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Product Hunt is really only "democratized" if you know someone who can post to the Featured list. For the rest of us, it's either the obscurity of the "Newest"

Product Hunt is really only "democratized" if you know someone who can post to the Featured list. For the rest of us, it's either the obscurity of the "Newest" list, or basically the same exact process as getting covered by someone at TC.

galistoca 11y ago
Let's not battle with semantics. There are more venues to get exposure nowadays and the gatekeepers at these venues have much less power than the ones that came before, hence more democratized than 5 years ago.
- enraged_camel 11y ago
  It's not "semantics" if the end result is the same, which is that you need to beg certain gatekeepers to give your product exposure. The fact that there are more of those gatekeepers now doesn't mean the process is more "democratized."
  - galistoca 11y ago
    Can't believe I keep feeding you guys stuff so I can get even more downvoted, but this almost feels like talking to a wall. This is my last comment on this thread because I know you'll probably say I'm wrong again, but I'll try my best to explain. 5 years ago if you built a cool project or startup you would pitch TechCrunch, Mashable, etc. (a handful of sites), and that was it. Most likely it would have been ignored. Then there's not much you can do. Nowadays there's room for creativity. You can even reach out to people on Twitter via @messages and get their attention. That didn't exist before. Also you guys make it sound like getting through the Product Hunt "gatekeepers" is some mission impossible but that only means you haven't tried, because if you tried you would know that they are also people just like you and want to share cool products. My point is, in the past, unless you spend lots of money you had little power over whether your project gets attention or not. Nowadays if you're on HN complaining about how it's same as back then, you're probably doing it wrong. There are tons of ways you can get exposure for your projects and you're not trying hard enough or not being creative enough if you're saying it's the same.
nikkwong 11y ago
I second that PH is not "democratized" in any sense. It's just as--if not more--exclusive than TC. Though I think Ryan may have started with good intentions, PH is now more of a "we control PH, we control the valley, and if you're not part of our exclusive club best keep your tinkerings to yourself". With that said, who'd be interested in making a more democratized version of PH? Where we share together our own creations and help promote them with eachother? Kind of like r/entrepreneur but more focused. Could be cool. PM me.

galistoca 11y ago

Let's not battle with semantics. There are more venues to get exposure nowadays and the gatekeepers at these venues have much less power than the ones that came before, hence more democratized than 5 years ago.

enraged_camel 11y ago
It's not "semantics" if the end result is the same, which is that you need to beg certain gatekeepers to give your product exposure. The fact that there are more of those gatekeepers now doesn't mean the process is more "democratized."
- galistoca 11y ago
  Can't believe I keep feeding you guys stuff so I can get even more downvoted, but this almost feels like talking to a wall. This is my last comment on this thread because I know you'll probably say I'm wrong again, but I'll try my best to explain. 5 years ago if you built a cool project or startup you would pitch TechCrunch, Mashable, etc. (a handful of sites), and that was it. Most likely it would have been ignored. Then there's not much you can do. Nowadays there's room for creativity. You can even reach out to people on Twitter via @messages and get their attention. That didn't exist before. Also you guys make it sound like getting through the Product Hunt "gatekeepers" is some mission impossible but that only means you haven't tried, because if you tried you would know that they are also people just like you and want to share cool products. My point is, in the past, unless you spend lots of money you had little power over whether your project gets attention or not. Nowadays if you're on HN complaining about how it's same as back then, you're probably doing it wrong. There are tons of ways you can get exposure for your projects and you're not trying hard enough or not being creative enough if you're saying it's the same.

nikkwong 11y ago

I second that PH is not "democratized" in any sense. It's just as--if not more--exclusive than TC. Though I think Ryan may have started with good intentions, PH is now more of a "we control PH, we control the valley, and if you're not part of our exclusive club best keep your tinkerings to yourself". With that said, who'd be interested in making a more democratized version of PH? Where we share together our own creations and help promote them with eachother? Kind of like r/entrepreneur but more focused. Could be cool. PM me.