A launch week plan for solo founders with no audience
A realistic T-7 to T+4 schedule for one tired person with a finished product and nobody waiting for it. Built so launch day is replying, not scrambling.
By the MEDIAPRONET Editorial Team. Published , revised . 17 minute read, 13 sources.
The short answer
How should a solo founder plan a launch week?
Spend seven days preparing assets, tracking and a list of 20 people to tell personally. Launch on one venue per day, not five at once, and keep launch day free for replying. Use the four days after to fix what broke, follow up and write a retro. Then do it again somewhere else: treat launch as a repeatable series, not one big day.
- Prep window
- 7 days, 1 to 2 hours a day
- Venues per launch day
- One
- Launch day job
- Replying, nothing else
- Best for
- One person, no audience
What you will leave with
- A dated plan from T-7 to T+4 that fits around a day job, with a clear list of what to skip.
- What Product Hunt and Hacker News actually allow, taken from their own guidelines: share the link and ask for feedback, never ask for upvotes.[5][3]
- How the Product Hunt clock works: 24-hour periods that its help centre states in PST, with scheduled posts going live at 12:01 am.[7]
- Two launch posts you can adapt: a Show HN style post and a personal note for 20 people.
- Rules for the three launch-day emergencies: silence, a bug, and a harsh comment.
What should "launch" mean when you are one person?
A launch is one small, repeatable event that puts a working product in front of one group of people and collects their reaction. Plan to run several, not to win one day.
Most launch advice assumes a team, a mailing list and a budget. You have none of those, so the goal changes: not topping a leaderboard, but getting a first group of real users and learning which crowd cares.
In a 2019 Startup School lecture, Y Combinator partner Kat Mañalac warned that "if you're like most startups, you will launch something and no one will care".[12] Paul Graham made the same point in 2013: "All you need from a launch is some initial core of users."[13]
I want to destroy the idea that launching is just one moment in time, because assuming you do well, and assuming you ship new products and new features, you are never going to be not launching.
- of products that achieved Product of the Day, Week or Month on Product Hunt included a first comment by the maker (period not stated)[6]
- 70%
- of products that reached Product of the Day since 2021 include a video[6]
- About 53%
- more "Visit" button clicks for products launched on the weekend than on weekdays, per Product Hunt (no method or period given)[6]
- 15%
- is how far ahead Product Hunt lets you schedule a post[6]
- 1 month
What do Product Hunt and Hacker News allow on launch day?
Product Hunt lets you share a direct link to your post, and both let you talk to people who show up. Both forbid asking for upvotes and say they act against it. Hacker News also forbids asking anyone to comment.
Figure 1Launch venue rules, as published by each platform (checked October 2026)
| Venue and topic | What is allowed | What is off limits | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Hunt: promoting your post | What is allowedSharing a direct link to your post, posting on social media, replying to commenters, asking people to visit and comment. | What is off limitsAsking for upvotes, mass messages, rewards for votes, coordinated pushes, voting rings. Product Hunt says asking or incentivising upvotes may drop the product in the ranks or remove it from the homepage, and that it removes votes it deems non-genuine. | Source[5] [9] [8] [11] |
| Product Hunt: accounts | What is allowedPosting from a personal account and hunting your own product. The launch guide says there is no discernible advantage to a third-party hunter. | What is off limitsCompany accounts cannot post. Bots and mass messaging may cost you the contribution or your access, and self-promotion in comments is removed. | Source[7] [5] [10] |
| Hacker News: Show HN | What is allowedA working thing people can try, ideally with no signup. Early-stage work is fine. The title starts with "Show HN". | What is off limitsLanding pages, sign-up pages, fundraisers, blog posts and other things that cannot be tried, and asking friends to upvote or comment. New features and point releases are generally not substantive enough. | Source[1] |
| Hacker News: promotion and votes | What is allowedPosting your own work part of the time. A small number of reposts if the story got no significant attention in the last year or so. | What is off limitsSoliciting upvotes or comments, using the site primarily for promotion, deleting and reposting. HN says it penalises or bans submissions, accounts and sites that break the rule against asking for upvotes. | Source[2] [3] |
The line is the same on both: tell people the post exists and ask what they think, never ask for a vote. Product Hunt's own wording for the maker comment is to "Ask for feedback (NOT upvotes)".[6]
Time zones matter on one of them. Product Hunt's help centre says the site "operates on 24-hour periods in PST" and that a scheduled post goes live at 12:01 AM PST.[7] Its launch guide calls 12:01 am Pacific Time the best time for makers who are planning ahead and have no other constraints.[5] The conversion to UTC is ours, not Product Hunt's: PST is UTC-8, which gives 08:01 UTC, and if the clock follows US daylight time in summer (PDT, UTC-7) it is 07:01 UTC. Neither page says which applies in summer, so check the time shown on the scheduling screen. Either way it is morning in Europe and the middle of the night in the Americas. If it falls in your night, schedule the post and wake at a normal hour.
