Chris Messina: A Product Hunter to Keep an Eye on

You know how there are people, called talent hunters, who have sort of a sixth sense when it comes to discovering future movie or pop stars? Or those who spend their afternoons on a football field or a basketball court, hoping to spot the next Messi or Magic Johnson? Well, there are also people who are experts in discovering awesoME products that are likely to become the next big thing. One of those people is our very own .MEr, Chris Messina. A product hunter if you will.  

Who is Chris Messina?

Chris Messina is a product designer, product hunter, and technologist. What’s more, he is also a product therapist, speaker, counsellor, and an occasional Medium writer. Pretty versatile, don’t you think? And let’s not forget – Chris is the one who invented hashtags. Yes, you read that right. He made content cross-referencing and contextualization possible. Can you even imagine the online world without hashtags? Especially those used to support a cause and that made a great social impact, such as #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, and #LoveWins. We know we can’t!  

Chris has one goal and one goal only – to be useful. So, no wonder he used every chance he got to expand his skillset and gain some first-hand experience. As a product designer, Chris has worked for some major companies like Google and Uber, where he honed and perfected his skills. 

Moreover, he organized movements, like the famous grassroots movement that helped Mozilla Firefox reach its 100 million downloads milestone. Also, he was the one to organize the now widely known BarCamp, an international un-invited un-conference that uses user-generated content. 

In addition, Chris is a founder of several startups and, along with friends, established the first coworking space ever. This completely changed the traditional corporate office culture and enabled flexibility and business growth for both entrepreneurs and freelancers.  

Due to his achievements, Chris has taken part in many speaking events that focus on mental fitness, social technology, synthetic media, product design, and founder culture. Some of the most prominent speaking events Chris appeared at are TEDx, Microsoft’s Future Decoded, Google I/O, and SXSW.

In 2013, Chris discovered Product Hunt, a perfect place to satisfy his adventurous spirit, and remained hooked ever since. 

What is his job like?

As a product designer, Chris is in charge of providing an unforgettable user experience of a product. He’s a problem solver who tries to address any UX issue that arises during the product’s development phase. He is always analyzing, testing, designing, launching, and assessing products. By doing so, Chris manages to create a user journey that’s magical right from the start.  

As a product therapist, Chris can advise you on how to boost your existing product and improve its features. That way, you can level up your product, increase growth and retention, and maximize profits. But that’s not all – Chris can also help you create a new product from scratch. He’ll assist you in brainstorming, help develop the initial concept, and work on devising the most effective product strategy. Ultimately, he’ll advise you on the best direction to take and what goals to set along the way. 

Finally, as a product hunter, he knows how to get your product out there. How? Since he’s been a prominent member of the Product Hunt community for 7 years now, it’s only natural that he has some degree of influence. And when we say some, we actually mean a lot. Not only is he well-respected among users, but he’s also considered a superuser by those in charge of the community. This title gives Chris the opportunity to pick one product a day he believes is the best and feature it. 

Once a product gets featured on the homepage and once it makes it to the list of the top ten products for the day, it appears in the Product Hunt’s Daily Digest newsletter as well. Since the newsletter reaches more than 2 million subscribers, your product will definitely be seen and heard of. And we bet that you are well-aware of the fact that good exposure is crucial for business growth, especially when you have an up-and-coming product that only needs a bit of publicity to become the talk of the town.

What kind of online presence does Chris have? 

Since he is part of social technology and various communities, Chris clearly knows that making a strong online presence is important. Just like a product needs publicity to become viral, a person needs to invest in their online presence if they want to stand out in the professional world. However, that’s not always easy. 

Building an online persona that will be a faithful representation of your offline personality requires you to show the world who you are. To create an online home that will allow you to be yourself. To be unique. And that’s just what Chris did when he decided to use a .ME domain – the most personal domain in the world. He revealed his true self and managed to build a personal brand he can be proud of. 

His popularity is constantly increasing and the number of followers across his social networks speaks for itself. With over 120k followers on Instagram and almost 110k Twitter followers, it’s safe to say that Chris has a lot to share with all of us. And we are ready to listen. 

Parting words

Discovering a product that will conquer the world (or at least a particular industry) before anyone else, or developing a winning strategy for a product and making sure to deliver the best user experience ever is nothing short of challenging. 

It takes a lot of talent, determination, experience, knowledge, and intuition to be able to do it successfully. And you’ll admit that’s not easy.

That’s why we are particularly proud of Chris Messina, a member of our ME family who has it all. And more. 

Do you want to become a product hunter?