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.
I think this is the best way to go about it. I haven't picked a date yet but will do something similar.
Do you think PH is the best place to be building relationships? are you working on building socials or anything outside of PH?
IH is the main focus right now because this is genuinely where my customers are indie founders who need to communicate better with their users. X is running in parallel but early, two followers and counting. No other channels yet. The honest answer is I'd rather do one channel properly than spread thin across five and do none of them well. Pick your launch date the relationships you build in the next few weeks matter more than the listing itself. What are you building?
This is exactly the right mindset- relationships before rankings. We're launching StartZig around the same time, same zero-customers starting point and would love to swap notes on what's actually moving the needle for you.
Good timing, let's do it. May 13th is the date for me, when are you targeting for StartZig? The thing that's actually moving the needle so far isn't a tactic, it's just showing up in threads where I genuinely have something to add and letting the conversations develop naturally. No shortcuts but it compounds faster than I expected. What are you building?
Feels like you’re treating the launch less as a spike and more as a checkpoint of existing relationships.
Curious — how are you thinking about converting those conversations into actual momentum on launch day?
Exactly that. The spike is a byproduct if the relationships are real, not the goal itself. The conversion is simple — the people I've been talking to for the past two weeks will get a direct message on launch day saying we're live on Product Hunt, would love your support. No cold ask, no blast to strangers. Just the founders who already know what I'm building and why. The ones who've been in genuine back and forth with me are the ones most likely to show up. That's the whole play.