How Agam added 900 subscribers for his newsletter by ranking #1 on Product Hunt

A quick intro about Unzip.dev

Unzip.dev is a developer trends newsletter that is run by Agam. Agam launched Unzip.dev on Product Hunt on 5th of February, 2023.

And here is their launch performance 👇🏼

1. Upvotes: 616
2. Rank: 1
3. Subscribers: 900

Let’s check out what are Agam’s Product Hunt strategies and plans

Maker Interview

Hi Agam, Welcome to the Big Bang Launch Newsletter. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you started the Unzip.dev newsletter?

I worked at a bunch of startups since when I was eleven. After being involved in computer related work for a numerous years, one day I decided to work on something of my own – one that will combine my passion for development with  interesting out-of-the-box marketing work.

Working on my own idea needed constant learning which was very hard with lots of stress and no team around. So I decided to start Unzip.dev to hold myself accountable to my idea.

What was you goal behind launching Unzip.dev on Product Hunt?

Awareness, which tends to coincide with more subscribers.

We noticed that you started your newsletter in 2022 but launched it on Product Hunt only in 2023. Any reason you didn’t launch sooner?

Launching on Product Hunt and getting into the featured section is not a minor task – I wanted to make sure I was ready for it and had the time to dedicate for the launch. 

So I spent the first year of my newsletter in figuring out my target audience (CTO’s, VP’s, Senior developers) and creating substantial value for them before launch so that visitors could benefit from my newsletter right from their first visit to Unzip. dev.

Combine that with me publishing a post ever 3+ weeks and you get why it took a long time for the PH launch 🙂

When did you start planning for the Product Hunt launch – Can you share your step-by-step action plan?

I started thinking about it more seriously in December 2022.

I reached out to my good friend Ben Lang (15 years and counting!) – who’s at Notion now and always have been a prolific Hunter. I asked him what I should start doing in preparation. He told me to read and really comprehend the official launch guide.

I started by creating a notion page dedicated to the launch.

Here is how I then prepared for my launch:

1. I wrote down all the launch details. I wasn’t lazy about it – for example, I created a GIF for Unzip that is prominently displayed in the product lists.
2. Then I got every single piece of messaging reviewed by some friends (including Tom Granot, the best growth dude I know – seriously, if you need any help there, he is your guy) to make sure my messaging makes sense.
3. After that, I started messaging more friends to figure out who already had an account on Product Hunt and took note of them in my notion page. Since they will be the first pushers of your launch, you should curate them in advance.
4. I created a Q&A section to prepare for possible questions in the comment section. By having good answers beforehand, I avoided the need to come up with them during the launch – making my answers snappier.
5. Next I also made a list of communities and possible places to indicate that Unzip is launching (Twitter, Facebook, relevant Slack workspaces).
6. Finally, I wrote a fully fledged issue (like I always do) scheduled to be sent at the same time as the launch, notifying my subscribers of the launch. I didn’t want to spam them with a separate launch email, so I always make sure to provide value, especially since my readers are sensitive to time-wasting.
7. I managed to get a sponsor for the issue and asked them to post to their socials too (this was also somewhat helpful!).
   
   

Why did you choose to launch on a Sunday? Any reason or strategy behind it?

Yes, most of my subscribers are from the US, but the second-biggest segment is Israel (my home country) – in Israel people start the work week on Sunday, which means more activity on that day. Plus, Sunday seems to be a “slow” day for Product Hunt. The combination of those two really helped my launch go to the #1 spot in my opinion.

What was your action plan on launch day?

1. Contacting the Product Hunt friends I talked to in advance, asking them to comment and upvote Unzip.
2. Gradually posting to the different places I made a list of in advance (Twitter, Facebook, Indie Hackers, groups)
3. Updating socials on the Product Hunt launch progress.
4. Commenting all the time – this was the hardest part, keeping track of everything and making sure I send out comments quickly, making sure to engage with and provide value to the other commenters.
   
   

What were the top traffic sources that got you the most upvotes on PH?

Probably my email list, and then Product Hunt itself.

Can you share the tool stack you use for the Product Hunt launch?

1. Figma – Design
2. Notion & Google Docs – Content and Reviews
3. Plausible – Analytics
4. Veed – GIF & Video editing
5. Ghost – Send Newsletter
   
   

Could you share some numbers from your Product Hunt launch?

Yep, Unzip grew by 48%!

1. We started at: 2268 and got to 3343 (Still growing from PH up to now) but the Launch itself got me about 900 new subscribers in the first day.
2. I also got 3 new interested sponsors and am fully booked for the next 2 months (still shocked by this, tbh).
   
   

What are 3 pieces of advice you would give to creators who’re launching on a product hunt?

1. Take it seriously and prepare –. Product Hunt is one of the only things in my life that I noticed very immediately how effort + preparation = results.
2. Bring value – if your product sucks and this is just “another” marketing move, I would shy away from Product Hunt. I think that one of the biggest reasons Unzip got #1 place was because I really put a lot of effort and time into it to make sure it is valuable.
3. Don’t cheat – follow the Product Hunt guidelines and don’t agree to get “boosted” by some sketchy “agency” that will “help” you get to the top page.
   
   

What were the biggest challenges you faced while launching on the product hunt? And how did you overcome them?

Stress and lack of sleep – I had a very close competitor during the whole launch (at some point we had only one upvote difference). I would stress less next time and remember that things tend to go well or go poorly without my control, and I can’t control everything.

What are some other platforms where you’ve tried to launch your newsletter apart from Product Hunt? Can you share how it performed?

1. Hacker news – I didn’t try posting there, but one top comment on Hacker news recommended us and it got us 2000 new subscribers in 1 day
2. IndieHackers – hit-and-miss.
3. LinkedIn – Semi-efficient, I would (ironically) recommend doing an emotional post that relates to your product and that seems to be the only thing the works there 😂

Thanks a lot, Agam for sharing your Product Hunt strategies and secrets with us.

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