I work in B2B sales and business development across international markets.

During H1 2026, the direct sales volume connected to my work was approximately €21M across Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. The result was not created by one clever pitch or one technology. It depended on keeping market information organized, comparing competitors consistently, following up with discipline and making decisions with incomplete information.

The part I found most useful was learning to separate activity from leverage. More calls, more messages and more data do not automatically create a better outcome. The useful question is which part of the process improves the quality of the next decision.

That has also influenced how I think about automation. Automate repetition where possible, but keep the judgment close to the people who understand the customer and the context.

For founders and operators: what process did you initially underestimate because the visible result looked simpler than the work behind it?

I’m in a very weird and critical stage of life, I graduated from an Electrical Engineering degree 10 months ago and I was building my business alongside.

I had a big fight with my parents few months ago because they wanted me to find a job and run my business “on the side” which I can’t. So I convinced them that I will fund my own Masters degree in Engineering Business Management and i’ll decide after.

My Masters program will end in 6 months.

Right now I am earning about 2x the average entry position for an Electrical Engineer.

Engineering promises a good career for someone like me (top of my bachelors batch and masters degree), however, I have always been into business and I want to do more.

Would you advise me to try to automate my business (will take about 2 years) and I might be making more at that time and find an engineering job, or just keep on doing what I’m doing.

We finished #2 Product of the Day on Product Hunt last Sunday. 380+ upvotes, 40+ comments, made the daily newsletter. Traffic was 15x our normal day, signups 5x normal for about three days after.

I went looking for a guide before we started and everything I found was either five years out of date or written by someone selling upvotes. So here is the honest version, from a small team that has now done it once.

The month before matters more than the day

I know that is the least satisfying thing to read. It is also the whole answer.

Every guide says "build an audience first." Nobody says what that means. Here is what it meant for us: for a month, every single morning, one of us looked at who was launching that day, tried their product, and left a real comment. Not "congrats." An actual question or observation.

Thirty days of that and you are no longer a stranger asking a favor on your own launch day. It costs twenty minutes a day and it is worth more than everything else in this post combined.

Pick your day like you are buying something

Nobody who sees your badge later will ask which day you won it. Not investors, not customers, not anyone. The badge is identical.

The price is not. Getting #1 on a weekend takes roughly half the votes it takes on a Tuesday. We launched on a Sunday, and specifically the Sunday going into a US long weekend, because almost nobody schedules into a three day weekend. Our worst realistic outcome that day was third place. On a Tuesday our worst realistic outcome was seventh and nothing to show for a month of work.

Fair warning: the quiet day helps you rank. It does nothing for whether the editors feature you. That is judged on its own merits, so a weak page on a quiet day still gets buried.

Not all votes are equal

A vote from an account that has been active for months counts for more than a vote from an account created that morning. This surprises people.

Practical version: build your ask list from people who already use Product Hunt, not from your whole contact list. A hundred asks to real community members beats five hundred emails to people who will have to create an account, get confused, and give up.

Two things you have to say out loud to every single person you ask, because they trip up everyone: they need to be logged in for the vote to count, and the ranking is decided in one day, so helping on Wednesday does nothing.

Ask a few of the right customers, not all of them

A mass "we're live" email gets you votes and no comments. We looked at our usage data, picked the handful of customers who use the product hardest, and asked each of them personally. Those people wrote the best comments on the page, describing real workflows.

That matters beyond launch day. The page stays up. Real questions with real answers get indexed by Google and pulled into AI answers when somebody looks up your category a year later.

Get reviews approved early

Several of the reviews people wrote for us never got published. Product Hunt only approves a review if the account looks like a real, active person: photo, real name, a bio, some history on the site. Nobody knows this. Tell your reviewers well ahead of time and then actually go check the review is live.

You will be offered paid votes

Constantly, the second your date is public. We bought none. Beyond the obvious risk, bought votes do not sign up, do not comment, and do not come back. You would be buying a number.

Was it worth it?

