My biggest mistake with launchpads
When I first released my app, I launched it on Product Hunt.
It was an interesting experience, of course, but I made one big mistake:
I kept watching the process for a week, then another week –
and in the end I didn’t do anything similar after that.
But I should have launched one after another, because there are dozens of Product Hunt alternatives.
And actually, not all of them are bad.
Some leading platforms have around 10,000–50,000 unique visitors per month.
For example: Uneed, Tiny Launch, Peerlist, and others.
There is a common opinion that all these platforms are mostly hype. But I think it’s also because not many people find the time to submit their product everywhere — so they don’t really have much experience with them.
Most likely, they judge everything by Product Hunt.
And Product Hunt is already heavily surrounded by all kinds of people who jump on you as soon as you post about your launch on social media — like flies — offering to push you up in the ranking for just $30–50.
Don’t fall for that.
Now I’m starting to look at these platforms more as amplification tools.
They won’t save a weak product, but they can create momentum around a good one.
A few things surprised me.
The value is not only in upvotes
Even paid placements started to look different to me once I changed my perspective.
I try to see them not as “buying votes,” but as:
visibility
backlinks
SEO signals
new contacts
Many platforms give do-follow links with paid placements, which can be useful long-term for indie apps and websites.
Every platform has its own hidden algorithms
At first, it looks like everything is based only on upvotes.
But the deeper you look, the more obvious it becomes that it’s more complicated.
For example, Peerlist openly says that ranking depends on:
upvotes
comments
quality of comments
views
link visits
overall traction
So a launch is probably not only about raw numbers, but also about the quality of engagement.
Even small launches create movement
One thing I really underestimated:
launches create energy around a product.
Suddenly you:
start talking to more people
get more feedback
notice problems faster
see how other real active founders are doing things
Even small movement changes how you see your own product.
And honestly, it’s pretty exciting.
By the way, Waymate is live on Uneed today 🙂
Waymate is my minimal step tracker focused not only on movement, but also on capturing thoughts while walking.
I think these two things are deeply connected.
If you’d like to support the launch, I’d be incredibly grateful 🙏:
https://www.uneed.best/tool/waymate
A more detailed breakdown will come later — I’m still learning all of this myself.
Thanks for reading.
May you enjoy your journey,
Andrei.
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