela_arienti I would say this just means your product was good but your community engagement was good not the best!
This is an easily solvable situation and just need more hours put into community work.
Your next launch on PH would be amazing! :)
@hira_siddiqui1 Aww, thank you!
Yes, we'll certainly work more to build a solid community!
AI Context Flow
@hira_siddiqui1 just saw your request and accepted it!
I'm very happy to connect and keep in touch on LinkedIn.
Hope your launch went well!
minimalist phone: creating folders
I think that your presence on this platform made you more visible. You can use this personal presence on other social media too to talk about the product which can bring you traffic and paying users too. :)
@busmark_w_nika Thanks for the suggestion!
My partner is actually already doing it on LinkedIn. We tried to split the work because sometimes, it's really hard to keep track of all the social media accounts, be there, answer and comment, and all that stuff.
Probably this is the hardest part of the job ahah
minimalist phone: creating folders
@pamela_arienti You finally know how I feel lol :D
@nosheen_kanwal Thank you very much for your kind words!
We're not thinking about doing a second launch soon, but I'll definitely text you if that happens :)
we're launching in 2 weeks too... keep your advice in mind... connection is everything here :)
@akash_03 Good luck with your launch! Yes, making solid connections is certainly essential, especially if it's your first launch. Is it?
@pamela_arienti yep... it's the first one.
@akash_03 Good luck!! What are you launching?
@pamela_arienti It's an AI Chat widget for tech products. ( ordemio.com/ask-ai )
I think I should schedule the launch now and then just keep building the connections.
You're right about connections __ genuine engagement before launch makes a massive difference 💬
@george_esther Thank you very much :)
Yes, engaging and connecting are certainly fundamental for your launch.
Glad to hear that my approach sparked some ideas!
Thank you for sharing your experience! Also looking at launching on PH and it's pretty intimidating if you want to break through the noise! Following thought leaders here but still mostly reading and upvoting and figuring it out! I think I'd be pretty psyched on #23! Congrats!
@felicitemoorman Thank you!
I also spent a lot of time figuring out how Ph works ahaha
And yes, launching can be intimidating, especially because there are also some pretty famous start-ups that, from time to time, launch here, and competing with them just seems impossible.
But I think it's important to try anyway and see how it goes (you can always launch again) :)