Over the past several years, we’ve put on Makers Festivals in order to encourage makers to build, tinker and launch products in a short period of time. It’s like a hackathon, but always online and open to people from all backgrounds (not just software developers), all around the world.

With the proliferation of work from home mandates over the past few weeks, we thought it would be a great time to host a global, WFH Makers Festival that focuses on relief efforts (in any form) for the COVID-19 pandemic. At Product Hunt, we’ve already seen a ton of products launch that focus on helping people during this time, including things like a rational shopping list generator, a mask matching tool, a self-quarantine book club, a resource for supporting local businesses and database of projects looking for volunteers. We even launched our own Product Hunt Merch shop last week focused on WHO’s COVID-19 response fund.

We encourage you to think outside the box, whether that means building products around self-care, at-home entertainment, ways to combat the spread of misinformation or products for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the crisis. You can work as a solo maker or in (remote) teams, and you can work on any platform. We’d like to see both no-code and code-based projects!

The Festival will go on for three weeks, and submissions will close on April 16th. Then we’ll open up voting to the community, and winners will be announced at the end of April. We’ll be featuring all winners in our newsletter and on our social channels, and of course, a silver kitty trophy will be given to the overall winner.

We can’t wait to see what you build! …

In this episode they talk about…

The consumerization of the enterprise and bringing personality to software

“You need somebody who is really able to think of your customers first and who can translate your customers’ perspective into your own unique tone and personality.”

Ethan talks about the trend of the “consumerization” of the enterprise, why workers are demanding better software, and how Slack has played a role in the trend. He talks about how they’ve brought some personality to software that is typically utilitarian, to the delight of millions of users. Ethan tells the story of the pivot that Slack made from being a gaming company called Glitch to a communication tool for the enterprise. …

On this episode Abadesi talks to Michelle Bacharach, founder and CEO of FINDMINE, a retail technology company that uses machine learning to scale the currently manual and tedious process of product curation. They are a fast-growing company with clients like Adidas, Perry Ellis, and Callaway.

In this episode they talk about…

What led Michelle to found FINDMINE, and how they’re changing the buying experience

“We’re trying to close the information gap between the customer, who isn’t an expert on what they’re buying, and the brand, who is an expert at what they’re selling. …

On this episode Abadesi talks to Brianne Kimmel, founder of Work Life, an early stage venture firm in Silicon Valley that invests in tools and services for the modern workplace. She was formerly head of product and GTM strategy at Zendesk.

In this episode they talk about…

Why she started Work Life Ventures and what she learned while fundraising

“There are a lot of non-traditional folks who are breaking into venture, many of which are solo GPs.”

Brianne started angel investing on the side when she was working at Zendesk. She enjoyed working with and meeting new entrepreneurs so decided to start her own fund to “do what she was doing on evenings and weekends full-time.”

She explains the focus of the fund and talks about the fundraising process for it. Initially, she says, she started with a “friends and family’” round before she became comfortable raising from other people. She started pitching to people outside her network and tried to run a “tight process.” She explains her strategy for follow-up and why her personal productivity regime was such a big part of her pitch. …

On this episode Abadesi talks to Ryan Simonetti, co-founder and CEO of Convene. They call themselves commercial real estate’s first workplace-as-a-service platform. He co-founded the company in 2009 and have raised $260M in funding to date. He is also an investor in and advisor to tech startups.

In this episode they talk about…

The story of founding Convene and his advice for finding a co-founder

“Partnerships evolve over time. You have to be open-minded enough to go on that journey together.”

Ryan grew up in an entrepreneurial household and worked in the finance and real estate industries in New York City where he saw an emerging need in the space. He says that they’ve seen lifestyle becoming a primary concern for people that they view their clients as users rather than as customers. He co-founded the company with his business partner and long-time friend Christopher Kelly, intending to disrupt the commercial real estate industry. …

On this episode Abadesi talks to Jill Salzman, founder of The Founding Moms, a “global collective of offline masterminds and online resources for mom entrepreneurs.” She was formerly the founder of a music management firm and was also the creator of a line of baby jewelry.

In this episode they talk about…

The story of the creation of The Founding Moms and how it’s helping mom entrepreneurs around the globe

“No one wants to say that they’re a mom entrepreneur. They’re an entrepreneur. They don’t like to use the word mom. They don’t want people to know they’re distracted by kids. …

On this episode Abadesi talks to John Henry, venture partner at Harlem Capital and host of Hustle on VICELAND.

In this episode they talk about…

How he got into entrepreneurship and how the expectations for today’s entrepreneurs have changed

“I think the world of business and entrepreneurship can seem pretty scary these days. There’s so much at stake, you got to get it right, you got to raise money, you got to go public.“

John got his start as an entrepreneur through trying to help out his family when he was young, starting a dry cleaning service in New York. He says that he didn’t have big aspirations at the time and that he didn’t come to entrepreneurship with visions of a glamorous lifestyle in his future.

He says that these days entrepreneurship can seem very daunting and that rather than feeling the weight of the expectations that people have you should instead take the approach of doing something creative and fun and then see if you can sell it to folks. …

On this episode Abadesi talks to Kathryn Duryea Wyndowe, founder and CEO of Year & Day. They make beautiful tableware that they sell direct-to-consumer online via their website.

In this episode they talk about…

How she came up with the idea for Year & Day

“I felt very empowered by this idea of buying a new set of plates outside of this proposition of getting married and a wedding registry.”

Kathryn graduated from Stanford GSB and started working at Tiffany & Co., helping to bring them online. She was inspired by the new direct-to-consumer brands and had always loved the ritual of setting the table. She decided she wanted to make “tableware fun again.” Through trying to buy a set of tableware for herself, she found that the experience was confusing and uninspiring. …