What I learned trying to get my first product seen (Reddit, Product Hunt, LinkedIn — one day in)
Shipped my first project a few days ago — a dashboard that turns Excel sales data into business decisions. Then spent a full day trying to get it in front of people.
What I tried:
- Reddit: got removed by filters multiple times, even banned from one subreddit — turns out new accounts get heavily restricted regardless of content quality
- Product Hunt: launched, but got almost no organic traction without an existing network to kickstart it
- LinkedIn: posted a poll instead of a pitch — got real votes and actual conversation, way more useful than I expected
- Indie Hackers: added the product, commented on a few posts genuinely — this ended up being where I got the most real, thoughtful feedback
The biggest lesson: platforms with strict anti-spam systems (Reddit, most subreddits) basically require account "age" before you can post, no matter how good your content is. That's not a strategy problem, it's just time you have to put in first.
The other lesson: a genuine comment in the right thread beats a polished post in the wrong place. The best feedback I got all day came from actually engaging with other people's posts here, not from broadcasting my own.
Still early, still learning. Curious what worked for others when you first tried to get eyes on something you built.
