Before you build: a pre-launch demand test that tells you whether to incorporate
Run a one-promise page, set a green-line threshold, and let waitlist or pre-order numbers decide whether incorporation is worth the paperwork.
The old teaser page is gone
A pre-build plan that still depends on a Product Hunt coming soon page is stale. Product Hunt shut down its Coming Soon teaser surface around August 2025. A Product Hunt staff member said on the forum that the old, buggy teaser would not return. No replacement appeared. The help article for creating a teaser stayed live and described the removed feature. The usual advice to put up an upcoming page weeks early and collect emails lost its value around August 2025.
The test now moves to a page you own, with a fixed green-line threshold and traffic you can repeat. Put the page on a site you control, with one form and one thank-you message. It is small, but it has to be finished before code starts. Do not start the build until the page has run to its stop date. Use a forum thread or a build-in-public post as the Product Hunt surface, not a teaser page.
Build the page around one promise
Make the page narrow enough that a stranger can repeat the promise. Cut the feature list, skip the demo request, and leave the logo and vague tagline out. A paragraph of explanation signals the promise is too broad.
Give the visitor one next step: join a waitlist or place a small paid pre-order. A waitlist is low friction, but it can be inflated by polite interest. A pre-order is stronger because it asks for money, even a small amount. For a pre-order, make the refund path obvious. For a waitlist, make the email ask specific: what you will send and when.
Find the first traffic without a launch day. Ask people you know, post where you already have attention, and send direct messages. A paid ad only counts when you can repeat the spend.
Keep the checklist and the green line
Keep the checklist short enough to finish before the next meeting.
- Promise: the page names the outcome, not the stack, so a stranger can repeat it in one sentence.
- Action: the button asks for a waitlist or a small paid pre-order, not a demo or a contact form.
- Threshold: write the green line before the page goes live, a fixed number of emails or deposits, so you cannot move it after traffic arrives.
- Traffic: the first visitors come from your own post, email, or direct outreach, not from a last-minute launch push.
- Deadline: a stop date is in the calendar, with a condition for no new signups, no pre-orders, or no real replies.
Each item is testable in a minute. Fix the failing item before you write code.
Use the case as a warning, not a recipe
Ajinkya pledged to run a Product Hunt launch each week. He ran a coming soon page for StartOS nine weeks before launch and collected 286 subscribers. Before the full StartOS launch, his CRM held 600 manually scraped contacts from eight earlier launches. StartOS pulled in 10,000 page visits, 6,000 unique visitors, and $2,259 in revenue during the first 10 days after launch.
Those numbers are real, but they are not a template for a first-time founder with no prior audience. The coming soon page worked because it was fed by past supporters. The launch worked because there was already a list to call on. Without that list, the page must earn its keep before you build.
Product Hunt rules require six months between submissions from products on the same root domain, the main website domain. That rule is another reason to decide before you incorporate. Write the number, send the first post, and check the page before you file anything.