Culink
A visual way to curate and share web content.
Been building Culink (a link-curation platform) for about 25 days now.
So far:
• 639 visitors
• 35 signups
• retention close to zero
From what I can tell, it doesn't feel like a product problem — users who try it say it makes sense — but I can’t get people to come back. So I’m guessing this is more of a GTM problem.
Tried:
• Reddit → links removed or auto-filtered
• Paid ads → no traction
• Product Hunt → barely moved the needle
At this point SEO feels like the only remaining channel, but that’s a 2–3 month wait at minimum.
For those who’ve been in this stage before:
How did you get your first returning users?
What channel actually worked for you?
Really appreciate any insight — building solo can feel like guessing in the dark.
Hey IH! 👋
I’ve been building Culink solo.
Soft launched 2 weeks ago — now taking it to Product Hunt next Tuesday.
📦 What I Built
A social link curation platform — create collections, discover curators, follow topics.
📊 2 Weeks Post-Launch
24 signups (from IH & Twitter)
40 collections (27 mine, 13 users)
~300 total visitors
Cold start is very real 😅
🎯 PH Launch Plan
Tuesday 9 AM PST
5 screenshots ready
Goal: 20–50 new signups
Will share a full post next week — what worked, what didn’t, and lessons learned.
💭 Any last-minute tips before launch?
Always love hearing from others who’ve been through it!
Hey Indie Hackers 👋
I’m a solo developer who basically lives inside browser tabs.
Every day I find gold — AI tools, startup essays, Next.js tutorials —
and then I lose it all.
Bookmarks die.
Notion’s too heavy.
Twitter likes disappear.
So I built Culink — a simple, visual way to collect and share links.
Think Pinterest for knowledge and web content.
You can create curated collections, explore others’ picks, and build your own mini web.
💬 I’d love honest feedback from fellow builders:
Does this actually solve a real pain for you?
What would make it more useful day to day?
I’m sharing weekly #buildinpublic logs — any feedback means the world. 🚀
👉 Try it here: www.culink.io/discover
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Great story on building a link-sharing platform like Culink — love how you’re tackling how to save and organise links visually. It reminds me of how I’ve been curating tasty niche content myself.
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Really appreciate your feedback! 🙌
Feel free to share your curated links on Culink — would love to see them!
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Thanks for the work.
Very simple UX. One thumbnail would not show (lag, timeout ?)-
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Thanks for checking it out!
The thumbnail issue happens with some sites that block metadata fetching — I’m working on handling those cases better.
Really appreciate you noticing it!
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Thanks so much for all the feedback!
Trying things out and leaving a comment really helps me improve Culink. 🙏
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Website unusable on iPhone safari browser. The free assessment thing takes up screen space and I can’t minimise or close.
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Thanks for the feedback! 🙏
It might be caused by the cookie policy popup — could you let me know which iPhone model you’re using? That’ll help me fix it properly.
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Pretty interestig project, I don't see many activity tho.
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Thanks! You’re right — it’s still early, so I’m building things up little by little.
I’m creating new collections every day to keep it growing.
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This is a good product and it is useful to me.
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Thanks so much — really glad to hear that!
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But what will I do with my Sundays if I don't have to reorganize link folders for half the day?
Great idea!-
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Haha, I guess you’ll finally have your Sundays back 😄
Thanks — that was exactly the goal!
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Looks good! How've you found getting traction with returning users?
Also noticed some of your css is a bit off e.g. at /create-collection, the page has a white title and white background - Create New Collection-
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Still early, not many users yet — a bit frustrating at times .
I’ll check that CSS issue you spotted. Really appreciate the feedback!
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Really clean app. I also had an idea like this for an social link sharing app but just didnt have the motivation to do it.
You can add more features like ai auto tagging and also can have a leaderboard to discover all the trending links like if more people shared/saved the same link, it gets higher score.
Also trying adding support for mobile app and a browser extension since people mostly browser links on their mobile and they can save it and view it in their desktops
All the best
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Thanks a lot for the thoughtful feedback!
