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.
Interested to see how this unfolds.
How and why did you choose such day to launch ? Is there a specific event or is it just your own motivation goal ? What stops you to launch right now and expand right away the basic features / the changelog board seems to be already working !
May 13th is a Tuesday PH launches perform best Tuesday through Thursday when the tech audience is most active. That's the how. The why is that a deadline turns "I'll launch eventually" into a specific day I'm accountable to publicly. Without it, there's always one more thing to do first. On launching right now nothing is stopping me technically, the product works. The reason I'm waiting is the relationships. Every day between now and May 13th is another conversation with a founder who might show up on launch day because they know my name, not because they stumbled onto a listing. The changelog is working, you're right. What are you building?
This is great insight for the release day ! It is great to set a timeline and deadline to be accountable ! And i think that you really can get some great insights from other founder here, me right now i am working on Stackmemo, a dashboard to keep track of tech stacks of side projects and saas that connects directly to providers like neon, cloudflare and such to have an unified view of the project !
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Very interesting
Thank you!
Respect for sharing this. most people hide behind “early traction.”
The interesting part isn’t the launch itself, it’s what happens after the spike. Plenty of Product Hunt launches drive traffic, but very few translate into real usage or retention.
Curious what’s your definition of success here beyond vanity metrics?
Three paying customers within two weeks of launch who found ReleaseLog through a conversation rather than the PH feed. Not the spike number, not the upvote count three people who had a real problem, understood what ReleaseLog does, and paid $12 for it without being pushed. That's the signal that tells me the positioning is right and the distribution approach works. Everything else is noise I'll have to resist paying attention to. What made you ask, did your own launch not translate the way you expected?
Pre-selling is the ultimate market research. Most people build for months before realizing they have little to no customers(like some of us) . You’re shipping revenue while they’re shipping code
Appreciate it but I should be honest I'm in the "little to no customers" camp right now too. Zero sign-ups, zero MRR, three days in. The difference is just that I've stopped adding features and started having conversations. Whether that translates into actual revenue by May 13th is still the open question. What are you building?
Building Claimory a collision shop management platform, Different situation than yours though, my distribution is mostly offline. I have a good network of friends in the industry who walk into shops with brochures, show the product, and it lands without needing online marketing to do the heavy lifting. There are thousands of body shops in LA and word travels fast in this business.
That's an unfair advantage I don't take for granted, and I'm aware it doesn't translate to most software founders. Online distribution is a different game and the one you're playing is harder than mine.
For what it's worth, your "no new features until 5 paying customers" rule is the part of your post I respect the most. That's the discipline that gets people from zero to one. Most founders fail there.
Keep me posted on May 13th, rooting for you.
Took a quick look at your page.
The idea is solid, but the first line feels more like a general statement than a clear outcome.
It tells me what it’s about, but not immediately why I should care or what problem it solves.
Might be worth making that sharper so the value clicks faster.
Fair and useful, thank you for actually clicking through. "Feels more like a general statement than a clear outcome" is the right diagnosis. What would make it click faster for you, is it missing the problem, the outcome, or both? Would genuinely help to know what you'd expect to read in that first line.
This is a brutally honest and solid plan. "Not adding features" until you hit 5 paying customers is the exact cure for the "Paralyzed Visionary" trap.
Most developers get stuck endlessly building features because coding feels safe, while launching means facing the risk of zero customers. You're confronting the hard part head-on.
I recently built a diagnostic tool to help developers identify their specific avoidance patterns (like hiding behind new features instead of launching). I built a free test for this - the link is in my bio if you want to check your own pattern.
Sticking to your May 13th date and doing direct outreach is 90% of the battle. Good luck!
"Paralyzed Visionary" is a good name for it the feature trap feels like productivity because the feedback loop is immediate. Ship a feature, see it work, feel progress. Talk to customers, hear nothing back, feel stuck. The avoidance pattern makes complete sense even when you know it's happening. Good luck with the diagnostic tool that's a real problem worth solving.
Respect the honesty here.
One thing I’d challenge: conversations alone won’t convert if the value isn’t instantly clear.
