
Tell HN: Thank you - AndrewWarner
I hope it doesn't come across at too corny, but I have to say, "thank you" because you guys on HN improved my work @ Mixergy tremendously.<p>In the early days, if my posts got on HN at all, they'd often have negative comments. I emailed the HN'ers who wrote those comments and I asked them how I could improve. Almost every single one gave me meaningful, useful feedback.<p>(That feedback is why I don't shout my intro, for example.)<p>Then, as I started improving, you guys voted up my work more often and helped me get real traffic, which led to some sponsorships.<p>Recently, I noticed that I have access to more of the entrepreneurs and investors that I want to interview because they tell me that they know my work from HN.<p>It takes me hours to research and put together an interview. The people on HN make it worth the work. Thank you.
======
staunch
I may be way off base, but the cynic in me sees your post as related to the
recent changes you made with Mixergy.

I really liked Mixergy. I turned lots of people onto it. When you decided
(almost out of the blue) to turn it into a strictly money making venture for
yourself I felt burned. I thought you were following in the footsteps of
Charlie Rose's interviews, Paul Graham's essays, or one of the dozens of great
Podcasts that exist. Something fairly altruistic that may generate money for
you, but not as its primary goal.

It turns out you were really just building an audience so eventually you could
upsell us into into some kind of self-help guru educational pay site. Not that
there's anything wrong with a site like that, but it's not the kind of site I
would ever use, and certainly not something I would ever actively promote.

I think there were a dozen ways you could have made significant money off
Mixergy that wouldn't have felt like bait-n-switch. Instead you took the
easiest and lamest possible option. I don't visit Mixergy any longer and I
don't promote it anymore.

For your sake I hope you're really successful with the path you're taking. For
mine I hope someone moves in to take the role I thought you were filling: The
Charlie Rose of the startup world -- not the Tony Robins.

~~~
mattmaroon
This is a pretty common reaction you get whenever you first try to monetize
anything on the net. People feel entitled to whatever you do at no cost to
yourself. They always say "you could make money in other ways" but never
suggest any specifically or show any evidence they would actually gain
traction.

If you like what the guy does enough to shell out some $, fine. If you don't,
also fine. But the guy has a right to try to make money from his work. It's
not a "bait and switch" to add in a business model.

It's also sad when just charging for stuff is seen as "easy and lame".

~~~
staunch
Users are often upset about _any_ change whatsoever. A certain percentage of
people simply don't like the things they're familiar with changing at all.
They will complain loudly. You _have_ to ignore these people to succeed. If
you let them convince you to remain static _you will lose_.

I don't think that's the case here though. It's hard for me to be objective,
but I'm fairly certain this change was executed poorly and may have been an
entirely mistaken course.

> _...[they] never suggest any specifically or show any evidence they would
> actually gain traction._

Leo Laporte makes $1.5MM/year on his podcasts with sponsorships. I doubt
Mixergy will make that with paid subscriptions anytime soon, yet it has an
even more valuable audience. TechCrunch makes a heck of a lot more than that.
Imagine how much money Techcrunch would be making if it had gone subscription
a year or two into its life.

~~~
gridspy
Paul Graham made is essays for free. As a result he has a loyal following of
hackers. Long after his essays were popular, he started tapping into that
following with YC.

Joel Spolsky had a popular programming blog. He mentions a site that he is
involved with (SO) and suddenly it has the attention of a large number of
people.

We all know Andrew Warner, what a nice guy is his, how good he is at building
relationships. We visit his page often.

Don't you think that this alone is an extremely valuable commodity?

If Andrew decided to start a venture, or to invest and promote a venture, he
would have the eyes and ears of the HN community in short order.

That is worth far more than any paywall revenue.

~~~
bjplink
Paul Graham certainly didn't give Viaweb to Yahoo for free.

Joel Spolsky sells software for a living and is looking to turn a profit with
StackExchange soon.

Why should people be criticized, on a site specifically built to attract
entrepreneurs, for trying to turn a profit with their venture? How
hypocritical.

~~~
xelipe
It maybe true that some of these comments sound hypocritical but I feel that
you are comparing apples and oranges with your comparison. Joel Spolsky spent
a lot of time/energy on his Joel on Software blog and from his user base there
"spun off" a business. Joel might have never spent on marketing for Fog Creek
but he sure spent a lot of time on his blog that functioned as marketing for
his business. His blog was not his business, he didn't wrap a subscription
model to it. The same is true with Paul Graham, he built a following with his
essays which "spun off" a book and a following to his other ventures.

