The Big Launch Sucks. Here's What to Do Instead
I used to think the big launch day was everything. You know the drill. You prime your tiny email list, you schedule a dozen tweets, and you pray to the algorithm gods on some big launch platform. For 24 hours, you’re refreshing the page like a maniac, begging friends for upvotes.
Then… crickets. A handful of clicks, maybe a "cool idea!" comment, and then your product gets shoved off the front page, buried by tomorrow's new hotness. You're left with nothing but a caffeine headache and a sense of dread.
Then I saw someone else do it, and I realized something: we were all doing it wrong.
The Problem with "Launch Day"
Most advice about launching sounds like you're planning an invasion. "Launch army," "hype cycle," "upvote brigades." It’s no wonder so many launch posts feel like they were written by a desperate robot.
The real issue isn't that people hate new products—it's that the system is rigged. It rewards audience size, not product quality. It's a popularity contest disguised as a meritocracy. And when you've been heads-down building something useful instead of chasing clout, you lose before you even start.
What Actually Works: Three Ideas That Don’t Suck
A founder, fresh off quitting their job, built four different projects. Each one hit the same launch-day wall. Frustrated, they tried something different. The result? $10,000 in revenue and $1,500 MRR in three months. With zero ad spend.
Here’s what they did.
1. Solve a Problem That's Actually Yours
Instead of doing "market research," the founder just built a solution for their own frustrating experience. They were sick of great, undiscovered products getting buried, so they built a place for them to live.
This is an advantage you can't fake. When you are your own customer, you know the exact pain points. You know the language. You know what a real solution needs to do, not what sounds good on a landing page.
The key: Your personal frustration is a better compass than any market analysis report.
2. Build a Compounding Asset, Not a Firework
The 24-hour launch is a firework: a bright flash, and then it's gone. This founder built a campfire instead—something that provides warmth over the long haul.
Their model was simple:
A product directory that’s permanent. Once you’re on it, you’re on it forever. No 24-hour clock.
Votes that stick around. Instead of resetting to zero every day, upvotes accumulate over time. The best tools slowly rise to the top based on long-term value, not one-day hype.
This turns your "launch" from a one-time expense of energy into an asset that grows over time. It rewards quality, not just a big mob on day one.
The key: Stop playing a game with a 24-hour clock. Build something that makes time your friend.
3. Go Where People Are Already Complaining
So how did this new platform get its first users? No fancy ad campaigns. The founder just went to a few subreddits and Twitter threads where other makers were complaining about the exact same problem.
They didn't post, "Check out my new product!" They said, "Hey, this launch process sucks, right? I'm trying to build something to fix it."
The response was huge because they weren't selling something. They were starting a conversation about a shared pain. People felt understood, so they were eager to check out the solution.
The key: Find the community that feels the pain you solve. Join their conversation, don’t just interrupt it with your product.
The Real Rules of a Better Launch
Every product is different, but here’s what actually matters:
Solve a real itch. The best products come from a founder’s genuine frustration.
Forget the 24-hour sprint. Think in months and years. Build a system where your product’s value can compound.
Give value away. The core of this new platform was free. The founder made money by selling convenience—letting people pay to skip the waitlist or get a featured spot. They helped first, and sold shortcuts second.
Accept that success creates new problems. Now that the platform is growing, they have a new challenge: how to make sure new products don't get buried by old ones with tons of votes? That’s the next problem to solve. Building a business is just a chain of solving new problems.
What This Actually Looks Like
Here's the story in a nutshell: A founder built four products that failed to get traction on launch day. They got mad at the system. So for their fifth project, they built a new system—a permanent directory for indie products. They made a couple of posts on Reddit and Twitter saying, "Launches are broken, here's my idea to fix it."
Result: In 3 months, they had over 2,500 users, 1,200 products listed, and hit $10k in revenue. Not because they had a huge marketing budget, but because other founders saw someone who clearly understood their problem and was building a real solution.
The Long Game
This isn't about finding a new launch hack. It's about fundamentally changing how you think about getting your product into the world. It’s not a one-day event. It’s a continuous process of building something useful, sharing it with a community that cares, and letting its value grow over time.
This takes patience. But the payoff is a real, sustainable business, not just a "Featured On" badge.
Getting Started (Without the Hype)
Find a problem in your own life that really annoys you.
Think about how a solution could provide value that grows over time, not just for one day.
Find 2-3 online communities where people are already talking about this problem.
Spend a week just reading. Understand the frustration.
Share your idea as a solution to that shared frustration.
Be patient and consistent.
That’s it. No "launch army." No "upvote brigades." Just building something useful and sharing it with people who need it.
The Bottom Line
A great launch works when it doesn't feel like a launch. When you’re genuinely solving a painful problem for a specific community, people want to see you succeed. When you’re just begging for clicks for 24 hours, they can tell.
The best way to introduce your product to the world doesn't feel like marketing at all. It feels like offering a helping hand.
And that's not a tactic you can growth-hack—it's just being useful.