Launch-day comments on Product Hunt are full of people explaining how they work. They name the tool they use, the integration they miss and the price they would pay. That makes a far better opening line than any cold template. Here is how we turn those comments into LinkedIn conversations, step by step.
Keep one thing in mind from the start. A comment tells you what someone is thinking about. It does not tell you they are ready to buy, so treat it as a reason to look closer.
1. Pick launches that match your offer
Start from your ideal customer rather than the daily ranking. Write down the product category, company type, the roles you sell to and the problem you solve, then look through recent launches in that niche.
Say you help developer-tool companies with onboarding. An API product whose comments discuss onboarding is worth more to you than the consumer app at the top of the day. For each launch save the name, link, website, date and category, and read the company site before you decide what to offer.
2. Export the comments with their context
A Product Hunt scraper turns a launch page into rows of data, but tools return different fields. Run one launch first and check what comes through: replies, authors, links, dates, roles. If a field is missing, leave it blank and don't fill it in from a guess.
You can paste any launch link into our Product Hunt scraper and get the comments, makers and their public links as a CSV by email. Whatever tool you use, keep these columns:
| Column | Why you need it |
|---|---|
| Launch name and link | Shows what started the conversation |
| Launch date and export date | Tells you how fresh the signal is |
| Comment text, link and replies | Gives you something real to refer to |
| Author name and Product Hunt profile | Identifies the person |
| Role: maker, team, hunter or commenter | Decides how you open the message |
| Company and public links | Helps you find the right LinkedIn profile |
| LinkedIn link and how you found it | Lets someone else check the match |
| Status | Stops duplicates and unchecked contacts |
Keep makers and commenters apart. The maker built the product. A commenter might work somewhere else entirely, maybe even at a competitor, so never write to them as if they owned the launch.
3. Choose the comments worth acting on
Congratulations tell you nothing. Look for comments that describe a current workflow, ask for a missing integration, raise a real pricing question or describe the problem you solve.
For example, someone writes that their agency copies leads into the CRM by hand and asks whether an export exists. That is a good reason to talk about their workflow. Write down what they actually said and, separately, what you think it means. That keeps you from overstating what you know about them.
4. Find the right LinkedIn profile
Start with a LinkedIn link the person published themselves. If there is none, search for their name together with the company or product and compare the details before you accept a match.
A matching name is not enough. The same company, a matching role or a mention on the company team page is much stronger evidence. Use the profile photo only to confirm what you already found. We sort every person into one of three groups:
- Confirmed when the company and role match.
- Check again when the match is likely but one detail is missing.
- Skip when there is no reliable match.
5. Write a first message with a real reason
Mention one thing you noticed, connect it to what you do and ask one easy question. Skip the long introduction and don't ask for a call in the first message.
To a maker:
Hi [Name], saw [Product] on Product Hunt yesterday. The [feature] is a smart answer to [problem]. We help [audience] with [your service]. Is that something you're looking at after the launch?
To a commenter:
Hi [Name], I read your comment on [Product] about [workflow]. We work on exactly that for [audience]. Is it still a headache for your team?
Treat these as starting points. Check every detail you fill in and never say you tried the product unless you did.
6. Automate the research, review before you send
The research part is easy to automate. Pull new launches every day, export the comments, remove duplicates, sort people by role and look up their profiles. Then have someone read each draft next to the original comment before it goes out. Records with an unclear identity, people you already contacted and anyone who asked not to be contacted should drop out automatically.
If you would rather receive the finished list, a Lidly data pipeline runs these steps for you and delivers the rows to your CRM or Google Sheet, from $200 per source.
7. Measure what works
Count makers and commenters separately, and keep connection requests apart from messages to existing contacts, because they behave very differently. Compare results over the same time period.
| Metric | How to count it |
|---|---|
| Profile match rate | People with a confirmed LinkedIn profile / people researched |
| Connection acceptance | Accepted requests / requests sent |
| Reply rate | People who replied / people messaged |
| Positive replies | Interested replies / people messaged |
| Meetings | Qualified meetings / people messaged |
| Time to first contact | Hours between the comment and your message |
A quick example of the math: 40 messages and 8 replies give a 20% reply rate, and if 3 of those replies are interested, your positive reply rate is 7.5%. There is no standard benchmark for this channel. Tetriz reported about 70% accepted connection requests for its own launch audience, which shows what is possible, not what you should expect.
Start with one launch
Pick one launch in your niche, export the comments with our free Product Hunt scraper and write five messages by hand. You will learn more from the results of those first five messages than from any tool list. Once it works, scale it with a personal lead agent.
FAQ
Can I scrape Product Hunt comments for lead generation?
Yes. Several tools export launches, comments and commenter profiles. Test one launch first and check which fields you actually get.
Does every Product Hunt profile link to LinkedIn?
No. Many people don't add one. Leave the field empty and confirm any profile you find another way.
Are Product Hunt commenters warm leads?
A comment gives you context and a reason to write. It does not mean the person is ready to buy.
Can I automate LinkedIn outreach?
You can automate the research, profile matching and drafts. Have a person read every first message before it is sent.
What should the first message say?
One accurate detail from the launch or comment, why your offer is relevant and one easy question. Open differently for makers and commenters.