The Hacker News pages cited here name no best time. The FAQ says only that ranking divides points by a power of the time since submission, with flags, anti-abuse software and moderators also in play.[3] Post when your next several hours are free.
What should you prepare in the week before launch?
Prepare only what removes work from launch day: a product people can try without help, a way to count what happens, your posts written in advance, and 20 people you will tell personally.
Figure 2What to prepare and what to skip
High payoff on launch day, Low effort
Do these firstStart here
A signup path tested end to end. Posts and maker comment written. The list of 20 people. Saved answers to likely questions.
High payoff on launch day, High effort
Do one, well
A way to try the product without an account, or a short screen-recorded demo. Whichever is cheaper.
Low payoff on launch day, Low effort
Batch in one sitting
Thumbnail, two screenshots, a support inbox that reaches your phone.
Low payoff on launch day, High effort
Skip
Press outreach, finding a hunter, animated thumbnails, a redesign, five venues in the same hour.
The plan, T-7 to T+4
T-7
Pick one venue and one date
Choose the venue where your users already are, read its rules, clear the day.
T-6
Walk your own signup path
New browser, new email, phone and desktop. Hacker News asks that people can try your thing "ideally without barriers such as signups or emails".[1]
T-5
Set up counting
Know where signups are recorded and how you will tell venues apart. Product Hunt does not accept shortened or tracking links as the product URL, so use the referrer there.[6]
T-4
Write the list of 20
Twenty named people who have the problem or will be honest with you. Not a mailing list.
T-3
Make the assets
Thumbnail, screenshots, and a demo or no-signup way in. One sitting.
T-2
Write every post
The launch post, the maker comment, and saved answers on pricing, privacy and "why not just use X".
T-1
Freeze and sleep
No new features. Schedule the post if the venue allows it. Check error alerts. Go to bed early.
T0
Launch day
Post once, send the 20 notes, reply all day.
T+1
Reply to everything left
Finish every comment thread, email and bug report.
T+2
Fix the top three
Ship fixes for the three problems most people hit and tell the reporters.
T+3
Follow up personally
One short note to each signup who did not finish setup.
T+4
Write the retro, book the next one
Record the five numbers from the last section and what you will change. Pick the next venue and date.
Assets to have ready by T-1
0 of 13 done
Product
Words
Images
People and tracking
What should the launch post and the personal note say?
Say what it is in one plain sentence, why you built it, what is different, and ask for feedback. Write it yourself, in the voice you would use with a former colleague.
Hacker News publishes writing advice for YC startups and says everyone else should follow it too: no marketing style, lead with a clear statement of what the product does, explain the problem and your backstory, give technical details, say how you make money, and invite feedback. No superlatives, feature lists or single-sentence paragraphs.[4]
The site's guidelines add: no generated text in posts, and no uppercase or exclamation points in titles.[2] The example below uses an invented product under the placeholder name Acme Invoices.
Show HN style post (invented example product)
Adapt for a Show HN text field or any community that expects a plain, personal introduction.
Title: Show HN: Acme Invoices - invoicing for freelance translators, priced per word Hi HN, I'm [name]. I built Acme Invoices, an invoicing tool for freelance translators who bill by the word instead of by the hour. You can try it at example.com/demo without an account. I translated for [N] years and did my invoices in a spreadsheet, because general invoicing tools assume hourly or fixed pricing. Every month I retyped word counts from each job and got at least one wrong. Acme Invoices reads the word count from the file you delivered, applies the rate you agreed with that client, and produces the invoice. The hard part was counting words the way agencies do, which differs by language pair. I wrote that up at example.com/counting. It is free for [limit] and [price] a month after that. It does not do taxes or payments yet, and I am not sure it should. I would value feedback on the counting rules and on anything that confused you in the first five minutes. I will be here all day.
