A great launch can change the trajectory of your startup, and one of the places you can have a great launch is on Product Hunt. So how can you set yourself up for success on that platform?

Our guest today, Joaquin Roca, Co-Founder and CEO of Minerva, a Chrome extension that allows you to easily create training guides, and has had multiple successful Product Hunt launches. He talks through some strategies and what he’s learned about launching and running a startup over the last few years.

About Joaquin Roca:Joaquín​ ​V.​ ​Roca​ is a seasoned organizational consultant with wide-ranging experience. In addition to consulting, Joaquín has founded two technology companies built to help managers learn to become great leaders (LeaderNation and the Scaffold). As an entrepreneur Joaquín has played every role imaginable from sales rep, to accountant, and from designer to software engineer.

Prior to Minerva, Joaquín has an extensive background in teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels, where he has designed and delivered courses on varied topics including organization development, statistics, research design, creativity, innovation, and leadership.

He then became a consultant working with startups (e.g., SumAll, Eyeview, Datadog, Digital Ocean), large organizations (e.g., Hyundai Capital America, Pfizer, American Express), and government and non-government organizations (e.g., UNICEF, UNFPA, the Borough of Lansdale Pennsylvania).

Joaquín did his undergrad at NYU and graduate work at Columbia.

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In this episode we discuss:

02:28 Joaquin’s journey to starting Minerva

03:46 The most difficult manual guide he made prior to Minerva

04:34 Minerva’s beta process and how the team knew they were onto something

06:10 Early use cases and how they found early users

08:04 The importance of iterating while defining your Ideal Customer Profile

09:16 Why they decided to launch as a Chrome extension

11:22 Surprising use cases that have popped up on the platform

12:58 What they did prior to launching on Product Hunt

14:53 The community’s response to the Product Hunt Launch

16:10 What the “mission control” looked like during the launch

17:42 Their research process prior to launching

19:06 Minerva’s social media strategy on launch day

21:20 Jaoquin’s general approach to social media and building in public

22:32 How they closed their seed round after their first Product Hunt launch

25:46 Looking back on how their fundraising went and how it forced him to step up

27:52 Where they ended up after that first Product Hunt launch and what the immediate effect was on their business

30:21 the biggest lessons from his Product Hunt launches

33:16 How Joaquin is still trigger shy to hire a new head of sales and what steps he’s taking for long-term sales success

36:01 Immediate plans for using their $4M Seed round lead by Bryan Rosenblatt Craft Ventures

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