Product Hunt

Compete on your terms DoorDash focused on delivering in suburbs, while their competitors focus on cities. They took this bet because: 1. They know their market. 2. Dare to zig when competitors zag. Know where your customers are, move fast, and keep shipping.

"Taking action is the best step to learn" No books, courses, or blog posts can teach you about startups better than real experience. Take action, keep learning, and see what happens. (h/t @andrewmichaelio on X for the video)

You know him as the two-hit wonders But entrepreneur Nikita Bier actually built FOURTEEN apps in 5 years before he finally exited. Keep shipping and iterating. Don't give up. (h/t Intro for the video)

Founders: Stop multitasking and start "serial tasking" instead. As Elon said, "context switching is the mind killer." Focus 100% on the task at hand, then move on to the next. (h/t Overlap for the video)

Founders are unreasonable. Launching your own product often means you have to reject reason and normal convention. But that is exactly where innovation happens. Ship something, and see what happens.

The regret of not starting often outweighs the sting of failure. Unsure about your startup? Think about the regret you'll feel at 80 for not trying. Launch now, find your community, and refine as you go. (h/t Intro for the video)

Just because no one else is doing it doesn't mean you're wrong. If you have a wacky, out-of-the-box idea, don't dismiss it immediately. It might be the one that makes you stand out.

I've seen startups raise $10M+ and fail. Here's 6 signs a startup may be imploding from the inside out: 𝟭. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 I call this the "founder-to-creator pipeline" When a VC-backed founder knows their company is screwed, they'll start a newsletter as an insurance policy. I saw 1 founder use VC funds to hire a ghostwriter to grow their audience "for the company" when in fact they wanted a nice exit plan. (The funny thing is it worked.) He's now making $1M+/year from his massive newsletter while his old VC-backed startup went bankrupt!!! Not all founders writing a newsletter are doing this—but many are making an insurance policy with VC funds. 𝟮. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 The inverse of #1 can also be true. If a founder is posting regularly (ie daily) for months and then goes dark, it's usually because the startup is dying. The product isn't working so they're not investing time/money into making content. As a rule, I find the best founders are extremely online and extremely responsive (the best 7-8 figure founders I know respond in minutes). 𝟯. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝘂𝘁 Cold plunges, 100 sleep scores, yoga retreats, etc. You shouldn't have time for this. My investment thesis looks like Red Bull and all-nighters. Bryan Johnson can do Bryan Johnson because he's already a billionaire. 𝟰. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀 If someone refuses podcasts, I assume their company is going bad and they don't want to talk about it. This isn't always true—but most founders will take any chance to yap about their company they can. Usually if a founder refuses a podcast, it's because there's something big and bad they're about to announce. 𝟱. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 This is the most obvious. But a lot of the time, founders will change their bio before they announce anything. If you see "working on something new", your investment is going to 0 𝟲. 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗼𝗱𝘂𝘀 If a lot of employees are leaving within a few years of joining, it's probably a sign something ain't working. Startup employees all get a lot of equity. If they're leaving before their equity vests, it means they no longer believe in the company's future valaue. Note: these are not rules, they're observations I've made my last 3 years in startups/VC. I’m young (26) and often wrong and will admit when I am (“Strong opinions loosely held”) That being said, I hope these are helpful if you're thinking about joining/investing in a startup! For more startup/VC hacks follow me Jason Levin ✏️

Pursue your curiosity. The best products stem from genuine interest. Explore new things, connect with others, seek fresh experiences. You'll be amazed at how far it takes you.

Want Product Hunt launch tips? I interviewed our CEO Rajiv Ayyangar 🙀 Rajiv launched on Product Hunt 7x. He went viral and raised millions. Now he's the CEO of Product Hunt. Want to win on Product Hunt? Listen to Rajiv's tips here: https://lnkd.in/eRS87QMX