Personal note to one of your 20 people
Send one at a time, edited for each person. This asks for a look and an opinion, never for a vote.
Hi [first name], I have been building [product] for the last [N] months. It [one plain sentence: what it does and for whom]. I thought of you because [specific reason]. It went live today. If you have ten minutes this week, would you try it and tell me the first place you got stuck? Here is the link: [link] [Only if you posted somewhere public:] I also posted it on [venue] today: [direct link to the post]. No need to reply if it is not for you. Thanks either way. [your name]
What does launch day look like hour by hour?
Post once, send your 20 notes in the first hour, then alternate 50 minutes of replying with 10 minutes away from the screen until the thread goes quiet.
Figure 3Launch day for one person, counted from the moment the post goes live
| Time | What you do | What you leave alone |
|---|---|---|
| Hour 0 | What you doCheck the post and link. Add your maker comment. Run one test signup. | What you leave aloneThe ranking page. |
| Hour 0 to 1 | What you doSend the 20 personal notes, one at a time. | What you leave aloneGroup chats, mass email, direct messages to strangers. |
| Hours 1 to 4 | What you doReply to every comment and email. Log bugs, fix only what blocks signup. | What you leave aloneNew features, design tweaks, other venues. |
| Hour 4 | What you doEat away from the screen. Thirty minutes. | What you leave aloneYour phone. |
| Hours 5 to 8 | What you doKeep replying. | What you leave aloneArguments. One calm reply per critic. |
| Hours 8 to 12 | What you doCheck in every 30 to 60 minutes. | What you leave aloneThe vote count between check-ins. |
| End of day | What you doReply to anything open, list tomorrow's fixes, stop. | What you leave aloneA late-night deploy. |
Figure 4What Product Hunt says its top products had (its own figures, each for a different group)
| Asset | Share | Which products were counted |
|---|---|---|
| A first comment by the maker | Share70% | Which products were countedProducts that achieved Product of the Day, Week or Month. No period given. |
| A video | ShareAbout 53% | Which products were countedProducts that reached Product of the Day since 2021. |
| An animated GIF thumbnail | ShareLess than a third | Which products were countedProduct of the Day products. No period given. |
If something goes wrong on launch day
If Nothing happens: two hours in, no comments and a handful of visits
Do not delete and repost or start asking for votes. Finish your 20 notes and treat the day as a rehearsal. Hacker News allows a small number of reposts if a story got no significant attention in the last year or so.[3]
If A bug blocks signup or loses data
Say so in the thread in one sentence, fix or roll back, then say it is fixed. Cosmetic bugs wait for T+2.
If A harsh or unfair comment lands
Find the part you agree with and answer that, once. Hacker News advises that you never have to convince a critic: your goal is the large silent audience.[4]
If Someone offers votes, a "launch group" or a paid hunter
Decline. Both platforms say they detect and penalise coordinated voting.[11][3]
What should you not do during launch week?
Do not ask for votes, do not message strangers in bulk, and do not launch on several venues in the same hour. The first two break published rules. The third breaks you.
Mistakes that cost more than they return
- Avoid: Vote rings and upvote swaps Product Hunt names voting rings and fake accounts as manipulation and removes votes it judges non-genuine.[11] Hacker News says it penalises or bans submissions, accounts and sites.[3]
- Avoid: Mass DMs, mass email and rewards for votes Product Hunt lists mass-messaging people for upvotes by email or DM, and rewards in exchange for upvotes, among the things not to do; gaming the system can cost you the post and your access.[9][10] Twenty personal notes asking for an opinion are a different thing.
- Avoid: Five venues in the same hour Every thread needs you in it. Hacker News tells YC startups not to coordinate with other events: "All you need for HN is enough free time to engage with commenters on that day."[4]
- Avoid: A "coming soon" page as the launch Show HN excludes landing pages and sign-up pages, and Hacker News tells startups that only collect email signups it is probably too early for a Launch HN.[1][4]
- Avoid: The big coordinated reveal Paul Graham called the Big Launch a tactic that "usually doesn't work".[13] You do not have the hours for it anyway.
One big day
- All your energy spent in 24 hours.
- One audience, one result, no second reading.
- A quiet day feels like a verdict on the product.
A series of small launches
- One venue per day or per week, each with your full attention.
- Each launch tells you whether that crowd cares.
