

Introducing the Distribution Hacks Blog - dmor
http://distributionhacks.com/introducing-the-distribution-hacks-blog

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codex
If you're going to promote yourself on HN, is it too much to ask that the link
contain some useful content? Otherwise it looks like your main skill is self
promotion.

~~~
ivankirigin
Given her experience at Twilio and the successful launch of referly (or do you
think the press comes by itself?), I think your comment is one of those "why
is everyone so negative on HN?" comments.

Please try to be nice. This is an announcement about a new blog. What did you
expect besides an announcement?

But to give you the benefit of the doubt, I will say this: as someone who has
used the title "Growth Hacker", I find it meaningful but cringe whenever I use
it.

~~~
codex
That's funny--I imagined this more as a "why is the signal to noise ratio so
poor on HN?" post. To be frank, I've never heard of either Twilio or refer.ly.
They appear similar to any number of generic tickets in the gigantic lottery
that is the web.

I think it's a bit easy to lose perspective here on HN. The tough love: I see
a bunch of inexperienced folks pimping themselves out in the HN circle
jerk/echo chamber.

For my part, I'm wondering where all the power users went, and how I quickly I
can follow them before their next high quality community gets blown open.

~~~
dmor
Why don't you submit some articles you think are worthwhile and help raise the
bar?

P.S. downvoters - this is actually constructive give me a break

~~~
Terretta
I too -- and perhaps those voting you down -- wish I had been "introduced" to
your blog through an insightful article rather than a pitch.

Your response dismissively tells your consumer his opinion isn't valid because
he's "just" a consumer. Speaking of "sour grapes" ...

"Trying to give an opinion on my wine, are you? Go buy your own land, plant
your own grapes, come up with your own fermenting process, bottle your own
wine, and serve it to see if you do better."

That's not constructive, it's snide, and not worthy of being given a break.

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ivankirigin
I wonder why "growth hacking" is so in vogue. It might be that more people
know how to build products well, so getting distribution is more of an issue.
It might be that more companies have taken a rigorous approach to things,
shining as examples for the others. It might be that the avenues for growth
are more democratized than ever, so instead of having a good rolodex for PR or
BD, anyone can hack it.

Either way, it is a good thing and I look forward to reading some interesting
stuff on this blog. I've found the most interesting stories are told
privately, but hopefully Danielle can divulge more about Twilio & Referly
internals because she left the former and runs the latter.

~~~
marketinghead
"I wonder why growth hacking is so in vogue"...

Maybe Peter Thiel's lecture on distribution has gotten the ball rolling. (To
those of you who missed it:
[http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/22405055017/peter-
thiels...](http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/22405055017/peter-thiels-
cs183-startup-class-9-notes-essay)) The reason I say this is that just a month
ago I wrote a blog post about how inefficiency is an indicator of marketing
opportunity, and his lecture was the inspiration.

I suspect we're all looking at the same startup reading material, and it's
shaping our thoughts similarly.

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dmor
I just wrote my first distribution hack tactics post just now based on this
thread and how you can use negative comments to drive greater engagement and
push a post higher on Hacker News. This tactic is not for the faint of heart
though <http://distributionhacks.com/go-ahead-feed-the-trolls>

~~~
raheemm
All these years I wondered how internet famous people deal with trolls and
immediately followed by - why do they even take the crap. Looking back at all
the cringe-inducing comments on reddit, youtube, or even on HN... and the
thought in my head was: "man, Im glad I dont have to listen to that". But
wait! That's part of growing the community!!

~~~
dmor
it is sick but true, sick but true

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marcamillion
Wow....what's with all the negativity?

I, for one, am stoked that Danielle is doing this.

As a bootstrapping hacker that lives outside of the US (much less the Valley),
I don't have access to the "tips and tricks" that many valley startups have to
acquire users.

I lap up every blog post about customer acquisition from Dave McClure, Sean
Ellis, Noah Kagan, Andrew Chen, etc. like a prisoner-in-solitary-confinement-
with-nothing-to-eat-for-48-hours-getting-a-hot-meal.

I actually JUST made a comment (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4245908>)
basically requesting this on Gabriel Weinberg's story about 'Traction
Mistakes' - and it got a number of upvotes, and still does.

So I don't get where this shit storm is coming from.

Perhaps all the people that loved this idea upvoted and didn't leave a comment
and the trolls, because there is no downvote, feel they have to come and spoil
the party for everyone else.

If you don't like it, then don't say anything. Move on.

The fact of the matter is that you won't like everything that appears on HN -
because you are not supposed to. Some people like some stuff, others like
other stuff.

If you read this post properly, and did some research into who the author was
(I don't know her, but I did research first), you would get a good idea as to
the credibility of the potential knowledge that she is able to share.

No...HN is not turning into Digg. "Power Users" are not moving anywhere. Many
of the same people with 10,000+ karma that have been here for the years I have
been here are still here and still provide useful insight.

The only thing that is becoming more frequent is the bunch of cry babies that
like to shit all over people's work and proclaim the death of HN.

If you don't like it. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

As for dmor, please ignore the naysayers and hit us with that knowledge.

Thanks :)

~~~
dmor
I'm very happy to have you as a reader, and look forward to answering many
questions about customer acquisition based on my experiences past and present.

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brennenHN
This is great. I'm looking forward to keeping up with this blog!

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vineet
Great post. You need a place on your blog to subscribe via e-mail. (I use RSS
only for the not-so-useful blogs).

~~~
dmor
I just wrote an email to the creator of Svbtle requesting this feature, thanks
for the suggestion

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sadgfasfda
If every IT person I've ever hated assembled together like Voltron and wrote a
blog, I think it would be a lot like that one.

~~~
johns
I'm so sick of the people creating accounts on HN just to take a shit on
someone. Want to try again with something constructive?

~~~
sjtgraham
Or at least have the minerals to talk shit using their real identity/regular
user account.

