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After three years as a product manager in B2B SaaS, I quit my job to try building my own business.

I often used Product Hunt for inspiration and assumed it was a reputable place where good products competed for attention. Then I launched my own product: https://www.producthunt.com/products/adchestra.

Within 24 hours, I received 7 unsolicited Product Hunt-related emails and 23 LinkedIn requests. They offered upvotes, comments, “permanent positioning” and “genuine support” for money.

I played along with one: Me: “Can you bring me more upvotes/comments?” Him: “Sure definitely.”

His offer included promotion to 158K LinkedIn followers, 11.5K X followers and a 7K-member Telegram group. The price was $300: $200 upfront and another $100 if we ranked near the top. He also sent examples of products he claimed to have helped reach #1 and #3. I countered with $20, that's when the chat ended :DDD

I contacted Product Hunt support because several ex-colleagues of mine told me they had upvoted or commented, but those interactions weren’t appearing. Support explained that Product Hunt recently replaced votes with “points,” that votes and points are not 1:1, and that comments can be delayed or rejected by moderation.

Am I slightly biased because my launch didn’t go according to plan? Absolutely :D

But I’m genuinely trying to understand: are real people still discovering products on Product Hunt, or are makers increasingly competing against paid engagement networks? Is this a recent development—possibly related to the new points system—or has it always been this way?

And if you were launching a new product today, where would you promote it instead?