I was told today about an event that shed light on a recent change to the PH ranking algorithm
A maker on Ramadan Makers launched a product, reached a decent amount of upvotes. They never made it to the homepage.
Makers, we need to talk.
We have a culture problem, and it's starting to bite back.
Our launch-and-dump culture on @ProductHunt is harmful, and it's hurting our goals as a community.
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I was told today about an event that shed light on a recent change to the PH ranking algorithm
A maker on Ramadan Makers launched a product, reached a decent amount of upvotes. They never made it to the homepage.
However, looking at the homepage just showed a different picture: products from bigger companies with only 12 upvotes, featured.
But there's a bigger problem, and it's a culture one.
This is the usual product lifecycle nowadays:
1. Launch on PH, Twitter
2. Gain attention and "internet points"
This causes issues.
a. Mistake the "hype" from your immediate circle as validation and ship someone nobody wants
b. Let the product die off as one feels satisfied with the launch
None of these are steps towards building a successful business.
Remember how we tell ourselves not to gather validation from family members?
The literal equivalent happens in the maker community - because we're all mostly invested in each other's success, similar to a family.
It turned out as a lesson for us: we validated mostly externally (customer discovery interviews) and what I call "gold nuggets".
This is probably the best value you can get from hype.
Validation = customer discovery + paying customers + gold nuggets.
But ultimately... people vote with their wallets.
We have created this culture where the ultimate goal of building a product is to launch on x place and that's it.
No. This is not what the maker community is about.
I say this out of a place of extreme care for the community - we sometimes have to acknowledge we're doing things wrong, and I admit - I've taken part in this problem.
We all have.
We've turned our back on that advice (unless you are targeting tech).
We're all bad at marketing, and promoting this culture of "launch once, success after" isn't doing us any favors.
This is the deeper problem beginning to bite back at us. We've created a *hard* dependency on Product Hunt for the success of our products, and that's a *scary* power to give to only one company.
This does *not* have anything to do with PH Makers and Makerlog competing in the same market segment.
Before accusations are thrown around: I will make clear that I am *not* doing this to hurt their company in any way.
We must evaluate our stances on marketing, especially when we've created a culture that gives so much power to a sole entity.
An algorithm change shouldn't "make or break" a product. You, the maker, should.
The fact that the entire maker community (for better or for worse) sees launching on your site as the "magic bullet to success" already gives you a LOT of power.
As long as you're honest and transparent about it.
This is a side effect of a greater problem.
In fact, I invite you to put your pitchforks down if they're up.
The intent is to open a healthy dialogue on this awful monoculture we've created.
I will probably follow up this post on https://t.co/ce0562FI3M, our new blog (which ironically launches on PH tonight...).
After all, we're just trying to create sustainable businesses, and the least we can do is be honest to ourselves about things.
More from Startups
1/ Tuesday was my last day as CEO of @CircleUp. Iโve been CEO since starting the co. in 2011 with my co-founder @roryeakin.
This is a thread about what happened, why and my emotions about it. For more detail:
https://t.co/vYImcm1bTM
Much of this I have never talked about.
2/ My goals: I hope it helps founders feel less lonely than I did. Little public content about the challenges of transitioning exists, but I longed for it. Iโm not here to provide a playbook- just to share my experience. Hope it might build greater empathy.
Here goesโฆ.
3/ Why: When I tell people that Iโm transitioning to an Exec Chairman role their first question is always: โwhy?โ Short answer: co. pivot + fertility issues + health issues + a false sense that grit was always the answer = burnout. Long answer: is longer so hang in there with me
4/ Over a 12-18 month period that ended in late 2017 I ran my tank far beyond empty for far too long. You know that sound your car makes when itโs sputtering for more gas? It was like that. Worst year of my life. Since then it has felt like bone on bone.
5/ Here is what happened:
Professionally: pivoting a Series C company was a living hell in and of itself, as Iโve talked about before.
This is a thread about what happened, why and my emotions about it. For more detail:
https://t.co/vYImcm1bTM
Much of this I have never talked about.
2/ My goals: I hope it helps founders feel less lonely than I did. Little public content about the challenges of transitioning exists, but I longed for it. Iโm not here to provide a playbook- just to share my experience. Hope it might build greater empathy.
Here goesโฆ.
3/ Why: When I tell people that Iโm transitioning to an Exec Chairman role their first question is always: โwhy?โ Short answer: co. pivot + fertility issues + health issues + a false sense that grit was always the answer = burnout. Long answer: is longer so hang in there with me
4/ Over a 12-18 month period that ended in late 2017 I ran my tank far beyond empty for far too long. You know that sound your car makes when itโs sputtering for more gas? It was like that. Worst year of my life. Since then it has felt like bone on bone.
5/ Here is what happened:
Professionally: pivoting a Series C company was a living hell in and of itself, as Iโve talked about before.
1/ We Pivoted a few yrs ago. This is the story- mostly my feelings. It has never been told publicly.
— Ryan Caldbeck (@ryan_caldbeck) April 16, 2019
This will be rambly and represents the chaos in my head at the time. There is [hopefully] no advice here. I don\u2019t know if we did it right.