~~~
gridspy
This is exactly my point. The free content becomes a personal marketing
vehicle - usually an extremely valuable one. You don't have to charge directly
for the content to unlock this value.

------
axod
The interviews are really really valuable. Keep up the good work :)

For me, this stuff is complete gold. Each interview contains little nuggets
that you can act on and implement. Not wishy washy motivational 'life coach'
stuff, but clear actionable advice that might work for you.

~~~
patio11
Axod stole my comment regarding actionable advice. Mixergy interviews are some
of the best gold-to-chaff ratios of any of my routine sources of information.

~~~
detst
Since this is a love-fest, I thought I would thank you for your comments. When
I've finished browsing HN posts and want more, I check your profile to see if
I've missed any of your comments.

------
markbao
Andrew, I think I speak for a large portion of HN when I say this—I can't
thank you enough for being not only a source of inspiration but also ideas.
You've really helped _us_ become better, smarter entrepreneurs and probably
have saved a few great startups in the process :)

------
prpon
Keep up the good work brother. We, fellow HN users have seen you and mixergy
evolve into something we look forward to. I hope you will be able to monetize
your effort as well as keep most of us around.

------
dusklight
Andrew I was under the impression that you are already independently wealthy
from your previous companies?

Why are you trying to make money from Mixergy?

If it is just a matter of keeping score, I challenge you to dream bigger.

The idea of paying for content is such a 20th century idea .. treating ideas
in a similar fashion to physical property is such a 20th century idea. We are
increasingly seeing people capitalize on the very significant differences
between intellectual property and physical property to do new things.

If you have the luxury of not needing a cashflow from mixergy, why not
challenge yourself to find a new way to make money off your work, that doesn't
involve paywalls?

~~~
rewind
I challenge you to offer valid alternatives instead of just challenging him to
do it. And what does being wealthy have to do with anything? He has the same
right to choose this business model as someone living on Kraft Dinner.

"Why are you trying to make money from Mixergy?" Why not??? He's not running a
charity. His business, his work, his content, his right to try to monetize it.

You're calling his business model 20th century. Feel free to offer some 21st
century alternatives.

A lot of "I want your content and I want you to keep working on it, but I
don't want to pay you for it, so find another way to make money" comments
flowing in this thread without many good ideas to help him do it differently.

------
mattm
I liked the shouting (and I've emailed this to you).

Your earlier show intros started out with so much more energy. Now, I wonder
where the energy is especially with a name like Mixergy. You are doing an
interview a day now so that makes a difference.

I listen to you pretty much everyday now but when I first stumbled upon your
interviews, it was that initial energy that got me to listen more. At first I
was thinking, "who is this guy?", but the energy kept me listening a few more
minutes, and then a few more and now I'm hooked.

------
gizmo
May I propose a different title?

> How Mixergy uses HN to get Access to Entrepreneurs and Investors to Boost
> Traffic and get Sponsorships for Free!

~~~
babyboy808
Why the downvotes?, that is pretty funny as in the titles of Mixergy's posts
:)