When someone lands on your page, they should get “what this does + why it matters” in 5 seconds.
Right now the strategy is strong, but the positioning might be the bottleneck.
Two comments pointing at the same thing from someone who actually looked that's signal worth acting on. You're right that warm relationships don't convert if the page loses them in the first five seconds. The conversation gets them to click, the landing page has to close it. Going to rewrite that first line today. If you have ten seconds I'd genuinely value your take on what's missing problem, outcome, or both?
This is the right instinct. The useful-threads-first part matters more than the Product Hunt date, because it gives you proof that people understand the problem before launch day.
One thing I’d add: pick a tiny validation target that is harder than “people said nice things.” For Luota I’m treating it as: can I get 2-5 people to wire one real async workflow into the product and tell me whether the alert/evidence is actually useful?
For ReleaseLog maybe the equivalent is: can 3-5 teams publish one real changelog/request board and have a customer or teammate interact with it before PH? That would make launch day feel less like a first test and more like amplification.
This is a solid take.
One thing I’d add:
Even if they get 3-5 teams using it, conversion still depends on how clearly the value clicks in seconds.
If someone sees the page and doesn’t instantly get “why this matters,” those conversations won’t compound.
Curious, Have you tested different positioning angles yet?
Honestly I haven't tested different positioning angles yet. The page has been static since launch. You've diagnosed a legit problem though, definitely going to have to address it
That's a better target than anything I had written down. "People said nice things" is easy to collect and means nothing. Three founders who publish a real changelog and have someone interact with it before May 13th that's the validation that makes launch day amplification rather than experiment. Adopting this as the actual pre-launch goal starting today. What's Luota async workflow monitoring?
Launching with zero customers is brutal but props for having an actual plan.
Few thoughts from someone who's also building in public:
The 12-day countdown series is smart - builds anticipation. But make sure you're engaging in PH discussions NOW, not just showing up on launch day. The community can smell parachute launches.
For the email list building - are you planning warm outreach to people who might actually use it? Or just posting in communities and hoping? The difference in conversion is massive.
Also, what's your plan for the inevitable "cool product but not for me" comments on PH? Having a response ready for common objections saves you on launch day.
Good luck with the launch. Rooting for you.
On PH engagement started doing that this week, not waiting until the 13th. You're right that parachute launches are visible from a mile away. On warm outreach it's the only outreach I'm doing. Every founder I've had a real conversation with in the last three days is someone I'll message directly on launch day. No blasts, no cold lists. On the objection responses that's the gap in my plan you just identified. Haven't prepared those yet. What objections did you get that you wish you'd had a response ready for?
Mainly pricing objections and "we already have [competitor]" responses.
For pricing: I learned to lead with the problem/cost of NOT solving it before mentioning price. "You're losing X hours/month on manual tracking" hits harder than "$97 for automation."
For competitor objections: Instead of defending why I'm better, I ask "What's missing in your current setup?" Sometimes they realize their solution sucks, sometimes they're actually happy with it. Either way, saves time.
The objection I wish I'd prepped for: "This looks interesting but we'll revisit in Q3/Q4." That's a polite no disguised as a maybe. Now I just ask "What would need to be true for you to start TODAY?" Forces them to either commit or admit it's not a priority.
What objections are you expecting for your launch?
This is exactly the playbook I'm following for my own PH launch with WeProcess (visual thinking platform — whiteboard × kanban × mind map). Solo founder, near-zero audience, building in public from Tokyo.
The line that hit hardest: "no new features until 5 paying customers." I've been wrestling with whether to delay launch for one more feature. You're right — distribution is always the real problem, and building feels like progress when it's actually procrastination.
Question: How are you balancing the "show up daily on IH" with actual development time? I find myself either deep in code or deep in conversations, never both well.
Will be watching May 13th 🚀
The balance is simpler than it sounds because I've taken the feature building off the table entirely until I hit 5 paying customers. That decision removed the conflict. Right now the only two jobs are distribution and keeping the product stable. IH gets the first hour of the day before I open anything else. Once that's done, whatever's left is maintenance. Removing the option to build new features forced the prioritization. Don't delay for one more feature WeProcess sounds like something people can use today. What's the Tokyo indie scene like, is there much of a community there?
