• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
Techproduct hunt

With live video chats, Product Hunt helps its community members get a bit closer to their idols

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 19, 2015, 10:00 AM ET
Product Hunt screenshot August 21 2014
Product Hunt screenshot August 21 2014

Product Hunt, a hot Silicon Valley startup that’s built an online place for tech enthusiasts to share and discuss new and favorite products, is continuing to add to the gamut of discussion formats it offers. After adding live question-and-answer sessions with celebrities and experts in August, Product Hunt is bolstering them with live video by partnering with a nascent service named Blab.

“Product Hunt has always been about authentic conversations between makers and the community. LIVE video chats extend this concept even further, giving participants an opportunity to ‘sit in the room’ with guests to ask questions and hear their unfiltered answers,” Product Hunt founder and CEO told Fortune via email.

Hoover started Product Hunt in late 2013 after experimenting with a email list for he and and his friends to send around cool tech products and apps they liked. He and web developer Nathan Bashaw built the first version of Product Hunt during that Thanksgiving, which originally was a simple leaderboard, a la Reddit, that let community members submit, upvote or downvote, and comment on products. It quickly rose to fame after Silicon Valley insiders began to actively participate or at least keep an eye on it, in the case of investors, and Hoover took the company through the prestigious startup accelerator program Y Combinator before closing a $6.1 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz on top of $1 million previously raised.

Product Hunt has since expanded into new verticals—games, books, podcasts—and new tools for its audience of enthusiasts to engage with products, content, and creators they like. Last year, it gave them the ability to create and customize collections of products, such as “video apps,” or “my productivity tools.”

Then, in August it introduced its own version of one of online forum Reddit’s arguably most popular and successful features: the “Ask Me Anything” live question-and-answer format. At a pre-determined date and time, each guest answers community members’ questions, usually focused on their profession or expertise. So far, Product Hunt has included big names like Ashton Kutcher, Aileen Lee, Ben Horowitz, Naval Ravikant, and Tony Robbins.

Naturally, Product Hunt’s community of fans has immediately latched onto the LIVE Chats, as they’re called. These sessions, like their closely related cousin, often include an appearance by the product maker himself, and are an opportunity for fans to connect with people, like Kutcher and Horowitz, they would otherwise never get to speak with.

“I subscribe to most of the [Product Hunt LIVE Chats] or, at least, read them later. I think there’s great value in these. Mainly because you reach the point of understanding that everyone is just a human. So you get hope,” one anonymous community member told Product Hunt in a user feedback inquiry.

And unlike video broadcasting services such as Meerkat and Twitter-owned Periscope (TWTR), Blab (which was co-founded by Michael Birch, of Bebo fame) lets multiple people participate in the video stream from their own camera. Viewers can interact with those on video either by writing in comments, or by joining via video themselves. The streams can be embedded online and archived, both of which are key to how Product Hunt wants to use this video feature.

Product Hunt has yet to start to meaningfully bring in revenue (it has a job board that charges employers a fee but the revenue is small), opting instead to focus on its building out its product and growing its community. Whatever the company chooses to do in the future to turn on that revenue switch—be it ads or sponsored content, or its own take on an affiliate fees—having a large, and more importantly, engaged, community will be key.

But given the cult-like following Product Hunt has managed to build in its short life—its office is filled with gifts from fans and makers—that likely won’t be a problem. Hoover himself is sort of a celebrity in startup circles. As long as Product Hunt can provide a sense of connection between its community members and the big shots they admire, they’ll likely keep coming back. Still, as we’ve seen from online communities that have come before it, like Digg and Reddit (whose co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, is an advisor to Hoover and Product Hunt), turning eyeballs and discussions into meaningful dollars can be tricky.

Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.

For more about tech startups, watch this Fortune video:

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Elon Musk sits with his fists together, looking up.
NewslettersTerm Sheet
SpaceX’s IPO filing is full of surprises
By Allie GarfinkleMay 21, 2026
39 minutes ago
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiling the company's new manned spacecraft in Hawthorne, Calif. on May 29, 2014. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Rollout complete: SpaceX files IPO prospectus
By Andrew NuscaMay 21, 2026
1 hour ago
microsoft
AIProductivity
America’s new AI map shows something surprising: ‘A lot of normal people are adopting AI’
By Nick LichtenbergMay 21, 2026
2 hours ago
Ex-Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg tells Gen Z the 10-year career plan is dead thanks to AI:  ‘Don’t script your career when the future is uncertain’
Successcareer
Ex-Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg tells Gen Z the 10-year career plan is dead thanks to AI:  ‘Don’t script your career when the future is uncertain’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleMay 21, 2026
4 hours ago
Microsoft lost its way in the AI race. Can Copilot get it back on course?
MagazineMicrosoft
Microsoft lost its way in the AI race. Can Copilot get it back on course?
By Jeremy KahnMay 21, 2026
4 hours ago
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Big TechSpaceX
Elon Musk’s proposed pay package in SpaceX’s IPO filing reveals what the company actually is: a $1 trillion monster built to colonize Mars
By Eva RoytburgMay 20, 2026
11 hours ago

Most Popular

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
Workplace Culture
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
2 days ago
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
Success
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
By Preston ForeMay 20, 2026
20 hours ago
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
Future of Work
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
By Mike Householder and The Associated PressMay 17, 2026
4 days ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
9 days ago
Dr. Bernice King on why companies that walked back DEI were never truly committed: 'If you retreat that quick…that reveals who you really are'
Workplace Culture
Dr. Bernice King on why companies that walked back DEI were never truly committed: 'If you retreat that quick…that reveals who you really are'
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 20, 2026
22 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.