eg: "How A Site Made More Money In 30 Days By Selling Access Than It Did In 2
Years Of Selling Ads with Tim Bourquin"

~~~
kvs
I give you a point. I think Andrew can improve the titles and make them sound
less like informercials.

What he does is good & valuable work. Note that the archive is the only one
that he is charging money for. So, we still can get on the juicy stuff within
the week.

------
bendtheblock
Managing a startup, it's hard to stay motivated 100% of the time. There are
hacks for this, such as visualising success (both professionally and
personally), or planning to meet your friends one evening to relax, or re-
enforcing financial pressure by checking your bank statements.

Another one is to listen to an episode of Mixergy. The interviews are the
ideal compromise between high level strategic questions and the grass roots
stuff, such as what were the scaling problems, how was a given process
managed, what was the advantage of doing X over Y.

I'll be writing in future about how to 'cook your own MBA' - Mixergy will
certainly be a key ingredient.

Good work Andrew.

------
mschaecher
Thank you Andrew for all the work you do to make Mixergy a must have resource
for me(and everyone else) on my journey into the startup world.

And a BIG thanks to the HN community as well!

I know my calling in life is to start my own company someday(soon!). Hacker
News and Mixergy have been indispensable resources along the way to
discovering what I love and want to do.

------
faramarz
Keep up the great work.

Andrew, I'd be interested if one of these days you sat on the other side and
let yourself be interviewed by a colleague.. in the same fashion.

(it might also reveal why you're staying in Buenos Aires :P)

------
jswinghammer
Thank you for producing your content. I've found it very inspirational. I love
that there are so many great resources for aspiring entrepreneurs these days
and I'd definitely put your site on the short list for great content in this
area. Your ads are good too actually. They are very topical and interesting
for me so well done there, too. Good luck!

------
coffee
Thank you Andrew! The benefits of your work on this side of the table are
IMMENSE. Your consistent refinement to do a better job than the time before is
an amazing example of your commitment and drive. Your work has direct impact
on the choices we make trying to achieve our own goals. Cheers!

------
detst
Thank you, Andrew.

The interviews are inspiring but I have to say I'm inspired most seeing the
work you put into Mixergy. You could slack and maybe not do an interview
everyday but you do it because that's what you want Mixergy to be.

That's what I find inspiring and I can't tell you how helpful it is in keeping
me on track.

------
danspodcast
Andrew-- a heartfelt thank you for being the most compelling conduit for
entrepreneurial information on the web. I love the show and truly savor the
times I can I can sneak away and watch a few episodes. I'm interested to see
how your business model evolves.

------
pennyfiller
I've stumbled onto Mixergy from onstartups.com and it is the most useful site
for entrepreneurs I've ever seen. Thanks for putting it together! It's like
the book Founders at Work except with video. Amazing.

------
abstractbill
Your interviews are excellent Andrew, please keep up the good work!

------
da5e
Thank you for your excellent interviews. I thought your very detailed
explanation of your reasoning for starting to charge for some content at some
time made a lot of sense.

------
Keyframe
I'm happy for you Andrew, but you could've played out monetization side
differently, albeit the hard way. You could've pitched yourself for
syndication to sites like channel9 and live interviews to conferences - that's
where your money would be at while keeping the site free. Just an idea.

------
gojomo
Your transcripts are the key feature for me. Links to audio/video interviews
without transcripts can be frustrating; I may want to know what the
interviewee has to say, but not enough to lock up my ears for 30-60 minutes.
Thanks for adding them.

------
_pius
No, thank you. Your work is invaluable and I continue to be dazzled by the
level of professionalism you bring to both the interviews and the subsequent
feedback you receive here. Keep doing what you're doing!

------
andreshb
The work that you are doing is very useful for all of us, and like faramarz
says; perhaps you'll reveal what you are doing in Buenos Aires and meet up
with the HN/Startup community here. Thank you!

~~~
AndrewWarner
One of the first things I did when I got here is help organize an HN meetup.

2 - 3 dozen guys showed up. I'd do it again if you want to help me set it up.

I'm here because I wanted to go in a cave and quietly work on my work without
distractions. I don't speak the language here so I don't get caught up in
aimless conversations. Most days I don't even put my contact lenses on.

I just spend most of the day improving my interviews. In the evenings I go out
for a beer and/or steak with good friends. Or I stay at home with Olivia.

~~~
andreshb
Ofcourse, let us know when you'll be available for a meetup.

By the way, I highly highly recommend you go to Palermo Valley
[http://www.palermovalley.com/primer-pvn-de-2010-capital-
para...](http://www.palermovalley.com/primer-pvn-de-2010-capital-para-
emprender/) next tuesday, and as a special guest I can arrange for a
translator as well, though most attendees, speakers, and organizers speak
english too.

Perhaps this goes against you not wanting distractions. But if you feel like
getting out a bit and meeting the startup community here, let me know.

------
jayair
Thanks, love your work! Keep it up!

------
jayphelps
I'm new to these parts, but I'm lovin' things so far!

------
alanthonyc
Thanks for the interviews!

------
clistctrl
I will admit, the quality of show has improved significantly from your earlier
interviews (for instance the early intro made me cringe every time) Some of
your interviews have really made an impression on me.. and for that I thank
you back!

------
hammmatt
Thank you for thanking us. It is easy to love that which loves us. Which makes
me question the motives of the lover... ah consciousness is exhausting, huh?