"Remove the option" is the part that landed. Keeping the feature door open was giving me an out — closing it forces the actual work. The WeProcess nudge is taken too; "one more feature" is exactly the instinct I'm trying to disarm.
Tokyo indie scene: real but quiet. Most Japanese indie devs live in Japanese-only communities (note, Zenn) — that's where I've been writing too, in Japanese. IH is new territory for me; honestly part of why I'm here is to figure out how the English-speaking indie world actually works.
Rooting for the 13th. 🤝
This hits. No ad budget, no real following, just something I'm still building and actually believe in, that's most of us honestly. Paid distribution was never really on the table anyway, so showing up and being useful isn't just the better play it's the only play.
Exactly that. When paid isn’t an option the question stops being “what’s the best channel” and becomes “where can I actually be useful.” Removes a lot of noise. What are you building?
This resonates with me on such a deep level. I’m currently in the same 'pre-launch grind' for Triply, and I’ve embraced the exact same philosophy.
I’m building this at 50, learning to code from scratch on a Chromebook, while working 8-hour warehouse shifts. Like you, I realized that 'polished' stories are boring—people connect with the struggle and the real human behind the screen.
I love your rule of 'no new features until 5 paying customers.' It’s so easy to hide behind code instead of doing the hard work of distribution. I'm also spending my time here on IH just being useful and building those 'warm' relationships for launch day.
Let’s definitely swap notes. The 'unpolished' way is the only way to build something that actually lasts. Good luck for May 13th!
Building at 50, on a Chromebook, between warehouse shifts, that’s not a backstory, that’s the whole argument against every excuse the rest of us use. The hiding behind code point is exactly right, it’s comfortable because it feels productive and nobody can tell you you’re wrong until the customers don’t show up. What’s Triply? And when’s your launch date?
Thank you! That means a lot. Honestly, the Chromebook and the warehouse shifts are my 'fuel' now—they keep me focused on what really matters.
What is Triply?
It’s an AI-powered travel ecosystem designed to remove the 'planning friction.'
Triply: Generates precise itineraries, flights, hotels and activities.
The Launch:
I’m currently battling the 'Amadeus Production Key' final boss, but I’m aiming for this Friday ( if I have the courage haha). I want to make sure the backend is rock solid for the first wave of users.
Travel planning friction is a real problem and the Amadeus integration is exactly the kind of backend work that's invisible to users but makes or breaks the whole thing. Don't let the production key be the reason Friday doesn't happen if the core flow works, ship it. The first wave of users will tell you more about what's broken than another week of testing ever could. You've already beaten harder things than an API key. What does the itinerary generation actually look like does it build day by day or does it optimize the whole trip at once?
This is the approach. Genuinely.
Most pre-launch posts read like a press release written to a person who doesn't exist yet. This one reads like someone who's actually thought about what the next 12 days look like on a Tuesday morning.
The "no new features until 5 paying customers" rule is the one I'd frame on a wall. It's so easy to convince yourself that the reason nobody's paying is because the product needs one more thing. It almost never is. Distribution is almost always the actual problem and building more features is just a more comfortable way to avoid that conversation.
The IH approach you're describing works too, but it's slow and most people give up on it after 3 days when it doesn't produce immediate results. The fact that you're setting a 12-day horizon instead of expecting overnight results tells me you actually understand how this works.
One thing I'd add — the founders you help in threads before May 13th, follow up with them directly the day before launch. Not a mass message. Individual ones. "Hey we talked last week about X, we're going live tomorrow, would mean a lot if you checked it out." That personal touch on launch day is worth more than any amount of upvotes from strangers.
Good luck. Drop an update after launch day genuinely curious how it goes.
That pre-launch follow-up advice is going straight into the plan. Individual messages, reference the actual conversation, the day before not a blast, not a template. That’s the difference between a reminder and a request and you’re right that it’s worth more than cold upvotes. The 3-day dropout point is real too most people mistake slow for not working. Appreciate you taking the time to write this properly. Will drop an update after the 13th.