- The post and the product improve between rounds.
The call: For one person the series wins. The YC lecture gives the reason: launching to different channels shows whether you are even talking to the right users.[12]
How do you turn one launch into several?
Reuse the same assets on a new venue every week or two, changing the post to fit that community, and launch again whenever you ship something substantial.
How to run the next launch from the last one
Read the retro30 min
Answer the three most-asked questions on your site and in your next post.
Pick the next venue30 min
One place where the people who responded best spend time. Where to promote your startup lists venues and their rules.
Rewrite the post for that room1 hour
Same facts, different opening. Read ten recent posts there first and match the form.
Tell a new 201 hour
Start with people who signed up last time. They are your audience now.
Post, reply, record1 day
Same launch day, same retro. Compare numbers venue by venue.
Some venues are quiet, which suits the gaps between loud ones. A directory listing is one. On MEDIAPRONET, a free listing needs our badge on your site, is published automatically after at least a week once our check finds that badge, and carries an "Unverified" label. A paid listing goes live right after payment; see pricing.
Be clear about what that is: a permanent public page with your screenshots, description and link, plus a count of the views and outbound clicks recorded on MEDIAPRONET. It is not a launch-day crowd and comes with no promise of traffic. Submit on T+3 or T+4, when the assets exist, or look through browse first.
A new feature can be a launch too, with a caveat on Hacker News: new features and upgrades generally are not substantive enough for a Show HN, though a major overhaul probably is.[1]
What should you measure after a launch?
Count five things per venue: visits, people who tried the product, signups, people who came back within a week, and conversations. Votes and rank are not on the list.
Figure 5How launch attention narrows (worked example, not real data)
- Saw the post title10,000
10% continue
Visited the site1,00020% continue
Tried the product20025% continue
Signed up5020% continue
Came back within a week10
The funnel above is an example we made up, not a benchmark. Fill in one copy per venue. The comparison tells you where to launch next, and the biggest drop tells you what to fix first.
Graham's test is the one to keep: how well you are doing a few months later "will depend more on how happy you made those users than how many there were of them".[13] So the fifth number, people who came back, outranks the first four.
The five numbers for the retro
- Visits from the venue By referrer.
- People who tried it Demo opens or first real action.
- Signups Checked against your database.
- Returned within seven days Counted on T+7.
- Conversations Comments and emails, with the three most common questions written out.
6 quick answers
Common questions
Short answers to the follow-up questions readers ask most.
Not here? Ask usProduct Hunt says the best day is the day on which you are most prepared, and that each day has pros and cons. Its launch guide adds that weekend launches get 15% more Visit button clicks than weekday ones, without explaining how that was measured. Pick a day you can spend entirely on replying.
Sources
- [1]Show HN GuidelinesHacker News
- [2]Hacker News GuidelinesHacker News
- [3]Hacker News FAQHacker News
- [4]Launch HN InstructionsHacker News
- [5]Product Hunt Launch GuideProduct Hunt
- [6]Prepare for your Product Hunt launchProduct Hunt
- [7]How to post a productProduct Hunt Help Center, 2025
- [8]Can I ask my community/friends/family to upvote a product?Product Hunt Help Center, 2025
- [9]How do I share my post?Product Hunt Help Center, 2025
- [10]Community GuidelinesProduct Hunt Help Center, 2025
- [11]How does Product Hunt ensure fair voting and prevent spam or vote manipulation?Product Hunt Help Center, 2025
- [12]Startup School Week 4 Recap - Kat Mañalac and Gustaf Alströmer (transcript of "How to Launch (Again and Again)")Y Combinator, 2019
- [13]Do Things that Don't ScalePaul Graham, 2013
How this guide was put together. Every platform rule, figure and quotation on this page was checked against the text of the cited first-party page on 11 October 2026: the Hacker News guidelines, FAQ, Show HN and Launch HN pages, the Product Hunt launch guide and help centre, a 2019 Y Combinator lecture transcript and a 2013 Paul Graham essay. The Product Hunt percentages are its own published figures with no stated methodology, each counts a different group of products, and they describe what top products had, not what caused their result. Product Hunt states its clock in PST; the UTC times are our conversion. Reddit is left out of the rules table because every subreddit sets its own rules. The schedule, hour-by-hour table, matrix, templates and funnel are editorial judgement, and the funnel numbers are an invented example.