A virtual co-working space for makers

“What are you working?” Join us!

We’re seeing an explosion of creation in tech. Last year we saw over 20,000 products launch on Product Hunt in 2018. Every month, another 75K apps enter the App Store. Last year the number of Alexa Skills more than doubled in the U.S.

Like art, software has become a form of self-expression, a vehicle to turn an idea into a thing other people can use and enjoy. Every day on Product Hunt we see people around the world launching their startup, side project, or weekend experiment. Many of these people are solo makers, freelancers or new founders. And this audience is growing. By 2027, the U.S. is projected to have more freelancers than full-time employees.

Low and no code tools like Webflow, Voiceflow, Bubble, Airtable, and many others make building more accessible (and faster). More professionals are working remotely today and many that don’t, want to.

This is awesome.

But…

While more people are empowered to participate as a maker in the tech community from anywhere in the world, we’re also seeing new problems arise.

A few weeks ago I asked Twitter, “For those that work from home, what’s your biggest frustration?” Over 2,000 people responded. After reading hundreds of replies, some patterns emerged.

After reading hundreds of replies, some patterns emerged. Loneliness, a lack of human interaction, and difficulty collaborating were common in the responses. Buffer’s 2019 State of Remote report highlights these issues.

The Product Hunt team has been distributed from the beginning with teammates across 10 countries. As a result, we’ve observed the challenges remote workers and solo makers face.

So we set out to build a tool that might help.

Come (virtually) co-work with us

“What’s happening?” — Twitter

“What’s on your mind?” — Facebook

“What are you working on?” — Product Hunt

For the past few weeks we’ve been beta testing a new browser extension to help makers share what they’re working on, support others, and stay productive.

In every new tab, the question “What are you working on?” is presented to encourage focus on a singular task alongside other makers. People — especially those in the Product Hunt community — want to support each other but they don’t know how. Sharing goals in public creates serendipity and attracts help without social awkwardness or fear of rejection.

We’ve seen all kinds of goals, reflecting the varied interests and roles of the Product Hunt community.

• Shaomeng finished writing copy for the landing page of his new project
• Chris wrote the script to his upcoming TEDx talk
• Jessica launched a crowdfunding campaign for her startup
• Daria hosted a webinar in Russian
• Kevin got 50 new users for his music running app
• Soyo became an certified workout instructor
• Bernardo wrote an article for Indie Hackers
• Keziyah applied to an accelerator
• Afshana caught up on YC Startup School video classes
• Angela found an amazing tech mentor
• David launched his new product on Product Hunt
• I finalized everything for the launch of the new extension ;)

You might be 3,000 miles away from Chris, Jessica, Daria, and the others but we’re all working “together”.

Join us today by downloading Product Hunt Tab for Chrome or Firefox (Safari coming soon!). 😊

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