Got my first paying customer 2 days after launch. Wasn't where I expected.
Alright, this just went down – honestly, I’m a bit lost right now
Launched my project on Product Hunt this past Tuesday. Stayed up late Monday prepping - designed visuals, tweaked the pitch over and over, even woke up at midnight to hit publish right on time.
Tuesday: just crickets. Maybe two upvotes altogether - could’ve been one from me, hah.
Zero sales obviously.
On Wednesday morning, while brewing coffee, an alert pops up - Payhip notifies me. A customer signed up for the monthly package costing forty-nine bucks.
I honestly believed it was junk mail or some trial charge I’d overlooked. Looked into it again - twice more - to be sure.
Nope. Actual buyer. Seems they arrived via SaaSHub, judging by the ref link - though truthfully, I can’t say for certain; Payhip’s logs aren’t that clear.
Which feels odd since I hardly recall applying to SaaSHub - kinda just rushed through the form one day. It was fast, probably around sixty minutes.
While Product Hunt took up my whole day getting ready.
So yeah...
PH: 8 hours prep, 2 upvotes, $0
SaaSHub: 1 hour, forgot about it, $4.99
I know PH doesn’t promise results - but wow, I truly expected some kind of response. Looks like my project simply didn’t click with those folks.
At the same time, the real purchase happened where I’d sent stuff just because it was left over.
Makes me think - maybe I’ve focused on the wrong goal? Chasing that huge debut, rather than getting it straight into the hands of folks who’d really use it.
My app’s super specific - it works on Windows, helps dig into Reddit stuff. I made it ‘cause getting approval from Reddit’s API? Nearly impossible these days. Folks checking Product Hunt midweek might not need a tool like this right then. But on smaller sites that list apps, users often come ready to find something they’ll actually pay for.
Kinda working it out as I go, if I’m being real.
Next week I’ll share stuff on a couple Reddit groups - but my profile’s fresh right now, so I’m holding back a bit. Instead of rushing, I’ll test a handful of tiny listing sites first.
Just gonna zero in on spots where folks really hunt for answers, not waste time hunting new apps.
Anyone else been there - put tons of effort into that big debut, only to see it crash hard, yet somehow landed buyers outta nowhere?
Really hoping others feel the same way - wouldn’t be surprised if they did 😅
(try https://www.wappkit.com/download if you want – a no-cost tool for pulling Reddit info)
Huge congrats — getting a paying customer that fast, especially from an unexpected place, is one of those validation inflection points many founders aspire to. It often tells you not just that there is demand, but where real demand lives.
What’s interesting is that early sales often come from people who feel the pain most sharply — not necessarily the audience you had in mind. Observing where that early traction comes from can help you refine both positioning and messaging for the next wave of users rather than guessing where they might be.
Curious — in that early customer’s case, was it their problem context (their day-to-day workflow) or something in your pitch/messaging that hooked them first? That kind of signal often shapes how you focus your outreach next.
actually you can get more even from product hunt if preparing in the right way + actively contributing to the community
Fair point. My prep was definitely focused more on the "launch assets" (images, copy) rather than community engagement beforehand. Lesson learned!
That said, for a super niche Windows desktop tool like this, do you think the PH audience is still the best fit? Or is it better for more general SaaS/Web apps?
Would love to hear if you've seen other niche desktop tools crush it there.