If hunters can’t try it without an account, they bounce before they vote

AI-heavy weeks on early-adopter boards taught me something blunt: a signup wall before proof kills votes more often than a “bad product.” Hunters open the link, hit email gate or OAuth before they can click anything real, and bounce. No try = no vote. Not because they hated the idea — because they never saw it.

EarlyHunt (https://earlyhunt.com) is built for AI tools and early adopters. Board runs Monday 8:00am UTC for seven days. You need a working URL. Short description is 10–200 characters. Full write-up wants 200+ words (I aim 400+ when I can). None of that saves you if the first click dumps them into “create account to continue.”

I started treating ungated try-first as a launch requirement, not a nice-to-have. Demo path, public sandbox, sample output — something they can poke without giving me their email. Then ask for the account. On Product Hunt Alternatives (https://producthunt-alternatives.com) the boards that fit AI/early-stage best still reward the same behavior: open link → try → decide. Signup walls break that chain right at open link → bounce → no vote.

I used to think we’ll convert better if they register first. Maybe for a sales funnel. For a hunt week it just looks like you’re hiding the product. Fix the wall before you polish the hunter pitch. I’ve watched solid tools lose a Monday because the CTA was “Sign up free” instead of “Try this without an account.”

What’s the lightest ungated proof you’ve shipped for a launch week — demo link, Loom, or something messier?