We’re launching today, and here’s my #1 tip for anyone planning a PH launch
by•
It may feel like you’ve considered everything:
product page, positioning, network support, social media content… even day planning.
We thought we did too.
But we missed one important thing.
Our whole team is in one timezone.
If you look at the Product of the Day race, it’s basically a 24-hour marathon. If the same people handle it the entire time, competitors with better timezone coverage can move ahead in just a few hours.
Right now we’re #2 and pushing for #1, so we’re still very much in the race.
That’s basically how I look right now after 13+ hours of launch day.
Hope this helps someone planning their next launch 🙂
Curious to hear from others:
What’s your #1 recommendation for someone planning a Product Hunt launch?
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My advice is: for teams that are in Europe/Asia, focus on the first 4 hours.
During that time, the ranking list doesn’t appear and gets shuffled. After the 4th hour, we have a top 5. Most people then vote for one of the top 5 products afterward. Everyone supports the winner. No one is going to scroll down to 24th place to find your product. They assume that the people before them have already selected the good products for them.
Also, in the mobile version, only the top 5 products are shown. You can’t scroll and search for products further down. So for everyone in Europe and Asia with limited teams or solo : focus on what brings the highest ROI.
Glam AI
@byalexai Absolutely agree, that’s actually also my key learning from our launch day!
If you have a gap in the first hours, it becomes more and more difficult to close it later. Better to start as actively as possible - to get into the top 5, or even better #1 right away if you’re really aiming for Product of the Day 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I think this will be very helpful for those planning a launch.
@kristina__grits yes, it's impossible to be number 1, if you're number 10 during the initial 4 hours.
Tobira.ai
@byalexai @kristina__grits The first 4 hours seem to be the real race. Did you notice a specific drop-off point where catching up became basically impossible?
@kristina__grits @olia_nemirovski I’d say it depends on the competition and the day. The bigger the upvote gap, the harder it is. An initial difference of 100 upvotes is basically impossible to overcome. Only Claude and similar large products could turn it around.
Glam AI
@olia_nemirovski @byalexai Yes, in our case, even an initial gap of ~40–50 upvotes after the first 4 hours was already hard to overcome. The competitor kept the same pace throughout the whole day.
Glam AI
@byalexai By the way, you mentioned Europe/Asia... for US-based projects, is it better to choose another start time? Do you know how that works?
@byalexai Interesting advice on this!
@byalexai Super insightful! We are a team of 2 based in France and are looking to launch on PH in the next few months. Our main current users are from Europe, Australia and USA. We will plan ahead to ask them to vote for our tool and do a com on social media platforms too. Does that mean that we need to get a lot of votes in the first 4 hours to have a chance to rank in the first 5? Is it based on USA hours for the start of the day? Thanks for your advise on this. It's much appreciated
@marianne_amaudric Hi Marianne!
A strategy and prior coordination are definitely necessary. But it’s better to let people know in advance that you’ll be launching, and then remind them again on the day of the launch because most people will have forgotten by then. The truth is, no one remembers the launch date except the team and their hunter.
Yes, you should prioritize the first 4 hours. If you’re based in Europe, that effectively means the launch starts around 8–9 AM your time (depending on daylight saving time). It starts at 12.01 AM Pacific Time. In practice, it happens in the morning, so you actually have a big advantage over people in the US.
@byalexai Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. This is very helpful. I'll keep it in mind for the launch in a few months time.
Whats the best time to post in PH?
Glam AI
@martingebara We only looked at the standard time set by the PH team, since we’re in the European time zone and it worked well for us. I’m also curious how it affects "Product of the Day" competition if you choose a different time 🤔
As for the choice of the day, it’s partly luck since you can’t predict the competition, but weekends (and maybe Friday) seem better for smaller products, as fewer big launches choose those days.
Askflow AI
by handling you mean responding to comments and questions?
Glam AI
@volina @merilou_b Yes, responding to comments thoughtfully and almost in real time is a big part of it 🙌
But it’s also about spreading the word during the launch - engaging in communities & with your network, posting on social media, even creating new threads here… basically anything you’ve planned (or come up with on the fly) to drive attention.
It seems that if you’re aiming for Product of the Day / Week, it’s important to keep that level of energy throughout the whole day.
minimalist phone: creating folders
Having at least 2 people from the opposite time zones is plus.
Otherwise... prepare for sleepless night :D
Glam AI
@busmark_w_nika We heard that too, but didn’t pay much attention, thought activity would slow down over time. Now we really felt it 😅
I guess it really depends on the day!
Do you usually do this for your launches, having people from different time zones?
minimalist phone: creating folders
@kristina__grits ehm... I was alone for that launch, but I slept too. But we are also in the same time zone, so it wouldn't change so much :D
Glam AI
@busmark_w_nika You did amazing for just one person 🙌
Do you think it’s actually possible for a solo founder / 1-person team to make it into the Top 3 Product of the Day without a big following (for example, on X)?
It feels like it might be doable on weekends (since there are fewer big teams), but during the week it almost seems unreal.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@kristina__grits It is doable in my opinion. I have seen several times that only a solo succeeded, but mostly during weekends.
This is why having a “launch relay team” makes so much sense. Even 2–3 people rotating can keep energy and response quality high.
Glam AI
@ashir_murtaza1 That’s true! Are you preparing to launch something soon?
Scade.pro
This sounds so familiar!
Time zones... while some are sleeping, others are waking up and racking up points.
Once, we got completely left behind at the very end (it was early morning for us, and we didn’t have time to do anything).
Now we get up at least three hours before the race ends so we can react in time if that happens again.
By the way, awesome project!
Glam AI
@maria_anosova Thanks a lot, Maria! We appreciate your support 😊
Yeah, even a short break can lead to surprises, so being ready for anything is key if you’re aiming for the top.
Curious about your experience: have you seen cases where a product was quite behind after the first 4 hours but still made it to #1? Or is that usually only possible for bigger teams with more resources or brand recognition?
Scade.pro
Glam AI
@maria_anosova Stressful for sure, but exciting as well! Definitely not for the weak haha 😄
Glam AI
@dan_johnson7 Thank you so much! We’re at #2 for the day and #5 for the week. It’s the first Product Hunt launch for everyone on our team, so maybe with everything we’ve learned, we’ll come back and take another shot at #1 a bit later 😊
Best of luck with your future launch! It can be challenging, but also really interesting and even fun. PH truly feels like a community.
This is a great point — it’s easy to think everything is covered until launch day exposes the gaps.
One thing I keep noticing is that beyond the launch itself, a lot of builders struggle with consistently finding users after the initial spike.
Curious what ended up being the biggest unexpected challenge for you?
Glam AI
@farhad_asbaghipour True! Also, the product needs to be ready to handle that flow of users during the launch day.
I’d say the biggest learning (apart from what I already wrote) is to have a detailed launch plan, but stay flexible and prepared for anything - each day and each launch is very different 🙂