Ryan Hoover is most notably known as the founder of the website that brings you all the world’s newest products and technologies, Product Hunt. He’s also a writer and founder of his new VC firm, Weekend Fund which he admits he started because he’s constantly chasing the warm fuzzy feelings he gets from helping other people. Some call him Silicon Valley’s “resident nice guy” and it won’t take you long to figure out why.
Ryan sees more product launches than perhaps anyone else in the world and knows how to do it well and how to do it poorly. He shares his insights for his path of launching (and continuing to launch) Product Hunt and what he notices in the 100’s of launches that make it to his virtual doorstep, daily.
In today’s episode:
- If you want to start something and stick with it for the long haul, scratch your own itch. Product Hunt was built out of Ryan’s own curiosity and drive to share new products with his friends.
- Building community>building products. Successful products are rarely built in a dark dungeon and then released to the world, perfect and ready to go viral. Before you launch anything, it’s crucial to build a community of people who care about what you’re building and seek their feedback every step of the way.
- You’re one decision away from an entirely different life. We talk about how to resist the urge to take the easy route and make a path to living a life that you want to live.
Enjoy!
You don’t need thousands of people on day one. You just need 100 people who love what you’re building.
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Some Questions I Ask:
- Give me the overview on your background. [1:30]
- How do you describe Product Hunt? [4:50]
- What part of you is reflected in Product Hunt? [6:46]
- How did you create the thing that is Product Hunt? [10:49]
- After you set up your email list, you did Y Combinator? [13:40]
- So total time from start to finish on building the website was weeks? [15:30]
- What was it like talking to Y Combinator? [17:00]
- Do you still keep a mentor? How do you think about mentorship? [19:11]
- If you were to give life advice, tell us the best way to launch things, the worst ways, and what are some patterns you see? [22:00]
- How did you get into products? [26:35]
- How did you find the brunches and meetups with other entrepreneurs? [27:27]
- Was moving to San Francisco important for your success? [28:53]
- If there’s no one path to build a product, what’s your prescription for the the preferred paths? [30:27]
- What’s the dominant pattern that you see causing people’s failure? [34:00]
- So what have you seen that’s exceptional? [36:20]
- Do you see the most success in products that solve for the human need? [38:58]
- Do you have any hard and fast advice on launching? [41:30]
- How many new products do you get sent each day? [46:25]
- So, what are the coming trends? [47:10]
- Voice, avatars, and blockchain are up and comers. What are two others? [52:35]
- Is the blame on Silicon Valley for innovations in technology justified? [55:12]
- What are some things that people wouldn’t know about you that they’d be surprised to find out? [56:38]
- What made you realize that settling is a problem worth mentioning? [58:49]
- Talk to me about how you felt like you were becoming a cliche. [1:01:00]
- What’s the cure for falling into the trap of taking the easy route? [1:02:06]
- What’s next for you? [1:03:50]
- What drives you personally? What are some of your personal attributes that have helped you create your success? [1:07:07]
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- How Ryan got his start as an intern in gaming, moved to the Bay for another gaming company, and then asked to go part time so he could focus on his own endeavors. [2:00]
- CryptoKitties and crypto collectibles. [5:40]
- How Product Hunt was born out of Ryan’s own quest for sharing new products with his friends and how he sees many other early technologies and movements start out by hobbiest and people who are passionate to explore something new [9:40]
- How Ryan built Product Hunt with an email list and newsletter. [11:30]
- Don’t quit your day job! [14:00]
- “You don’t need thousands of people on day one. You just need 100 people who love what you’re building.” [16:07]
- Ryan didn’t rush into getting funding or even joining Y Combinator. As Product Hunt grew large enough to warrant next steps, he went looking for advice from seasoned pros, and ultimate got the answers he was looking for. [18:00]
- How to approach finding a mentor. [20:50]
- Why Ryan advises you start building your audience and adding value to them before you worry about your product. [23:02]
- Why Ryan thinks Twitter is the best way to interact with people online. [27:35]
- The importance of communicating. When communicating your idea or product, use simple, clear language that explains the value it brings to the person you’re talking to. [35:47]
- You’re always launching. And the most important part of launching is communicating with other humans. [41:43]
- Why you need to be sharing your work! I’ve said it a million times and love hearing Ryan reiterate it. [43:15]
- Check out Chris Dixon’s blog post about founder/market fit. [45:50]
- Why Ryan thinks voice and avatars are going to be the next behavioral technology changes and how you may be able to benefit from it. [48:40]
- Blockchain may be the next TCP/IP. [52:00]
- Why Ryan fears for the future perception of Silicon Valley. [52:58]
- Ryan’s first website was operationlaugh.com. Unfortunately, the domain expired. [57:25]
- Fortunately, Ryan’s dad didn’t let him take the easy route to come home and work at the family business. [58:00]
- You’re one decision away from an entirely different life. [1:03:00]
- What’s on the horizon for Product Hunt. [1:04:10]
- Ryan is driven by chasing those warm fuzzy feelings that he gets from helping people. [1:08:00]
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