How are you supposed to "launch" on HackerNews
I've seen people saying they launched on HackerNews. Is that a thing? It doesn't seem that rewarding given the long list of posts.
#ask-ih
I've seen people saying they launched on HackerNews. Is that a thing? It doesn't seem that rewarding given the long list of posts.
#ask-ih
HN is not a good product launching platform and can be completely hit or miss, no matter what you post. You've got to be extremely lucky to escape from ShowHN and any kind of content marketing is usually dead in the water, if not outright reported and removed. I think of HN as more a tech enthusiasts forum. That said, it is still free to try. Who knows, you might get lucky.
Thanks for that comment. I tried to post on ShowHN and I can't even see my post anywhere -.-
Here's how to launch on HN, when it comes to title choice and ethics: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html
Hackernews has a "show section", where your post ends up in if you start it with "show HN:". It's intended for exactly that, show HN readers what you've build.
I suppose that the result varies. You have to be lucky to get a few readers to upvote your post so you stay "in sight" longer. I got close to 200 visitors from it this week, resulting in a few signups.
Thanks for pointing that out. I'll try it now.
Let us know how it goes
Didn't go so well. As far as I can tell, my post didn't even show up on the ShowHN list.
It's hard to break into the first page. They like specific technology sets as opposed to fresh projects in general. You're more likely to get popular by using an obscure tech or hot tech than by having a nice, simply functional app. I don't think HN is great for getting a ton of new customers and getting into the public consciousness, but it's probably one of the best sites for getting in-depth, intelligent criticism on your project or product.
Also worth mentioning that they allow Show HN reposting as long as your post hasn't gotten popular before. So you can repost something close to daily until you actually get some points and comments. I've also heard that accounts with more karma get onto the front page much easier than young accounts with low karma.
It's definitely a thing - I believe IndieHackers itself actually found a lot of its early success by launching and posting content to Hacker News. Launching on HN can be huge boost of traffic if you get on the front page, it's just very unlikely that you will. So you should try and do it right because the payoff can be huge but understand that it will most likely fail.
Here's good advice I've heard on it from The Art of Product podcast, HN convo starts at 38 minutes in: https://artofproductpodcast.com/episode-61.
From what I've heard, it's a sketchy business. Most people that find success with their HN launch have actually used a service like https://upvotes.club
Same for Product Hunt.
Could you back up that "most people" use a service like that?
On Product Hunt it seems pretty clear that most people are either using Ship or their own pre-built audience to get upvotes without explicitly asking for them.
If it was the case on HN that most successful people are using sketchy tools like that then you would expect to see more companies at the top of Show HN rather than the "Look at this cool thing I made in Clojure" that people on HN seem to prefer.
It's the most scammy website I've seen in a long time
True that It's very elitist...
I posted last night just for the sake of posting there a product and not even 1 point...just the automatic one.