How Product Hunt really works

The only time I ever hear about Product Hunt is in the once- in- a- blue- moon posts like this I see about it on HN.

Do people take PH seriously?

It's taken very seriously by the tech-savvy but non-engineering business crowd. Especially with their implementation of AMAs with VCs/founders. (But very few with actual technical discussion)

It reminds me of TechCrunch some years back. A Silicon Valley echo chamber perceived as a gateway to success, with a heavy emphasis on an initial "launch" bump. Maybe helpful for getting investor attention and media coverage within that techie bubble, but not so much for building a sustainable customer base. Product Hunt is the same but with a thicker veneer of openness.

At the end of the day, it's basically a link aggregator, how serious of a tone should we even take with it?

Just as a consumer, in my mind PH is just a place with some links to newly launched "stuff".

People seem to want to hit the top of PH and HN but at the end of the day both are probably as valuable as a medium-popularity subreddit if you're just looking for advertising. One difference being that HN comments have always seemed more (for lack of a better word) worthwhile.

I don't know about seriously but I used to like it a lot more when it was just a list of new apps and sites. Now there is a bunch of big pictures I ignore and a narrow band of 4-5 apps and a bunch of other stuff I don't go to producthunt for.