launch-it

Launch it

Developer communities reward the honest, technical, slightly humble builder and punish the marketer instantly. A Show HN is not an announcement. It's "I built this thing, here's how it works and what's still rough."

Use this when: you're scared to launch, you're hoping to "go viral," or you're about to drop marketing copy into a room that eats marketing copy for breakfast.

The core idea

The bar is usefulness + honesty, not polish. Developers will test your claims and read your code. Show up as a real engineer sharing real work, be present to answer everything, and never, ever fake it. One genuine launch beats ten hype posts.

Framework: Show HN anatomy (Czakon / Tailscale lessons)

1. Title: plain, specific, zero hype. "Show HN: A faster Postgres migration tool for large tables", not "🚀 The future of database migrations is HERE."
2. First comment = the story (post it yourself, immediately):
   • why you built it (the itch, ideally your own),
   • how it works (technical, concrete),
   • what's genuinely hard/limited right now (honesty buys trust),
   • a dead-simple way to try it.
3. Be present for hours. Answer every comment, especially the critical ones, technically and without defensiveness. The comment thread is the launch.
4. Never astroturf. No vote rings, no sock puppets. Communities detect it and the ban is permanent and public.

Framework: Product Hunt anatomy (fmerian / Kilo lessons)

1. Name of the product: simply the name of your product in 40 characters or less.
2. Tagline: concise and descriptive, in less than 60 characters. The most important part, the first thing people read on the front page. Avoid hyperbolic words and emojis. Keep it simple and relatable.
3. Description: a short description of what the product does in less than 500 characters.
4. Launch tags: up to three tags.
5. Thumbnail: a 240 x 240 pixel thumbnail.
6. Image gallery: at least 3 images to show your product. No stock images, no marketing fluff. Show the product, i.e. product screenshots. You can add social proof and a call-to-action to inspire action. The first image is used as the social preview when you share the link to your launch page.
7. First comment: essential to get the discussion started. This comment is posted upon launch. The first 800 characters are displayed. Pro tip: reuse your HN comment.
8. Be present for the first 4 hours. Upvote and reply to every comment. Don't just thank. Ask questions, inspire action.
9. Find a hunter: an established Product Hunt user who can boost your reach. If you're in dev tools, Flo Merian (@fmerian) is a great one to ask. PH has dialed down hunter influence over time, so a strong launch and a present founder matter most, but a well-connected hunter still helps.