I’m launching on Product Hunt in 12 days with zero customers. Here’s my exact plan.

Most founders wait until they have traction before launching on Product Hunt. I’m doing it the other way around.

ReleaseLog launches on May 13th. Today I have zero customers, zero sign-ups, and two Twitter followers. I’m telling you this because I think the honest version of this story is more useful than the polished one.

Here’s what I’m actually doing between now and launch day.
Not running ads. No budget, no interest. Every customer I get before May 13th will come from a real conversation with a real founder who had a real problem I could help with.

Showing up on IH every day. Not to promote ReleaseLog. To be genuinely useful in threads where I actually have something to add. The founders I’ve been talking to for the past few days are the warmest people I’ll have on launch day. That’s the whole strategy.

Using my own product publicly. Our changelog, roadmap, and feature request board are all live. Anyone can submit a feature, vote on what gets built next, and watch it happen. https://tryreleaselog.com/p/releaselog-building-in-public/requests

Not adding features. One rule until I hit 5 paying customers — no new features. The product works. The only problem left to solve is distribution.

The goal for May 13th isn’t to hit #1. It’s to have enough genuine relationships built that when I post “we’re live,” the people I’ve been talking to actually know my name.

If you’re building something and want to swap notes on the pre-launch grind, drop it below. Twelve days is enough time to do this right.

Tryreleaselog.com