Launch success on Product Hunt (template)

Sprinto, Shield app, Trainual, Kovai, Veed io

Author

Okerosi Davis
March 16, 2024

Hello and welcome to 1,2,3 Product Weekly - read by startup founders, creators, and product marketers looking to learn constantly. Support on Patreon and get weekly resources directly in your inbox.

To new subscribers, welcome onboard, and thank you.

Here is what to expect in this Saturday’s newsletter:

  • Launch success on Product Hunt

  • When scaling what works pays off

  • Sprinto, Trainual, Shield app

1/

Launch Success on Product Hunt

Aside keeps tabs on almost a hundred startups now - most launching on Product Hunt, am constantly keeping my pulse on what the experts are sharing on product launch success.

Recently, I took a deep dive on Lenny’s newsletter, where Leo Bosuener shared insights on winning on Product Hunt.

First, who is Leo? - the guy behind the launch success of brands like Notion, Robinhood, Loom, Zapier, and 60 more startups on Product Hunt.

A few startups that have shared their metrics publicly include Twinr, a no-code mobile app builder that won Product of the Day. Twinr received 1,000 signups on launch day and has continued to get 150 signups per day since. Wide-appeal B2C launches such as newsletters or productivity tools can result in upward of 3,000 signups.

Another prominent example is Air. Their team saw web traffic increase 5x, single-day account creation go up by 8x, and single-day workspace creation increase by 10x. The launch day was also their best day of organic sales leads ever. 

The hard truths about PH launches

It’s essential to understand the Product Hunt (PH) launch is a powerful signal on what the market wants and such an important aspect to find out as soon as possible.

Several startups launch on PH and get no impact for a couple of reasons:

  • Bad timing

  • Lack of preparation

  • Audience mismatch

  • Way too much competition on the chosen launch day

Why launch on Product Hunt?

Leo summarizes the essence of launching on PH. It’s a playground for brand awareness, credibility, and social proof among early adopters and tech enthusiasts.

Launching on PH is a sweet spot for startups that want;

  1. Catch the eye of tech bloggers, influencers, or investors to raise their next round

  2. Drive a short-term growth boost 

  3. Receive genuine user feedback from tech enthusiasts

  4. Leverage SEO juice from backlinks from a high-authority domain like Product Hunt

Tips on launching on Product Hunt

One vital tip is - to focus on conversion over popularity. Below is a template for setting your launch metrics.

Here are more tips to increase your success chances;

  • Start 30 days before launch

  • Spend enough time on these four elements: Tagline, Maker’s comments, Video, and High-quality images.

  • Be strategic about the launch day, consider time zones and logistics

  • Pick the best day of the week

2/

Veed io: When scaling what works pays off

Sabba Keybejad, founder of Veed io - AI video editor shared insights on building the startup on MicroConf.

The insights Sabba shared helped bootstrapped Veed from $0 to $5m in revenue in 2 years, even after being rejected by Y Combinator.

Sabba tested Veed in several markets to generate leads and scaled what worked like crazy.

  • Answered 160 posts on Quora

  • Made 30 YouTube videos

  • Wrote 20 blog posts, 20 LP's

  • Joined every possible FB group

  • Did 15 Product Hunt

  • Offered few tools.

And with this, they hit $1m in ARR in 12 months, doubled down on what worked, and hit $2m ARR in the next 4 months.

The lesson: Every product has an acquisition channel, find it and double down on what works.

Kovai Co: How Saravana Kumar manages his schedule

Saravana, the founder of Kovai shared 12 disciplines that helped him scale to $10m ARR in a decade on Founderpath. However, one discipline stood out for me - how he manages his weekly schedule:

My entire week is the first 1.5 days. I had management meetings on the first day and then some items on the second day, Tuesday. After that, it’s all about just ongoing activities, and you try to keep it as free as possible.

The lesson: Schedule the important tasks when you are most productive. As a Founder, time is very critical a factor of productivity to build your startup early on before you delegate.

3/

Shield app

I took a look at the LinkedIn analytics tool and its growth. What I noticed is they slowed down, and the competition like Kleo, and Tapilio is catching up. Here are my thoughts on what they should do to continue growing;

In marketing, staying top of mind is essential, that is why coca cola runs ads even though we all know about them.My suggestion will be, the Shield team to partner with small creators ( who are doing consistent content) to write more about the app.


A great incentive would be a free 90-day or discounted annual premium package.Focus on creators offering personal branding, growth, and marketing on LinkedIn.

Trainual

The documentation streamlining software for over 25,000 small businesses scales from 0 to 600 customers in a couple of ways. Here are the insights I gathered from the founder Chris Ronzio on Nathan Latka's channel;

1/Affiliate with a 20% ongoing commission.
2/ Launched on Product Hunt for traction.
3/ Later started running Google ads.

One thing to note though on the PH launch, is their conversion was poor because they switched off the credit card requirement to a free trial without it during the launch.

Sprinto

Pritesh Vora of Sprinto shared these demand gen tips that paid off on SaaSOpen. Here are the insights;

  • Launch in AppSumo can pay off well. For Sprinto, the AppSumo lifetime deal resulted in 5,000 users in a week and raised brand traffic by 500 searches a month.

  • Establish trust in a competitive market.

  • Build genuine relationships with influencers. This can lead to repeated touchpoints with prospects and boost credibility and trust.

Join the Product Letter

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Also, let's work on your startup - from product positioning, launch and even scaling. Send me a message on LinkedIn.

Thanks for reading!

God’s speed.

Okerosi