24 March 2015

I Have No More Excuse

The success of ProductHunt has been all over the place. Silicon Valley, and everywhere else. Somehow, I knew when it was a LinkyDink group.

product-hunt-hp-screenshot

I just got confirmed from being an intern on probation to a full member of staff at the web development company where I was working.

It was during this time that I dabbled into the Interweb and tech happenings around the world. I discovered MakeShift and Stef Lewandowski and kept tabs on their articles. One of Stef’s articles compelled me to start writing before becoming an expert in anything.

It was not long when I got hooked by MakeShift’s products – HireMyFriend and LinkyDink. I created a LinkyDink group and started sharing links with some of my coworkers. The idea was to share what I found interesting online. I had become addicted to playing with any application I found.

In playing with LinkyDink, I found and joined a group by Ryan Hoover – ProductHunt’s founder.

I loved the idea and although I didn’t know anyone in the group, I kept coming back everyday.

ProductHunt got launched, and the rest is history.

ProductHunt became my Facebook for months (still is). I was  addicted and wanted to create a Nigerian/African version. I drew mockups, wrote a brief, held talks and even bought a domain.

Product-hunt-logo

I could not bring the ‘cloned’ idea to life because of existing tech blogs, low number of products released daily, a lower adoption culture compared to the West. And…

*sighs

Ryan did a lot of recruiting to get many tech guys to join the LinkyDink group. I was surprised at how he got to know these people. “He must have worked in Silicon Valley for many years”, I said to myself. So I guesstimated that Ryan was in his mid-30s or early 40s (with a baby face). This was the best explanation I had for his familiarity with influential Silicon Valley guys. To me he was like Sarah Lucy who had worked for a while before launching Pando, using her professional network.

Yesterday, I came across another “Origins of ProductHunt” article on Medium, written this time by Nathan Bashaw, who was Ryan’s go to guy during the infancy of ProductHunt, and eventually his co-founder.

Then it hit me.

“How old is Ryan Hoover?” I asked myself.

I checked his LinkedIn, his college years surprised me. Next, I hit Google.

“How old is Ryan Hoover?”

And there is was.

Ryan Hoover is just the same age as I am, and I am still aghast.

Now I have no more excuse. This confirms the flurry of ideas that besieged me in the last two years – as a novice. Coincidentally, young Nigerians have made notable impact in Nigeria recently. Chude Jidenowo, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Bankole Cardoso, Bankole Oluwafemi to mention a few.

Bearing in mind that an audacious plan to compete with DealDey flopped, I know I am not far from ‘it’.

Discovering Ryan’s age is surely a huge motivation. Although I discovered the ages of the guys I mentioned before now, I think following ProductHunt’s journey from day one makes Ryan’s more astounding.

I have no excuse.

I no longer have an excuse.

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2 response to “I Have No More Excuse”

  1. True, you’ve got no excuse and I have got none either. Just to let you know that you are not the only being motivated by this discovery. And I should let you know also, you are on the pathway to a notable impact already. All the best!

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