People's Favorite: Our Unofficial Product of the Day Win

What does it mean to build something with heart? For us at Hello Dexter, it meant over a year of grit, late nights, and passionate collaboration to create a sales platform that empowers businesses of all sizes. Our vision has always been clear - small enterprises deserve access to sophisticated sales tools, just like the big players. We wanted to level the playing field.

Fast forward to November 2024, and our product launched on Product Hunt - an online community synonymous with startup success stories. We believed it could be our moment. But what began as hope turned into confusion and disillusionment. The reason? A system we thought existed to uplift entrepreneurship felt, instead, opaque and selective.

This is our story, our experience with Product Hunt, and our lessons for fellow startup founders preparing for their own launch strategies.

The Road to Launching on Product Hunt

Like many founders, we saw Product Hunt as a beacon for startups. Its reputation as a platform to showcase innovation and gain early traction is unparalleled. By November, my team of five had tirelessly worked to bring Hello Dexter, an affordable B2B sales platform, to life.

We refined our user interface, crafted high-quality landing pages, and ensured every element delivered an exceptional experience. It was a year of meticulous preparation to reach this milestone.

Finally, we submitted our product for approval, eager to be listed and, hopefully, featured on Product Hunt's homepage. If you're unfamiliar, a "feature" dramatically increases visibility and impact. But once we launched, it became clear that things weren’t unfolding as expected.

The Day That Changed Everything

On launch day, we realized that Hello Dexter was not featured. This meant we wouldn’t be visible on the front page or even show up in Product Hunt's search results.

Still, we kept pushing forward, rallying support from users, colleagues, accelerator mentors, friends, and family. But another shock awaited us. We noticed our upvote count fluctuating - dropping unexpectedly. These were authentic upvotes from people in our network, yet they disappeared without explanation.

When we reached out to Product Hunt, we received a canned response stating:

"It’s not uncommon to notice some changes in vote counts during a launch...If any votes appear invalid or come from sources that don’t match our standards, they will be removed."

Integrity is crucial, yes. But how does a system judge which votes are “legitimate” without transparency? The automated decision-making process seemed final - no appeals were accepted, no detailed explanation provided.

Despite these setbacks, we worked through launch day relentlessly, eventually landing as the #3 Product of the Day. Exhausted yet excited, we celebrated this achievement. We thought we’d earned our win, only to be greeted with another disappointment.

A Badgeless Victory

We soon learned that only featured products qualify for Product of the Day badges. This raised further questions about Product Hunt’s selection process. According to their featuring guidelines, products are judged on the following criteria:

• Usefulness: How practical is the product?

• Novelty: Is it innovative or unique?

• Craftsmanship: Is it well-designed and delightful to use?

• Creativity: Is it engaging or imaginative?

Here’s the difficult part for us to understand - Product Hunt very likely hadn’t even tried Hello Dexter thoroughly. How could they determine usefulness, creativity, or craftsmanship without firsthand experience of our platform?

We contacted their support team, but their response reinforced that featured decisions are final, and detailed feedback was scarce.

When Hope Turns to Disillusionment

By the end of the day, the realization hit us like a gut punch. Product Hunt's ecosystem heavily favors featured products. Without being featured:

• Visibility is minimal.

• Engagement doesn’t matter, as votes alone won’t earn you accolades.

• The coveted Product of the Day badge (and the advantages it brings) is out of reach.

For a small startup like ours, advertising options on Product Hunt were also out of budget, starting at $5,000 - a cost unthinkable for a bootstrapped team.

To put it bluntly, Product Hunt’s model benefits itself - it gains substantial traffic and engagement from startups, but disproportionately rewards the ones handpicked by its curation panel.

Hard Truths For Future Makers

If you’re preparing for your Product Hunt launch, here’s what you need to know:

1. Product Hunt’s curation criteria are subjective: Not being featured does not reflect the quality of your product.

2. Focus on storytelling: A strong narrative surrounding your product increases the chances of catching their attention during the review process.

3. Set realistic expectations: Product Hunt is not always a meritocracy. Even with high engagement, outcomes can be uncertain.

4. Engage your community: Regardless of platform recognition, invest in building long-term relationships with users who believe in your vision.

Moving Forward

Yes, our Product Hunt dream was scattered, but we are not defeated. At Hello Dexter, we’ve internalized this experience. We’re more determined than ever to find new ways to amplify our message, nurture our community, and tell our story authentically.

Platforms like Product Hunt can catalyze startup exposure, but they don’t define the quality, creativity, or value of your work.

Your success will come from perseverance, grit, and the ability to pivot when necessary.

To all the startup founders and makers navigating this unpredictable landscape, remember - you’re not alone. These challenges make us stronger, and our best days are still ahead.