A mobile app and browser extension are definitely on my wishlist — just feels like a big leap for now 😅
Really appreciate the ideas!
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This is a great idea — I totally get the problem of losing valuable links in random places. Notion feels too heavy, and bookmarks get messy fast.
I like the “Pinterest for knowledge” angle — it makes sense visually. Curious, are you planning to add tags or some kind of AI-assisted organization? That could make it really powerful for daily use.
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Thanks so much! Really glad it resonates — I’ve had the same problem myself.
Tagging already exists, but I’m planning to expand it a bit.
Keeping things simple yet smarter feels like the right direction.
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dang the concept is nice, but looking at the tagline 'pinterest for links', it didnt click me.
because pinterest is a social media platform and not a bookmark tool.
maybe some other tagline:
YOUR <strike>LIFE</strike> LINK-Saver or something similar-
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That’s a fair take — and actually, you’re right that Pinterest is a social platform.
Culink is heading in that direction too — more like a social layer for link discovery, not just bookmarking.
The idea is that collections can connect people around shared interests, kind of like how Pinterest connects people through visuals.
Really appreciate your take — makes me think how to clarify that better in the tagline!
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Culink sounds like the kind of lightweight, visual tool that could actually support creative flow. I’d love to see tagging by emotional tone or use-case—something that helps me resurface links when I’m in a specific head space.
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That’s a really interesting idea.
We do have tagging already, but I hadn’t thought about it from that perspective.
Thanks for the inspiration!
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This is super cool, totally relate to the “living inside browser tabs” thing 😅.
Bookmarks always end up as a graveyard for me too.
Love that you made it more visual; it makes browsing your own saved stuff actually feel rewarding.-
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Thanks so much!
Really appreciate it.
If you get a chance, try creating a collection — it’s surprisingly helpful once you start organizing links.
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This is cool. Btw the link in "Try it here: didn't work for me.
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Thanks for letting me know!
Just fixed the link — should work now
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LOVE IT
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Thanks! Glad you liked it
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Nice work shipping this! I've definitely been in that boat — finding great resources then losing them in bookmark chaos.
One thing I'm curious about: what makes someone want to browse other people's curated links versus just Googling? I think leaning into niche communities (like "best indie hacker resources" or "underrated AI tools") could help build that discovery habit.
Clean UI though — bookmarking tools get cluttered fast, so keeping it simple is smart.
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Thanks for this — you nailed the core question.
Your niche community idea is exactly right — that’s the answer.
Google = mainstream + obvious
Culink = hidden gems + niche
Like: “Underrated AI tools by someone who’s tried 50+ tools.”
You can’t Google that — but you’d browse it.
Your examples (“indie hacker resources”, “underrated AI tools”) are exactly what I want to double down on.
Quick question — would you browse a collection like “Underrated SaaS tools (curated by a 7-figure indie hacker)”?
Just trying to validate if this actually resonates, or if I’m off base.
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This is pretty interesting. if there were a set of filters to sort through links it could add to the application. Outside of that I can see how the my collections folder for storing links is useful.
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Appreciate the feedback!
I’ve been thinking the same — adding filters or sort options could make browsing smoother.
Not the easiest feature to build, but worth exploring for sure.
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Love how simple and clean this looks. It feels lightweight and distraction-free, which is exactly what bookmarking tools usually miss.
I think a smart differentiator from tools like Raindrop could be adding a personalized discovery like showing related content or trending collections based on what users save. (if/when you reach to that volume levels)
Really cool direction overall. I like simplicity. I am excited to see where you take it.-
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Appreciate the great insight!
Raindrop nails personal bookmarking — I wanted Culink to feel more social and discovery-driven, where people can find and share the best resources together.
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Got it — love that direction. The social/discovery angle definitely adds depth - I got why you call Pinterest now; I can visit to find my interests with tags curators as you have on your search section
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That means a lot — thanks! 😊
Exactly, the idea is to make browsing feel human again.
Glad you noticed the tags and curators — that’s where I want to double down next.
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