Hai Nguyen

Solo dev, creator of @journalithq- all-in-one life organizer.

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

@zplits_ Thanks for the support. It'll end in May 15.

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

Journal it! On AppSumo: https://t.co/FyhOG5Q2Ki

Use the coupon "JOURNALIT10" to get extra 10% OFF (Limited Time)

Happy to answer questions about the launch or the app.

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

I launched my app on AppSumo. $50k in gross sales. 900+ customers. 7 days. Solo dev, 10 years in the making. Here’s the day-by-day breakdown.

Day 1: 4 sales in the first hour. $1.4k payout ($4.6k gross). 3.2% conversion rate. Not bad for day 1.

Day 2: Woke up and the app dropped to #7. Disappointed. Then back to #5. Revenue held steady. Conversion climbed to 4%. Support emails started coming nonstop.

Day 3: $1.9k payout. 5% conversion. 7 five-taco reviews. AppSumo hadn’t even featured me in their newsletter yet. I didn’t expect this.

Day 4: AppSumo sent a dedicated email about Journal it! $5k payout in one day. I’d watched another founder hit 5% conversion and thought it was unreachable. Beat it at 5.77%.

Day 5: Back in the top 3. 6.47% conversion. AppSumo’s head of marketing reached out to meet me. Best performer among the newcomers. So crazy.

Days 6-7: Slowed down fast. $700 payout, then $800 from a newsletter mention. So little. But at least I finally got some rest.

My favorite review so far: “If most to-do programs are a kiddie pool, this here is the Marianas Trench.”

This was my first real marketing push ever. The deal runs for 7 more weeks. Looks like this will be a turning point for my app.

More pics and link in comments.

#AppSumo #BuildInPublic #IndieHacker #SoloFounder #Journaling

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

The full piece goes deeper into each trap and what solving this might actually look like.

https://t.co/cXKdKX5Z14

If you’ve found an all-in-one tool that actually works for you — which one, and what made it stick?

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

You've read Getting Things Done. You've tried implementing PARA in Notion. You've built a Zettelkasten in Obsidian.

You can picture exactly what a working productivity system should do.

Then you try to put it in an app, and it falls apart. Here's why:

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

The Structural Trap.

Personal productivity doesn’t pay well. Google Keep is free. Apple Notes is free.

So apps chase enterprise money — team workspaces, admin dashboards, collaboration features. The personal experience you downloaded it for becomes a second-class citizen.

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

@SaidAitmbarek @MicroLaunchHQ Thanks! But I think I have enough launches now :)

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

My first @ProductHunt launch after 9 years building solo.

Finished #9. Only 26 upvotes. Wasn't featured, didn't play the game. A hunter (@RohanChaubey4) ghosted me after I declined his $550 package.

Here's what I learned about how PH actually works:

Background

I've been building this app since 2016. Taught myself to code in 2015, went full-time in 2017. Journal it! is an all-in-one life organizer: journal, planner, notes, habits, goals, all connected. 23K monthly active users, 1M+ downloads. Never did a proper launch because the product never felt "ready."

With version 10.3, it finally was. Time for a real launch. Spent a whole week preparing for it.

The $550 Hunter

I reached out to @RohanChaubey4, a prominent hunter on PH. He seemed like a nice guy. He agreed to hunt my product and got me on a Google Meet. On the call, he offered an optional $550 package. For that, he'd help get me featured, and if not this time, he'd try again at no extra charge. He mentioned his newsletters, connections to other hunters, and "groups of founders supporting each other."

I understood what that meant. It felt wrong, and honestly I couldn't afford it anyway. I believed my app had a real shot on its own merits: a polished product with actual users who might show up to support it.

I declined the package. He said he'd still hunt it regardless. Then he stopped responding to my emails. I'm fine with him not hunting my app, but why not just say so? I could have found another hunter instead of waiting.

Why I Self-Hunted Anyway

I'd read that hunters aren't required to succeed. My app checked all the boxes from PH's featuring guidelines: useful, novel, and high craft. So I went ahead without one.

The Launch Day

Self-launched on December 21 (a Sunday). Over 200 products launched that day. Started near the bottom of the list, climbed to #39 after about an hour. With only 3 points.

My users showed up. I'd posted on Reddit and prompted them within the app. Real people left genuine comments about how they use it.

But something was off.

