This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Paul Onu

The Boom, the Bust, and the Quiet Survivors

Lessons in Enduring Product Marketing Beyond the Hype

When the Sky Lit Up

It was late, and I was wrapping up at Postly’s office when my screen suddenly flooded with ads. Dozens of new AI content tools—bold, polished, imploring you to “Automate your brand”—dominated every scroll and carousel. As a founder who nurtured Postly around scheduling, workflows, and analytics, my heart lurched: Were we about to be swept aside?

That feeling was like standing under a firework display—blinding, overwhelming, thrilling… and terrifying.

A Founder Drowning in Doubt

Internally, I spiraled. I thought: We’re too slow. We’re too small. We’ll be overtaken by these flashy AI newcomers. So I mapped out feature expansions—AI image generators, video editors, even streaming and email marketing modules. Our roadmap became a forest of panic-driven ambitions.

And yet, the world outside—our users—was telling a different story.

Embedded Timeline: Model Milestones & Postly Mood

April 2022 – OpenAI releases DALL·E 2, a leap in realism and usability (Golden). I remember wondering: Should we build an image tool?
October 2023 – OpenAI unveils DALL·E 3, with richer detail and prompt fidelity (TechTarget). The noise intensified; I added more scopes to Postly.
February 2024 – Sora surfaces in demo form: OpenAI’s text-to-video model that can generate minute-long clips (Wikipedia). Panic peaked. I nearly doubled our roadmap overnight.
December 9, 2024 – Sora is publicly launched for ChatGPT Plus/Pro users, delivering 1080p 20-second videos (Reuters). The hype was deafening.
Q2 2025 (around June) – Sora gains broader popularity. Rumors of “Sora 2” emerge mid-2025 (CometAPI). By then, we were already regrouping.

The Surprising Calm Beneath the Noise

Through all that noise, Postly’s numbers didn’t crack.

Onboarding: stable; no mass exodus.
Activity: unchanged—users still scheduling, collaborating, checking analytics.
Support chat offered clarity in stillness:
- “My scheduled Instagram post failed—could you check it?”
- “Can we add another team member to our workspace?”
- “How do I download my last month’s analytics?”

No one asked, “Where’s the AI video feature?” They asked about everyday tasks. That calm blew apart my panic.

When Discipline Shines Brighter Than Hype

Still, fear almost had its way—I almost let Postly become a feature-blotter. Yet instinct held me back. I thought: If we chase every shiny new tool, we’ll lose our identity. Meanwhile, competitors held steady: Buffer didn’t pivot into AI novelty; Publer didn’t either—and they thrived: $2M ARR, then $3M; Buffer quietly scaled past $19M ARR.

They weren’t racing. They were building. That clarity saved us.

Relief in Restraint

Thankfully, those panic-fueled features were never built. Instead, we doubled down on what mattered—scheduling, UX simplicity, and reliability. By early 2025, when the AI video buzz was peaking, Postly stood clean, focused, and resilient.

The Repeat of Patterns

This was not a one-off. It’s a cadence we’ve seen before:

Groupon and daily deals exploded then deflated—merchants burned out, customers moved on.
Scooter startups filled cities before regulation and costs broke the model.
Clubhouse soared during lockdown, then users abandoned it amid competition.
NFTs captivated the world, then collapsed in volume.

Every time, hype dazzles. Then reality reigns.

Theories That Ride Alongside the Story

None of this is random:

Gartner’s Hype Cycle: innovation, inflated expectations, disillusionment, stabilization.
Marketing Myopia: feature hype without deep user understanding fails.
Law of Sh*tty Clickthroughs: ad performance degrades—only retention can sustain.
Diffusion of Innovations: early adopters chase new tech; pragmatists wait for reliable value.

These frameworks don’t overshadow your story—they explain it.

Lessons Etched in Postly’s Journey

Here’s what I’ve learned:

Build hearths—not fireworks. Solve real, daily needs, not novelty.
Identify the glut. When dozens of clones appear, the collapse is near.
Listen to users, not the noise. If no one’s asking, don’t build it.
Be the steady refuge. When hype fades, survivors capture the users left behind.
Trust trumps novelty. Enduring brands stand on discipline and clarity.

A Founder’s Quiet Triumph

That season was one of the most anxious in my career. I was bombarded by doubt. But then our users grounded me. Their steady use of Postly reminded me why we built it: not for headlines, but for consistency, clarity, and trust.

Postly’s survival wasn’t in chasing fireworks. It was in keeping with and protecting the fire.

Final Thoughts

Hype cycles will always come: AI tools, NFTs, Web3, whatever’s next. They light the sky, capture attention, then fade.

But when the night grows quiet, users return to what matters: reliability, trust, and service. That’s where the true survivors build their hearths—not in the pyrotechnics, but in the calm.

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Paul Onu