New Votap promo video just dropped! (turn sound on)
Instagram video ads keep working best for us, so we re doubling down there.
This one s new:
Built the mockups with Promo Gen (Canva still can t do proper mockup videos )
Much easier for showing the app in motion
Would honestly recommend it if you re doing app ads
Also, we re 8 users away from 500, which still feels a bit unreal.
Curious what you think rate the video in the comments
https://www.instagram.com/reel/D...

More tomorrow.

New Votap promo video just dropped! (turn sound on)
Instagram video ads keep working best for us, so we re doubling down there.
This one s new:
Built the mockups with Promo Gen (Canva still can t do proper mockup videos )
Much easier for showing the app in motion
Would honestly recommend it if you re doing app ads
Also, we re 8 users away from 500, which still feels a bit unreal.
Curious what you think rate the video in the comments
https://www.instagram.com/reel/D...

More tomorrow.

Our app was sh*t? Just temporarily.
A bug was reported through our in-app feedback channel where some users saw an error screen when they shouldn t have.
In a few cases, people couldn t even register. That truly sucks.
As a developer, you mostly use your app in perfect conditions. Real users don t.
I ve seen this screen once in almost a year and it made sense then. For others, it didn t.
This is exactly why:
real users matter
real feedback matters
and a direct feedback channel is essential
Without it, we d be losing users silently and that s the scariest failure of all.
Huge thanks to everyone who reported it (even the angry ones). Most genuinely wanted to help, and that means a lot.
More tomorrow.

Our app was sh*t? Just temporarily.
A bug was reported through our in-app feedback channel where some users saw an error screen when they shouldn t have.
In a few cases, people couldn t even register. That truly sucks.
As a developer, you mostly use your app in perfect conditions. Real users don t.
I ve seen this screen once in almost a year and it made sense then. For others, it didn t.
This is exactly why:
real users matter
real feedback matters
and a direct feedback channel is essential
Without it, we d be losing users silently and that s the scariest failure of all.
Huge thanks to everyone who reported it (even the angry ones). Most genuinely wanted to help, and that means a lot.
More tomorrow.

We just crossed 2,239 total votes in Votap.
That s thousands of real opinions, cast in real time exactly what we re trying to build here.
Right now we re:
refining our ads and creatives based on what actually converts
doubling down on what drives votes, not just installs
preparing for an important investor demo day in the Grishin Robotics accelerator
Still early. Still learning. Still pushing.
If you want to help us grow, download Votap and cast your vote
More tomorrow.

We just crossed 2,239 total votes in Votap.
That s thousands of real opinions, cast in real time exactly what we re trying to build here.
Right now we re:
refining our ads and creatives based on what actually converts
doubling down on what drives votes, not just installs
preparing for an important investor demo day in the Grishin Robotics accelerator
Still early. Still learning. Still pushing.
If you want to help us grow, download Votap and cast your vote
More tomorrow.

Hey everyone

We wrapped up our Product Hunt launch at #13 out of ~500 launches and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who checked out Votap, upvoted, commented, or followed along

Yesterday we launched on Product Hunt and finished #13.
Out of ~500 launches, that puts us in roughly the top 2 3%, which I m genuinely proud of especially with heavy hitters (even GitHub!) launching the same day and not taking the top spots.
One thing that surprised me (and honestly disappointed me a bit):
Product Hunt filters comments heavily. We had 60 100 people from our community friends, family, LinkedIn followers upvote and comment, but none of those comments showed up. Some even disappeared after I replied.
Not seeing that early feedback sucked, to be honest.
That said huge thank you to everyone who supported Votap yesterday. Your votes, messages, and DMs meant a lot
More tomorrow.

Tomorrow we launch on here on Product Hunt. And honestly? I m nervous.

We re officially launching Votap on Product Hunt on February 5th.

Record day: ~50 new users in a single day.
What changed?
We doubled down on Instagram video ads
We started experimenting with fun / caricature-style creatives
And we leaned fully into one rule of marketing:
Ads are about attention.
Not features. Not explanations.
Just something that makes you stop scrolling.
Once people stop, then they re curious.
Once they re curious, then they install.
If you're curious and want to see the full video:
See on Instagram
More tomorrow.

The best way we ve found to get app installs? Instagram video. Not even close.

90% of building a bigger app is not breaking what already works.

This idea lived in our heads for years before it became Votap.
Back in 2017, right after Donald Trump s unexpected election win, my co-founder Zahoor Ali was trading stocks full-time. His days were spent analyzing companies, leadership decisions, market reactions and especially sentiment.
At some point, a parallel became impossible to ignore:
Governments behave a lot like companies
Presidents and prime ministers act like CEOs
And the public? We re the shareholders
In financial markets, sentiment is brutally honest and visible in real-time. Prices move instantly. Everyone can see how confidence rises or collapses.
In politics?
We get delayed approval ratings. Small samples. Outdated polls.
By the time you see them, the moment has already passed.
That gap sparked a question we couldn t shake:
What if public opinion on leaders could be measured live, 24/7?
We assumed something like this had to exist.
It didn t.
So at some point, it stopped being a thought experiment and became something we had to build.
That s how Votap Ltd. was born.

More tomorrow.

I m preparing for my first-ever Product Hunt launch and trying to understand how things actually work today.

I ve read a lot of mixed takes some people say hunters still matter for reach and early momentum, others say it s much more about the product, timing, and community than who hunts you.

I'm looking for a Product Hunt hunter
Over the last few days, we ve been putting together everything for our Product Hunt launch:
the video
the slides
the story
the positioning
For anyone new here Votap Ltd. is an app where you can vote on politicians and news in real time, see how public opinion shifts like a market, and understand how sentiment changes day by day. Not during elections. All the time.
Now comes an important part.
We re looking for a Product Hunt hunter but only if this genuinely resonates with you.
Not for promotion.
Not for favors.
Only if you believe in the idea and want to see it succeed.
If that s you, I d love to talk just reach out: https://votap.net
And if you want to support us already and help us move closer to 1,000,000 users:
Download Votap
More tomorrow.

We re a top 5 startup according to LvlUp Ventures
Didn t expect this at all.
Votap Ltd. was selected as a Top 5 finalist in the LVLUP Ventures Operations Master pitch competition, sponsored by Notion.
The challenge was simple:
submit a sub-5-minute pitch video
no live pitching
no second chances
Out of all submissions, we made the top 5.
This is a massive confidence boost for us especially this early.
Next, we ll keep refining our pitch, story, and strategy inside the Grishin Robotics accelerator over the next month.
Curious? You can watch the pitch video here https://youtu.be/6-D1-mAx47U?si=...
And if you want to support the journey and help us move closer to 1,000,000 users
Download Votap
More tomorrow.

Preparing for our Product Hunt launch

Over the next few days, we re getting Votap ready for Product Hunt.

Today almost broke me as a developer.
The slide-to-vote interaction in SwiftUI took way longer than expected.
I nearly scrapped it and went back to boring buttons.
I m really glad I didn t.
Because it unlocked a new feature we re considering for Votap Ltd.:
Question of the Day.
Every day, everyone sees the same question.
slide to vote (left / right / neutral)
watch results change in real time
see how people from other countries voted
read and join the discussion
Fast. Intuitive. Habit-forming.
Sometimes the hardest parts to build end up being the most important.
If you want to try it and help us get closer to 1 million users
https://votap.onelink.me/EdUW?pi...
More tomorrow.

Over the last days I ve been posting simple political questions on TikTok.

No explanations. No context. Just questions.