

Ask HN: Are "Rate my Start-up" posts OK on HN? - middayc

I saw quite few "Ask HN: Rate my Startup XY" posts here lately. Are they considered somewhat spammy by HN crowds or is it a valid form of getting feedback here by general opinion?
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steerpike
Don't know what the official word is, but personally I find them an appealing
point of difference for HackerNews. We are, after all, meant to be a crowd
more interestd in the cutting edge of technology and I quite enjoy being able
to provide feedback to developers in various stages of production.

Plus I've discovered some seriously awesome sites through them that otherwise
would have passed me by.

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ErrantX
In a way I believe that was part of the entire point of HN in the beginning!

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middayc
Cool. Because I work mostly alone I highly value external feedback. It helps
me broaden/clear my view on what I'm working on.

HN seems very calm/knowledgeable community so it's very good to know that I
can also ask for feedback here. I asked because for the same reason I also
wouldn't want to be spamming this comm. in any way.

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jasonlbaptiste
absolutely. it's great for a few reasons:

a) you get constructive feedback. it may be tough to swallow, but it's usually
not trollish at all.

b) you get to see new products and learn just by reading the threads.
seriously, someone should put together a domain or something like it, listing
all these type of posts.

c) unless you're launching something appealing to hackers/startups, they won't
be long term users. the cool thing is, a lot of interesting people may contact
you or become a connection through this.

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callmeed
Absolutely. In fact, I think they are possibly some of the most educational
posts on here.

Even if you don't want to review the site or provide feedback, you can learn a
lot just from reading the comments.

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raffi
You're good to go. The neat thing about this community is strikes a good
balance between give and take. My startup journey is well documented on this
site. At different times I did my announcements and requests for feedback
(take) but I also try to chime in on conversations like this one (give). It
seems this behavior is well rewarded here.

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icey
I think they're great, personally. Occasionally there is some astroturfing,
but I think that's a rarity.

I like seeing what people are working on; and it makes me want to keep
focusing on the stuff I'm working on as well.

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pclark
yes

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movix
Is that - yes they're considered spammy, or yes it's a valid form of getting
feedback? Or both?

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weaksauce
I believe the question in the title should be the one answered. So in this
instance "yes" refers to yes, rate my startup posts are ok.

It was one of the first things that was done on HN. It provides valuable
feedback for startups and also provides a bit of motivation to launch for
people struggling with their own startups.

