[aagha]

I'm not a fan of Product Hunt because it's an echo chamber personified. It's what happened to Quora, and I don't think that strategy will work twice.

Here here. I think Product Hunt is interesting to look at once in a while to see what others think is hot, but I hate the closed nature of it. There's no obvious way to get selected to make submissions or comments.

In fact, when I read Carlos Bueno's post on QZ, the first thing I thought of was Product Hunt--an echo chamber of like-minded folks with their own exclusive club on who gets to submit which startup; and not only just submit, but even comment! It's a fantastic article worth reading:

The next thing Silicon Valley needs to disrupt big time: its own culture

http://qz.com/225782/the-next-thing-silicon-valley-needs-to-...

Someone's created a "product hunt-like" subreddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/producthunt) that I think is actually a better idea: Anyone can up-vote a submission, anyone can comment, and moderators can separate the wheat from the chaff. Too bad it's not more popular.

EDIT: Fixed typo

[nothxbro]

The way to get selected to submit or comment appears to be ryans buddy or that buddies buddy. Its a really misogynistic way to do it and minoritys and women seem to be under represented.

I am sure if he chimed in here, he would say something along the lines of "We are super excited to open it up to everyone but want to do things correctly and not hurt the quality! With that in mind we are only letting a few people in at a time!"

Which of course means a huge amount of straight white dudes on the site and no transparency about what is submitted or chosen to be on the site.

[rrhoover]

Product Hunt started with my startup friends -- mostly guys, not dissimilar from Silicon Valley in general.

You're absolutely right that Product Hunt needs more gender diversity and it's something we're working on. This topic has been on my mind well before it came up in a recent thread on PH (http://www.producthunt.com/posts/made-with-code). Erik and I spent the last few weeks emailing dozens of women in the community to (1) get their thoughts on the product and (2) ask for recommendations of other women they know that might be interested in contributing. We have a long way to go but it has helped.

We're working on a recommendation system to give people in the community the opportunity to invite new contributors. Additionally, we will soon have a new posting flow to allow anyone to submit products to be curated by the community. These won't solve the diversity problem but will help make things more transparent.

If you have suggestions or ideas on how we can make it more inclusive and welcoming to a broader audience, please share.

EDIT: I'm also trying to get more women on the Product Hunt podcast (e.g. https://twitter.com/rrhoover/status/480421396690907138). I have 3 scheduled over the next month with women founders and investors.

[jgh]

Open it up to everyone, that's how you can make it more inclusive.

edit: The invite-only thing is incredibly lame. I signed up a few minutes ago to see what product hunt was all about because it was being discussed in this thread (never heard of it before). I doubt I'll lose any sleep over forgetting its existence.

[danielhonigman]

That's a great point. So many sites - including TC/VB - are the same folks all the time. And they might be keeping up with startup news, but they aren't potential end users.

[duncanblair]

"The way to get selected to submit or comment appears to be ryans buddy or that buddies buddy. Its a really misogynistic way to do it and minoritys and women seem to be under represented."

Quick anecdote to rebut this, I was 'selected' to submit.

I don't know Ryan, other than I know who he is. I don't know anyone that knows Ryan (I don't think). Like pretty much everyone reading this comment, I am pretty sure he has no idea who I am. I follow him on Twitter, he doesn't follow me.

I was 'selected' because I hit Ryan up on Twitter with a quick link to our product, he took a look and decided it was interesting enough for PH, so gave me permission to submit. It was that simple.

Granted, I certainly don't tick any diversity boxes, but I think it would be a stretch to suggest that my ethnicity, gender, or sexuality had anything to do with my selection.

For transparency, here is the conversation that lead to my 'selection': https://twitter.com/phixx/status/469208498597679105

And here is the outcome: http://www.producthunt.com/posts/alleyoop

Disclaimer: I like shiny new things, and PH scratches that itch for me.

[derefr]

> to be ryans buddy or that buddies buddy. Its a really misogynistic way to do it

That's an odd way to say that; are you trying to say that nepotism in general is inherently misogynistic in some way? I mean, sure, Ryan's buddies are straight white dudes because Ryan is a straight white dude, and people tend to make friends with people they share culture with. But if Ryan was a gay black lady, nepotism wouldn't somehow cause her to want to hire straight white dudes nonetheless, would it?

[Rapzid]

That would be prejudice or sexism anyway. I'm with derefr; please explain how PH's processes are characterized by the hared of women. That's a rather strong claim to be tossing around flippantly.

[rhizome]

Ryan is a straight white dude, and people tend to make friends with people they share culture with.

Diversity is a cultural trait.

[frogpelt]

For some.

[nothxbro]

@derefr Yes, that would happen. Thats why the PH way of doing things is shitty.