Hey, checked your product — nice concept.
One thing I noticed is you’re not leveraging SEO content yet.
A few targeted blog posts could help bring consistent traffic.
I help SaaS startups and Digital Marketing companies grow with SEO and conversion-focused content that turns traffic into leads.
Solid plan. Three sharp things from running TokRepo's PH launch (skill marketplace for AI agents) that aren't in most "no-customers PH playbook" posts:
The minute-zero rule is real and brutal. PH's algorithm front-loads the first 90 minutes — if you don't hit ~30 upvotes in that window, the curve flattens and you're invisible. Pre-warming via IH/Twitter is right but not enough. Build a Notion shared "launch warriors" list 7 days before — 25-30 founders who commit specifically to upvoting at 12:01 AM PT. Asking 80 people gets you ~25 reliable ones. We tracked: 23/30 committed → showed up. Saved our launch.
"No new features until 5 paying customers" is the right rule, but flip it: in those 12 days, ship 3-5 content artifacts instead. A teardown of why competitor X's onboarding fails. A short loom of you using ReleaseLog yourself for a real release. A spreadsheet of "what 50 founders say is broken about changelogs." Each artifact = a reason to send DMs that feel like value, not pitch. Got us 47 cold conversations in 9 days pre-launch with 0 marketing budget.
The "be useful in threads" strategy works only if you treat it as data collection, not just goodwill. Track every founder you talk to in a sheet: their stack, their stage, what they care about. On launch day you don't blast — you DM each one individually with one line tied to what they told you. Reply rate goes from ~6% (cold) to 41% (contextual). 7 of our first 12 PH-day signups came from this.
Re: PH ranking — agree, top 5 is the realistic target with your prep level, not #1. #1 needs a hunter with 10K+ followers OR a paid PH agency. #5 needs ~120 quality upvotes + 25 substantive comments in first 4 hours. Doable solo.
DM me your launch day if you want a non-friend upvote and a real comment. May 13.
The launch warriors list is the thing I hadn’t accounted for. I’ve been thinking about warm relationships as a passive asset people who know my name and might show up. You’re describing an active commitment list, which is a completely different mechanic. 25 confirmed people at minute zero beats 200 who might get around to it. Building that starting today. Taking you up on May 13th, I’ll send you the link that morning. What’s TokRepo at now post-launch?
Respect for the "zero customers, two Twitter followers, May 13th" honesty — most pre-launch posts hide the starting line. I'm a solo dev shipping a small iOS memo app this year and the only thing that actually moved my early signups was exactly what you described: showing up in 1–2 communities every day and being useful before mentioning anything I built. The funny part — my single most productive hour was answering a totally unrelated Reddit question for someone who later DM'd me asking what I was working on. One thing I'd add for May 13th specifically: warm up your replies-to-other-people ratio in the 48 hours before, not just on the day. How are you tracking which IH conversations actually convert into launch-day support — gut feel, or something more structured?
The show up and be useful first strategy is underrated. Most pre-launch content is thinly veiled self-promotion people can feel it immediately and it does the opposite of what you want. What you're describing is actually how real relationships get built. The founders who know your name on launch day are worth 10x the ones who just stumble onto your listing cold. Good luck on the 13th
Appreciate it. “Thinly veiled self-promotion people can feel immediately” is exactly the trap and most people don’t realize they’ve fallen into it until the comments stop coming. What are yiu working on?
This feels like the honest version people actually need.
The part that stands out is treating relationship-building as the real launch prep, not the listing itself. A lot of founders treat launch day like the start of distribution when it’s really more like the test of whether any distribution groundwork exists at all.
That last line is exactly it. Launch day doesn’t create distribution it reveals whether any existed before it. Most people find out the hard way. The listing is just the moment of truth, not the work itself.
Solid plan. Launching on Product Hunt with zero audience is tough, but focusing on real relationships first is exactly what most people skip.
