The network of YC alumni is quite awesome. Everyone’s willing to help each other out. It’s the second most helpful community I’ve ever been a part of. The first? Hacker News. Ask for feedback and you’ll get it. Ask for help and you’ll get it. Give back to the Hacker News community whenever you can.
I have to second that Hacker News has been one of the most helpful communities for me. They (you) single-handedly are responsible for helping me seed communities for 5+ different applications, and most still exist today (graffitiGeo, OfficeHours.TV, Hacker News Directory, Bloc, CupidWithFriends) and pushing the sales of a book I wrote into bestselling categories on Amazon. I know friends who have similar experiences when they launched their own products. I hope to some day write a proper thank you letter to HN.
I see other products launch and I'm sometimes envious that the owners run another large community where they promote their other apps (e.g. Let's Date promoted by Suicide Girls), but realized that the same opportunity exists for anyone on HN. Makes me wonder how most people grow their products early on, because I'm probably taking HN for granted at this point.
I have to second that Hacker News has been one of the most helpful communities for me. They (you) single-handedly are responsible for helping me seed communities for 5+ different applications, and most still exist today (graffitiGeo, OfficeHours.TV, Hacker News Directory, Bloc, CupidWithFriends) and pushing the sales of a book I wrote into bestselling categories on Amazon. I know friends who have similar experiences when they launched their own products. I hope to some day write a proper thank you letter to HN.
I see other products launch and I'm sometimes envious that the owners run another large community where they promote their other apps (e.g. Let's Date promoted by Suicide Girls), but realized that the same opportunity exists for anyone on HN. Makes me wonder how most people grow their products early on, because I'm probably taking HN for granted at this point.