For the first few hours, votes and comments weren't showing up. The notification indicator kept showing new activity, but when I clicked to view, nothing there. I'd initially asked people to comment with their emails for promo codes, then removed that after realizing comments weren't appearing. I'm not sure if that's against the rules, but the featured list didn't change at all during the day either. That suggests the shadow-suppression wasn't just happening to me. It seems like what happens to non-featured products.

Eventually climbed to #9. Top 10. But only 26 points, 51 comments visible.

I expected around 300 upvotes based on similar products in the past. Got less than 10% of that.

The Featured List

PH's daily newsletter features 5 products. Those seem to be selected before launch day starts. The featured products that Sunday got there somehow. I don't know how.

The list didn't update even as rankings changed. If you're not pre-selected, the newsletter traffic is zero. And without being featured, it seems like your engagement gets suppressed too.

No featured = no real chance. A good product with real users helps, but only if you're on the featured list first.

How PH Seems to Work

Based on what I experienced:

1. Paid services exist. Hunters offer packages with newsletters, founder groups, and connections. $550 is the going rate for some.

2. Playing the game works. Building connections, joining communities, being active on PH. That's how you get noticed.

3. Real user support helps, but only if you're already featured. Otherwise it barely registers.

I Don't Blame the PH Team

They can't manually review everything. Vote manipulation is hard to detect. I don't know how I'd do better.

It's a very hard problem to solve.

What Also Worked

Reddit. r/productivityApps got 75k views. Real engagement, real feedback, promo codes ran out within just over an hour.

My Take

PH can work. $550 might be worth it for some, probably not most solo devs. Building connections over time is another path. It's just not for me. I'd rather spend that time building features.

Silver Linings

- Finished #9, top 10 (not in the newsletter though)
- Got ~100 new PH followers
- Heartwarming comments from real users
- "Launched on PH" badge
- Now I understand how it works

The launch page is still nice to look at with all those genuine comments.

I'll probably try again with realistic expectations. And I believe there are good hunters who don't charge. This was just my experience.

For Other Indie Devs

If you're expecting PH to be your big break with just a great product, manage expectations. Getting featured seems to be the prerequisite for everything else to matter.

But honestly? It's not that important anyway.

While researching, I found an app from another solo dev that got 200+ upvotes on PH. It has less than 5k downloads on the app store. PH success doesn't always translate to real traction.

And unlike SaaS products, mobile apps have a big advantage: app stores are much more fair. No hunters, no upvote groups. There's pay-to-play (ads), but it's visible to everyone. Build something good, optimize your listing, and explore other marketing channels.

I'll take that over playing someone else's game.

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https://t.co/W1lIQsnrsz

Happy to answer questions about the launch or the 9-year journey.

#BuildInPublic #indiedev

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

Silver linings:
- Finished #9 (not in newsletter though)
- ~100 new PH followers
- Heartwarming user comments
- Now I understand how it works

The launch page still looks nice with all those genuine comments. I'll probably try again with realistic expectations.

For other indie devs: If you're expecting PH to be your big break with just a great product, manage expectations. Getting featured is the prerequisite for everything else to matter.

But honestly? It's not that important anyway. Found an app that got 200+ PH upvotes. Less than 5k app store downloads. PH success doesn't always translate to real traction.

Mobile apps have an advantage: app stores are more fair. No hunters, no upvote groups. There's pay-to-play (ads), but it's visible to everyone. Build something good, optimize your listing, explore other channels. I'll take that over playing someone else's game.

Links:
- App: https://t.co/LnrkydRosb
- PH: https://t.co/Wtyd83w6kb
- Community: https://t.co/KojcPqCB4F

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

How PH seems to work:

1. Getting featured is everything. Without it, engagement gets suppressed.
2. Paid services exist. $550 is the going rate for some hunters.
3. Real user support only matters if you're already featured.

I don't blame the PH team. 200+ products a day. Vote manipulation is hard to detect. It's a very hard problem to solve.

What worked instead: Reddit. r/productivityApps got 75k views. Real engagement, real feedback. Promo codes ran out in just over an hour.

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

@SaidAitmbarek @MicroLaunchHQ Thanks for the support! I'll check it out.

[Hai Nguyen @hai_cor]

After 9 years of building solo, Journal it! is live on Product Hunt today.

One app for journaling, planning, notes, habits, and goals. Mobile-first. Offline-first. E2E encryption.
Would mean a lot if you checked it out 🙏

https://t.co/h4e4S9p3Q7