I did something similar with my last product. Showed up consistently in relevant threads, helped where I could, and after a few weeks I already had warm leads before launch day. Conversion from those conversations was way higher than cold PH traffic.
Biggest thing: don't push your product in every comment. People smell it immediately and you lose trust.
Good luck on May 13th. I'll be watching how it goes.
The conversion gap between warm conversations and cold PH traffic is the number I keep coming back to. Nobody talks about it because cold traffic is easier to measure but harder to convert, and warm relationships are the opposite. Don’t push in every comment is the rule I’ve been most careful about you only get to break it once before the trust is gone. What was the product?
This is refreshingly honest. Most pre-launch posts are polished success stories. You're sharing the messy reality.
I've built TrendyRevenue (AI idea validation – live, launched recently on PH too). Did it with zero customers as well. Your approach of 'showing up on IH every day to be genuinely useful' – that's exactly what worked for me too. Those relationships paid off on launch day.
Question: You said 'no new features until 5 paying customers.' What's your testing process for bugs or edge cases before then? I'm struggling with balancing 'ship fast' vs 'don't ship broken.' Any lightweight QA strategy you're using? Also, the public roadmap/feature board – smart. I might steal that. How did you decide which features to put on there vs keep internal?
Good luck on May 13th. Following.
On bugs vs ship fast the rule I use is: does this break the core loop? Changelog publish, roadmap update, feature request submission. If those work, ship it. Edge cases in secondary features get noted and fixed in the next update. Perfect is the enemy of first customer. On the roadmap anything that’s genuinely planned goes public, anything that’s a maybe or a strategic decision stays internal. Users voting on real options is useful signal. Users voting on things you’re not sure about yet just creates expectation debt. That’s actually built into ReleaseLog itself — the public page at https://tryreleaselog.com/p/releaselog-building-in-public is live if you want to see how I’m using it. Good luck with TrendyRevenue, how did launch day actually go?
ok go on.. all the best
Rooting for you.
I've been wandering around — IH, Reddit, X — trying to find early users for Mystic Sage, an AI counseling app I built. No deadline. Just waiting for people to show up somehow.
Reading this made me realize what I was missing. It's about setting a deadline and then showing up every day with genuine sincerity for the people you meet along the way.
Twelve days. I'll be watching.
Yeah the deadline isn't magic, it's just a forcing function that turns passive presence into active showing up. Pick a date, any date, and let it pull you forward. Mystic Sage sounds like a product where trust is everything, the founders who find early users for something that personal are usually the ones who went one conversation at a time rather than one channel at a time. Twelve days. I'll keep you posted.
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?
I'm feeling this a lot recently. I've been trying to pick the correct lane, Spread across the 5 channels right now and waiting for one of them to start moving so I can go all in on it. I'm glad to hear IH is working for you. Maybe I need to invest some more time here!
I've been working on a screen recording tool called ShipClip, a mix of screen studio and loom. X has been working alright for me, being able to post video content is pretty useful for my tool. I'll find your account over there!
ShipClip makes sense on X video content for a video tool is a natural fit, that's probably your signal right there. Five channels with one already showing movement isn't a spread problem, it's a permission problem. You're waiting for it to be obvious before you commit. It's already telling you something. See you on X !! I’ll be watching the journey, you know where to come if you ever need a changelog, roadmap, or feature request implementation.
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.
That makes sense.
Feels like the key is that the “ask” doesn’t feel like an ask because the relationship already exists.
At that point it’s more of a reminder than a request.
Exactly. A request from a stranger is friction. A reminder to someone who already knows you is just timing. The whole pre-launch period is just building enough of those relationships that launch day has somewhere to land.
Are you working on anything / have a launch coming up?
very interesting!
The "no new features until 5 paying customers" rule is the move most solo founders miss. I've watched so many get stuck in the feature loop because building feels productive while distribution feels uncertain. The fact that you're treating warm relationships as the actual launch prep puts you ahead of 90% of the people shipping to PH. Good luck on the 13th.
