You Probably Need a Haircut
During the COVID-19 quarantine, Greg Eisenberg encountered a friend—a stylist out of work who couldn't pay rent—facing an impossible situation. Simultaneously, Greg himself needed a haircut. The insight was immediate: people were stuck at home, desperate for grooming services, and stylists were desperate for income. Instead of waiting for salons to reopen, why not connect them virtually?
Greg built an MVP quickly with a simple concept: people could book appointments with virtual stylists who would guide them through cutting their own hair or having a friend do it. The core value proposition was elegantly straightforward—professional guidance without leaving home, and work for stylists who had nothing else.
Greg didn't rely on organic discovery. He strategically seeded the idea with journalists and launched on Product Hunt, a platform known for amplifying early-stage products. The name itself—"You Probably Need a Haircut"—was designed to be memorable and shareable.
The results were staggering. Within the first 24 hours, the site attracted 150,000 unique visitors. The service facilitated over 1,000 haircuts and caught the attention of major media outlets including the Today Show and ABC News. The viral momentum was undeniable, appearing on television and reaching millions. Greg's instinct about the idea going viral proved correct: "I was 100% sure this is gonna go viral," he told his girlfriend before launch.
What made it work was the perfect storm of timing (quarantine), emotional resonance (helping struggling stylists while solving a consumer need), and smart distribution (Product Hunt + media seeding). The service addressed a real, immediate pain point during an unprecedented moment.
- •The startup solved a genuinely urgent, time-bound problem created by COVID-19 lockdowns, which created massive demand from both consumers desperate for grooming and stylists facing income loss.
- •The memorable, conversational brand name combined with strategic Product Hunt launch and journalist seeding created multiple amplification channels that converted awareness into massive Day 1 traction (150,000 visitors).
- •The emotional narrative of helping struggling service workers during crisis made the product inherently shareable and newsworthy, generating earned media coverage that extended reach far beyond early adopters.
- •The MVP's simplicity—virtual guidance for self-haircuts—required minimal development time while directly addressing the constraint of lockdowns, allowing rapid launch and validation before competitors emerged.
- 1.Identify a time-sensitive, emotionally resonant problem created by external circumstances (regulatory change, crisis, seasonal constraint) where your solution directly benefits multiple stakeholder groups simultaneously.
- 2.Build and launch an MVP within weeks rather than months, prioritizing a memorable, word-of-mouth-friendly name and clear value prop over feature completeness.
- 3.Seed your Product Hunt launch with pre-briefed journalists and media contacts at least 1-2 weeks before going live, so coverage and buzz amplify the Day 1 launch rather than following it.
- 4.Design your core offering to be inherently shareable—either through an emotional hook (helping others), a relatable problem (everyone needs this now), or a novel angle (virtual guidance for a physical service)—so users become your distribution channel.
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