

Ask HN: How to earn respect for you and your startup? - akos

Normally: You need a lot of traction, big investors and a famous team member to gain respect from the average early adopter.
But are there any other ways to get people respect you and your product?
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OafTobark
When we did our startup, we didn't think of anything like that. We didn't even
start with the intention of doing a startup. We made a tool that solved our
own needs. Eventually others found a need for the same thing and adopted it
because of a want or need for what we developed. Respect wasn't needed.

Later, respect was earned through the commitment to improve, the excellent
customer service, and numerous things we did to engage with the community and
help users out. Don't focus on getting respect. Focus on solving a need or
want for the users.

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jborden13
We had zero clients, no investors, and my dog was my only other team member
(and neither of us are famous to my knowledge). I built a product that would
solve a problem, and Black & Decker was my first customer. They didn't give a
shit about the amount of respect we garnered in the startup or business
community. They didn't care about the volume of other users we had, our
investors, or the fame of our team - they just wanted a need met at a price
that made sense to them.

And that's what we did.

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amarco
I'm a firm believer that if your product solves a genuine problem, people will
respect you/it.

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iashishsinha
Being genuine about 'hey! I am trying to solve a problem' helps (instead of
putting up a made-up garb of 'we are the best').

Plus, focus on product is what brings respect - look around us : most of the
companies we respect are because of the product quality which translates into
great features, dependable support etc.