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Honest pre-launch is underrated. Most founders wait until they have traction to show up. You're doing the opposite — showing up first, building the relationships, then launching into a warm audience. 12 days is enough if you're actually useful, not just talking about being useful. Following.
nice work u have in your website but try to improve it for seo too and not use react build instead of that use next js it give a cool fast and friend to seo
Love the honesty here. "No new features until 5 paying customers" is the discipline most solo builders miss — including me for a long time. I've been building AI tools from a camper in rural BC with zero external feedback loops, and the hardest part wasn't the code, it was resisting the urge to keep building instead of shipping and talking to people. 12 days with a clear constraint is a much smarter frame than "launch when it's ready." Good luck on the 13th.
The 'engage first, post second' framing is sharper than I'd thought about it. IH literally enforces it now (new accounts can't post immediately), so the platform is doing your strategy for you. The harder version is doing this on platforms that don't enforce it, like LinkedIn or X.
I'm 3 weeks into the same approach with 5 products and zero customers, and what surprised me is how much resistance my own brain throws up against the slow-and personal version.
The faster path always feels available even when I know it's a trap.
The "no new features until 5 paying" constraint is the right discipline. It forces the only problem worth solving.
Really looking forward to revisiting this in the future.
that was great concept for the community
Sounds like a good idea. i might just actually use it for an app I'm building.
Just one thing I'd toss out there. When I clicked your link it took me to the Request a Feature page. It took me a while (in Internet terms, obvs) to page back and forward figure out what your product does. I found it and it was a compelling description for founders who need it, or like me, founders who hadn't about it but realised that it could be really useful. Anyway, why don't you add an 'about' to your menu and add that description to it?
I agree with this comment. You might want to put an interactive demo of your platform on your homepage so that people get an instant idea of what you do. Use Supademo (shameless plug)
Fair point and noted an interactive demo on the homepage would close the gap faster than any amount of copy. Will look at Supademo. Is that what you built?
That’s exactly the kind of feedback I needed, thank you for actually clicking through and spending time on it. You’re right, landing on the feature request page first without context is confusing. An about page with a proper description is going on the roadmap today. Glad the product clicked once you found it though. If you ever have more questions please feel free to reach out about them, I’ll be around! What are you building?
the no new features until 5 paying customers rule is doing a lot of work here. the hardest part of that constraint is that building feels like progress even when it is not solving the actual problem. distribution is invisible until it suddenly is not, which makes it easy to default back to the thing that gives you feedback loops. twelve days of showing up in real conversations compounds faster than most founders expect. what counts as a win for you on day 14, regardless of where you land on the leaderboard?
Honestly, at least one person who signs up on launch day and says they'd been following along. Not a cold click from the Product Hunt feed someone who knew my name before they saw the listing. That's the difference between a spike and the start of something. What are you building?
a beauty product inventory and expiry tracker for iOS. the same problem you're solving on the distribution side is exactly where i am right now. launch is coming up and the temptation to keep building features instead of having real conversations is constant. seeing someone else draw that line clearly and hold it is genuinely useful 🙌
The "no new features until 5 paying customers" rule is the one I wish I'd written down last year. I'm a few months into a small iOS side project, and the worst weeks were the ones where I added "one more thing" instead of fixing distribution. The thing your strategy gets right that almost nobody talks about: showing up in IH threads doesn't compound until around week 3-4. Reply 1 might get a polite thanks. Reply 15 is when someone clicks through to your profile because they remember your name from somewhere. People aren't lazy, they're cautious — three encounters with the same useful person feels safer than one. What's your concrete signal for whether a thread reply was "useful enough" vs filler? That's the calibration I'm still bad at.
The week 3-4 observation is the most accurate thing I've read about IH engagement and I haven't seen anyone say it that clearly before. Three encounters with the same useful person feels safer than one that's exactly the mechanic and it reframes the whole early period from "not working" to "still loading." The signal I use for useful vs filler is simple: did I learn something from writing it? If I'm just agreeing or restating what they said, it's filler regardless of how well it reads. If I had to actually think about their situation to write it, it probably added something. The other test is whether I'd want a reply if I don't care either way, the comment wasn't good enough. What's the iOS project?
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