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We have over 10,000 users. While launching on ProductHunt we decided not to spam everyone's DM by asking for upvote. In fact we didn't have much expectations as well.
Surprisingly we were at #3 product of the day for almost whole day but at the last couple of hours the #4 product suddenly started getting 50-60 upvotes in 15 minutes of time and took the #3 spot. After, that it always maintained a gap of 10-12 votes until end of the day.
I received lots of DMs and emails asking to "collaborate" for upvotes.
Moreover I see the list is filled with AI products which earlier were filled with Blockchain and NFT products.
One more bad experience we had was that some companies were flaunting their YC tag on the name. We decided to add "we are bootstrapped" in the name which was removed by the PH team. Their CEO even replied on X that they don't allow bootstrap in the name but adding YC is fine.
I know this sounds like a rant but I miss the pre-2020 era when ProductHunt used to be fun.
Have you recently launched or visited PH? What is your experience there?
I started my graduation in computer science in 2010. But got a computer in 2011 only (funny I know, but I couldn't afford it that time).
After graduation I joined Accenture but then left it to join a startup as an early employee in 2015. Worked there for 4 years saw it grow from 3 employees to 200+ employees.
Pay was good now. Life was improving. And then I got a job offer which was 10 times more than what I got in first job.
Life improved more. But the itch to start something my own was not making me to rest.
Although, I started several projects (and sold some of them) but none of them seemed to be a "real" product that can push me to leave my job and go full time.
Then in 2023 I started working on a Typeform alternative called Youform after getting lot of demand from my previous product (Botflow).
While building it and juggling between full time work, a freelancing client and a pregnant wife, I somehow managed to cross 200 free users by December 2023.
Then in late December my now Co-founder (then client) pitched me to do it together.
I was bit hesitant at the beginning. The pay at my current job was awesome and life was comfortable.
But something told me to go for it.
So I left my job in Feb 2024 and launched the paid plan on 12th Feb 2024.
Since then we have made around $20,000 in revenue in lifetime deals sale.
There are days when it is making 100,000 INR in a single day (which is huge in India where I live). For context this is half the amount I spent in my 4 years of engineering degree.
It is past midnight here. I am sitting alone typing it and thinking how my life has changed. It is beautiful and I can't be thankful enough.