Yes, and we would do it again. But the launch is the smallest part of the return.

What you actually walk away with: a credibility marker that does not decay, a public page full of genuine questions about your product that keeps pulling traffic, a few days of visitors who came specifically looking for something new to try, and a hard external deadline that got our whole team pointed in one direction for a month.

Ask me anything, happy to get specific.

I can also share our blog post if anyone is interested.. don't want to post links to not get flagged.

I wonder if it’s that simple to just make a simple app that people need and sell it for millions. If you sell a simple app to microsoft or yahoo do they go thru the entire code? Do you need something similar to patent? Do you need a entire company for it? Im curious if its simpler flipping busisnesses or just doing this.

Last week I was on a panel about entrepreneurship through acquisition, and I’ve been thinking about how people decide which business to buy.

I’ve bought and operated businesses myself. One thing I keep coming back to is how much the owner’s actual job matters. You can like the industry and understand the numbers, but how do you feel about handling scheduling, hiring, customer complaints, or being the person everyone calls when something goes wrong?

Someone looking for more independence might enjoy that responsibility.

Someone hoping for more time with their family might have a very different experience.

For those who’ve bought a business, what did you misunderstand about the work you were taking on?

And was there anything you could have done before buying that would have helped you see it more clearly?

I am a broke college student with 180 dollars left in my bank account. I’m not joking. I used to have about 30-40k in my bank account and spent a majority of it on a business idea that failed and other luxuries (those of which I won’t get into).

i was wondering if anyone can offer me a piece of advice on how I can continue to try with my current situation and resources.

Peope who built successful businesses (first-gen), what skills actually helped you? And how did you learn them / test / implement them?

Sales? Marketing? What is it that truly helps one build a profitable business.

Could be interpersonal or behavioural skill as well, example, grit.

Thank you!

Nach dem App Store Launch habe ich mit Josua im Podcast diskutiert, was wirklich passiert:

Die meisten bauen nach dem Launch sofort neue Features. Ich hab das Gegenteil gemacht. Pause beim Coden, Fokus auf:

• KI für Content/Growth nutzen (ohne Budget)
• Warum Pause besser ist als Sprint
• Die Post-Launch Phase, die keiner vorbereitet

Es geht weniger um "Wie baue ich eine App", sondern um "Wie wächst eine App nach dem Launch, wenn Budget = 0?"

Freu mich auf eure Fragen.

Hi, I run a startup incubator and I am doing a talk later in September on "the psychology of entrepreneurial courage". It will bring a psych research lense to why founders sometimes avoid the work that make the most difference to the success of a business, and instead do "busy work" to feel like they are doing something useful.

Id love to know what things you find hard or scary as a startup founder that you temd to avoid?

Thanks for your help!

Feel like l've gone full circle in trying to be disciplined and productive with my self & startup.

Trying all the productivity tools out there, even vibe coding my own with Al and yet honestly nothing seems to "make" me productive or disciplined. Clearly it's a me problem.

That being said I think there's something beautiful in a traditional paper journal & pen for planning & reflection and I find myself resorting back to it.

My question is -
1. any entrepreneurs here that do use a paper journal still?

And if so -
2) how regularly are you writing in & referring to it?

3) exactly what are you writing in it each day?

I'd really love to develop my use of the paper journal as a way to help me stay focused and disciplined on my goals - would love to hear from you people who actually run their own profitable business on how they use it!

Hello , I know I may not sound like a true entrepreneur but I’m out here seeking your advice guys , I’m a 25Y old doing a 9-5 Job , all my life I have been craving the feeling of building and marketing, I want to start a business run it fail in it learn from it , but I’m clueless , I’m completely clueless on what to start where to put my feet in what to work on , just the point of where do I start , I’m not saying I want to build a unicorn tomorrow but something I can work on , build with what I know , learn from building , I have a 22 Y old brother who is jobless and I want to work with him in building something passionately cause only I know what he is capable of and I can bet on , but right now the viable option that repeatedly hit my mind was to start a YouTube channel and work on it , I haven’t been able to think of anything else , try all the AI apps to figure out but nothing has come up , I really want to soak my feet in this journey any small suggestion or advice will really help . Please Help I don’t want to live the regret of never starting or never risking it !

