5 days post-launch: Top 50 on Product Hunt, zero signups, and why I think that's actually fine
Five days ago I launched MinervaAI on Product Hunt.
We hit Top 50 organically — no VC network, no big Twitter following, no launch squad. Just built something, wrote about why, and posted it. That felt genuinely good.
Then I waited for signups.
None came.
I've spent the last few days sitting with that, reading everything I could about post-launch distribution, and talking to other founders. Here's what I've worked out:
Product Hunt and directories are awareness, not acquisition.
People browsing PH are in discovery mode. They're not in pain right now. They're not frantically Googling for a solution at 11pm. They'll upvote your thing, maybe bookmark it, and move on with their day.
The people who actually sign up are the ones you find at the moment they're expressing the problem. A Reddit thread where someone's frustrated with Obsidian AI plugins. A Discord message asking "is there something better than Smart Connections?" An IH post from someone who just gave up on MCP setup.
That's the person. And they're out there, today, writing exactly that sentence somewhere.
So that's what I'm doing now.
Not running ads. Not optimising my landing page headline for the 12th time. Just showing up in the communities where my person already is, at the moment they're already asking the question.
It's slow. It's manual. It doesn't feel like "growth." But I think it's the only honest path from zero to first real users for a product like this.
What MinervaAI actually is, for context: it's a markdown knowledge base where AI is genuinely first-class — full vault context, wiki-link awareness, background agents, Google Calendar and Gmail integration, and you bring your own Claude key so there's no token markup. It's built specifically for Obsidian power users who love the philosophy but keep hitting walls with plugin complexity and MCP setup.
If that's you, or you know someone it sounds like — minerva-ai.app
But mainly I'm posting this because I suspect a lot of people here are in the same five-days-post-launch silence, and I wanted to say: I think it's normal, and I think the work is just beginning.
Would love to hear from anyone who's navigated this phase — what actually moved the needle for your first 10 users?
This is a really honest takeaway. Top 50 sounds like a win, but zero signups shows the difference between attention and actual intent.
I’m learning something similar with my own SaaS. People seeing the product is not the same as people needing it right now.
The part that stood out to me is finding users at the exact moment they’re already describing the problem. That feels much stronger than just launching and hoping the right person happens to notice.
Slow and manual probably feels frustrating, but it may be the cleanest way to find the first real users. Especially when the product needs trust before someone changes their workflow.
yes social proof and trust based on that can not be underestimated.
I think the biggest realization here is that Product Hunt answered "Will people notice this exists?"—not "Will people adopt it?"
Your point about meeting people at the moment they're actively describing the problem feels much closer to how early B2B products find their first users. At that stage, solving someone's existing frustration is usually a stronger acquisition channel than trying to create interest from scratch.
Agreed, I think also I feel a little stuck as Obsidian.md has a big fanbase and I have used both platforms extensively. My solution works better (for me) and I no longer use Obsidian. I have made things very easy for people to migrate to Minerva without burning bridges (you can drag and drop your vault) but getting users to dip their toe in the water is my sticking point at the moment. Thank you for your response.
Interesting.
Your reply made me think less about migration itself and more about what happens before someone even decides it's worth trying.
I don't think the sticking point is where most founders instinctively look, and I don't think I can explain the reasoning properly in a thread without oversimplifying it.
If you're interested, what's the best email to reach you on?
hello@minerva-ai.app
Thanks! I’ve just sent it over.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you have a chance.
Thanks, I will take a look.