The Peel with Turner Novak Ryan Hoover on Growth Flywheels, Building Communities, Helping Founders, LP Investing
48 snips
Aug 8, 2025 
Ryan Hoover, the visionary founder of Product Hunt and Weekend Fund, shares his invaluable insights from helping countless entrepreneurs navigate product launches. He reveals how Product Hunt evolved from a simple email list into a tech powerhouse through a unique growth flywheel. The conversation dives into the changing nature of online communities and the impact of AI on human behavior in tech. Hoover also discusses his venture investing journey, highlighting a remarkable 400x investment in consumer health and the significance of authenticity in Silicon Valley startups.
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Software Works While You Sleep
- Ryan Hoover emphasizes that software can keep helping users even while creators sleep.
- He argues this passive leverage makes software uniquely powerful for supporting founders and users over time.
From Email List To Website
- Ryan Hoover started Product Hunt as a small collaborative email list with friends to surface cool mobile apps.
- Early positive feedback gave him the confidence to turn the list into a website and iterate from there.
Product Hunt's Simple Flywheel
- Ryan Hoover describes Product Hunt's growth as a simple flywheel of makers launching, sharing, and other makers joining.
- He designed product features and outreach to speed that spin and increase conversion into sustained growth.