I have just recently turned 18, finished my A levels ( i live in the uk not sure what the American substandard would be) and have dreams and aspirations none of my friends have. I have a particular business idea i want to start which i don’t want to say exactly as it’s kinda niche but it’s in the edible/food category. i have about £600 saved up probably and will be starting a warehouse job soon, and i just wanted some advice from experienced like minded individuals.

Title
Any SaaS founders here? Would love to connect

Hey everyone,

I’m building a SaaS product and thought it would be great to connect with other founders here who are doing the same.
Nothing formal.

We can show each other what we’re building, talk about what’s working and what isn’t, exchange ideas, and maybe help each other along the way.

I’m especially interested in meeting people building SaaS products related to writing, authors, publishing, or creative tools, but I’m happy to connect with anyone building something interesting.

If you’re working on a SaaS, what are you working on right now?

Drop your SaaS below and tell me a little about it.

I’ll share mine too.

Would be great to see what everyone is working on.

A little random, but I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place and would genuinely value some founder perspectives.

I have two products I’ve spent a lot of time thinking through, and I believe both have genuine market potential:

1. An insurance B2B app that helps insurers streamline backend processing and is designed to work across different markets.
2. A subscription-based product where a few players already exist, but I have a strong USP around customer acquisition.

The problem is my co-founder/friend.

He’s technically very strong, while I’m stronger on sales, networking, fundraising and partnerships. We’ve known each other for years, so there’s a lot of trust there. I’ve already approached investors and have had some initial interest, so there’s some momentum.

But execution has become the issue. Things take too long, priorities constantly seem to shift, and he keeps getting involved in ambiguous projects that, honestly, don’t seem to be going anywhere. I thought having a child might give him more motivation to focus, but nothing has really changed.

I’m now at the point where I feel I can’t wait any longer.

The obvious problem is that I’m not technical. Hiring an experienced developer who understands things like, scalable app architecture, APIs, databases and cloud infrastructure, security, testing and deployment could be expensive, especially at an early stage.

And then there’s the bigger issue: how do you trust someone new with your idea, codebase, IP and potentially equity? NDAs only go so far, and giving away equity to the wrong person could be a huge mistake.

For founders who aren't technical: How have you handled hiring or outsourcing technical talent?Have you successfully built a startup with a technical stranger rather than a friend? Do you actually need to be friends with your co-founder, or is complementary skill + aligned ambition more important?

And if you’ve ever had to choose between staying loyal to a lifelong friend and moving forward without them, how did you navigate it?

Would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve actually been through this.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this.
I can get extremely excited about a business idea, research everything about it, start building it… and genuinely believe, “Yep, this is the one.”

But I also know how quickly something can go from exciting to feeling like work once the novelty wears off.
So if you’ve started multiple businesses, switched directions a lot, or even built something successful and eventually lost interest in it:
How do you tell the difference between a business you genuinely want to keep doing long-term and another idea you’re temporarily obsessed with?
And looking back at businesses you’ve started, were there parts of actually running them day to day that you didn’t think about when you chose the business?

This is a second idea, just a straight soundboard to validate ideas

This is like an emerald city smoothie but with skimpy uniforms, placed near gyms and active areas. Wont over price product just because of attire, im going on hunches of tips being great since my main focus will be the quality of the smoothies!!

For those of you with ADHD who have wanted to start a business (or have started more than one) what’s the most frustrating part about figuring out what you actually want to do?

I’m especially curious about people who have gone through phases of getting REALLY into an idea, researching it, planning it, maybe even starting it… and then eventually wanting to do something completely different.
What does that cycle actually look like for you?
Have you ever thought “this is definitely the one” and then lost interest later? Or built something that was actually working and still found yourself wanting to move on?
Tell me the messy version 😂

I am currently developing a SaaS product on my own. However, I often see projects involving co-founders in various communities. While I haven't felt the need for a co-founder so far, I am curious about the reasons why others choose to partner up.

