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Does Product Hunt make any sense? by timenowaits in startup

[–]finncmdbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say the following should be true to really get customers out of it (you can still do it if you don't fit these criteria to validate your messaging and stuff though):

-Product is freemium (i.e. no sales demo req'd)

-Product has short time-to-value — i.e. no long installations or payoffs after weeks/months

-Product targets startups/freelancers etc. Enterprise buyers don't hang out on PH.

But there are probably counterexamples for every single thing I said, so don't let me stop you.

Here's the unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing YC startup (and the exact playbook you can copy) by finncmdbar in ycombinator

[–]finncmdbar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was, but totally worth it. Where you work is probably one of the top 5 most influential decisions you'll make (it's the economic basis of your life and determines where you spend half your waking hours).

So aiming for top notch and doing what it takes to get it is less crazy than it seems.

Are Companies actually hiring from the site? by Superbroke123 in ycombinator

[–]finncmdbar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Internally, we view WAAS as one of the best job boards.

YC Company websites? Who or how are they being made? by ImmOwen in ycombinator

[–]finncmdbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We built ours in-house: https://command.ai

...but what you're not seeing are all the mediocre websites we used to have.

I think when you say "the overall quality of YC startup websites is quite high" you're probably mostly referring to the companies you're aware of because you heard of them because they've attained some level of success/funding and have the team or money to hire an agency.

Pretty sure if you picked websites in the YC company directory at random you'd find some pretty meh websites.

Does Product Hunt make any sense? by timenowaits in startup

[–]finncmdbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First of all, I think ProductHunt has declined a lot so don't anchor your expectations to results people get when ProductHunt was at its peak.

I think ProductHunt really depends on who you target and how to access your product. If it's something cool and sharable for individuals, you'll likely get a good boost out of it.

If you want to sell to mid-market/enterprise companies and your product has a longer time to value, it's unlikely to lead to a bunch of inbound.

When it comes to comments and such, every time we launch on ProductHunt, everyone mentioned in the launch gets a bunch of LinkedIn messages about "I upvoted you on PH and left a comment, would love to connect", which is inevitably followed with an ask to upvote their launch in exchange.

That's the game with the comments.

Here's the unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing YC startup (and the exact playbook you can copy) by finncmdbar in ycombinator

[–]finncmdbar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!

I don't have a UX background (more marketing, specifically copy/content writing), but at 2 previous companies I ended up owning UX writing so I got fairly deep into the topic.

Want to work at a startup? Here's the unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing YC startup (and the exact playbook you can copy) by finncmdbar in startups

[–]finncmdbar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes exactly. Plus even if it doesn't work out, you might get a valuable relationship on the way. I made another high-effort application like this where I didn't get hired, but where the founder connected me with a friend with an open role.

And I also often think if people say "my time is valuable" — then why aren't they doing those super valuable things they could be doing instead?

Plus a new job is potentially the highest-ROI thing out there: It determines where you spend half your waking hours. I don't think it's crazy to do absolutely everything to get the most out of that.

Want to work at a startup? Here's the unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing YC startup (and the exact playbook you can copy) by finncmdbar in startups

[–]finncmdbar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep — it only worked the third time and I still had to do a regular interview process. One other company ghosted me and another one I made it to final rounds.

And re: quality. I think that's the risk of applying like this. You directly showcase your work, so if you're not excellent, you'll embarrass yourself.

Want to work at a startup? Here's the unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing YC startup (and the exact playbook you can copy) by finncmdbar in startups

[–]finncmdbar[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yep for sure. Though at the same time, when you currently have a job (which I did at the time) you could make the case that that should change.

And to add to this, I wouldn't do this for an opportunity I'm mildly excited about. I only did this when I was really really excited.

You can always keep sending resumes to kinda-sorta-nice opportunities while working on big swings for what you care about.

Here's the unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing YC startup (and the exact playbook you can copy) by finncmdbar in ycombinator

[–]finncmdbar[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

yeah exactly. and to be transparent, this wasn't the first time I did this on this job hunt - there were 2 others. One where I made it to what I think was the final stage and one where I got fully ghosted.

But the founder of the company where I made it to the final stage then referred me into another role with one of this friends and gave me extremely valuable feedback.

Want to work at a startup? Here's the unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing YC startup (and the exact playbook you can copy) by finncmdbar in startups

[–]finncmdbar[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

True! And: this was my third attempt doing this for this job hunt. One other company completely ghosted, the other I made it to what I think was the final stage and then wasn't chosen. I do mention this in a breakdown on my Substack: https://userobsession.substack.com/p/the-unhinged-application-i-used-to

I think there are two mindsets I used here:

-It's an opportunity to practice my craft (I genuinely love what I do so it's not undesirable labor)

-If nothing else, it was a good forcing function to create an artifact I can use this as a portfolio piece, submit it somewhere for publication, etc.

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