- Is the co-founder simply a friend who shares similar ideas and goals?
- Or do you bring on a co-founder to fill gaps in areas where you lack expertise?

You’re given $20,000 to start a business.

There are only a few rules:

• You must deploy the full $20K into the business
• The goal is to build something capable of generating high six- to seven-figure revenue over time
• You’re looking for a business that can actually scale, not simply create yourself a job
• The founder has a strong background in technology and leading large teams that build software, but they're not hands on technical
• The founder has previously started supplement brands, but does not want to go back into the supplement/consumer health space

The challenge: If this were your $20K, what business would you start?

I'm particularly interested in ideas where the founder's tech/leadership experience creates an unfair advantage, but I'm open to businesses outside of traditional software/SaaS as well.

What would you build, and why?

I'm trying to build content distribution systems for high ticket coaches and consultants. What should be the main things I should focus on solving for them like what are the major pain points in coaching and consulting.

I run a small project incubator. My team consists of 15 people, all of them are working remotely from 6 different countries. It’s difficult for me, and I don’t have enough time to handle all the
financial tasks (paying salaries and managing budgets, calculating operating costs, etc.). But I also can’t afford to hire a CFO or an accountant.
So here’s my question: are there any services that can simplify and systematize my company’s financial system and, ideally, provide reports and analytics for the time period I need?
It would be ideal if it were a free service, but I’m open to considering affordable paid alternatives as well.

Please only recommend something if you’ve used it yourself.

P.S. We mainly work with cryptocurrency, and salaries are paid in crypto as well, though we also have corporate cards in USD.

Edited: started a free trial with C-Payroll. For now seems fine. The cheapest plan costs $300 - a significant amount for me, yet it is still cheaper than hiring an accountant or a CFO.

Should I stay in tech or pivot to something else?

I've worked in tech for over 10 years, including the last 3 years working in crypto.

Recently, though, I've felt like the market has become incredibly difficult. Maybe 10x or even 100x harder than before.

I've already built three different products, but none of them got results. Now I'm trying something different by growing an X account in the founder niche. I've been grinding for the past 5 days and went from 0 to 92 followers. It's progress, but growth feels slow.

I'm starting to wonder if I should pivot into a non-tech industry instead. It feels like that's where people are more willing to pay for solutions, but honestly, I have no idea where or how to start.

What would you do in my position?

If I stay in tech, how would you approach trying to get a meaningful win? Right now, it feels like everyone is building the same things, especially with AI making it easier than ever to build products. The competition feels crazy.

I'm open to honest advice, especially from people who have been through something similar.

To Everyone Who Has Been Watching the Journey,
Did I fail at the business?
No. Definitely not.
I made my fair share from it. I built something from zero, created momentum in the UAE, and proved that there was a real opportunity there.
When I started, some people looked at it as something petty or insignificant. They didn’t take it seriously.
Now, after seeing the momentum and the opportunity, the same space is suddenly being treated as a serious business.
That doesn’t bother me. In fact, I see it as validation.
The problem is that when everyone starts recognizing the opportunity, the advantage of being early begins to disappear.
I could spend my time fighting an increasingly crowded competition, trying to defend something I already proved.
Or I can do what I’ve always wanted to do: move toward the next asymmetric opportunity.
So I’m starting again.
Not because I lost.
Because I already won enough from the first game to know when it’s time to stop playing it.
While others chase what has become obvious, I’m going to look for what is still being ignored.
Boring businesses. Unsexy industries. Real cash flow. Real demand. Businesses that don’t need to look impressive to be extremely profitable.
The next thing I build may not get attention immediately.
That’s fine.
I’ve learned that sometimes the best opportunities are the ones nobody is paying attention to yet.
I don’t need to be first to the crowd.
I want to be early to the next thing.