I feel like reviews really need an A/B test at the very least, because someone comparing and contrasting two products gives you an idea of the relative importance of different features.
Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
11–20 of 63 posts
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#12Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire).
There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/
And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tools, sorted by popularity or recommendations.
I'm sorry, but this is just not that useful for me. It still requires a ton of time to look through and research the tools. Sure, it's useful just to help start your research, but it ends there.
I've researched this space in-depth and have a solution that's different, but way more useful. I'm just too busy working on other stuff to tackle it right now.
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To give you guys an idea of what I'm thinking, here is a tool comparison that is much more useful to me.
https://medium.com/sketch-app-sources/five-app-prototyping-t...
It's ONE guy that researched 5 competing prototyping tools with a specific task in mind. He lists the pros and cons of each, and goes into some detail on each one and how they performed with his particular task.
I wouldn't be copying this exact format, but the takeaway here is that it's ONE person that has researched ALL or most of the tools within a particular category, and had an actual task to accomplish, so they have a much better idea of what each does, its strengths and weaknesses. The problem with founderkit and similar sites is that the reviewers have not researched all the tools within a category, so they're only giving you their viewpoint on one tool.
If anyone is interested in my idea, let me know. I may devote some resources to it if I find the right people.
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#13I think my biggest issue with all of these things is they tend to only serve YC companies and not the multitude of other independent hackers out there outside of that pipeline. I've just stopped sharing stuff like this because it hurts the entire ecosystem long term. shrug
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#14Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire). There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/ And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tool…
Spot on. It's getting tiring/old to see these sites pop up over and over. I get that it can be a fun project to work on, but it seems like too many people are working on these types of sites and hoping they'll be going concerns when the value is dubious at best. I think people need to think bigger and not avoid schleppier ideas.
I _just_ commented on the stackshare post earlier today https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13375748
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#15I think my biggest issue with all of these things is they tend to only serve YC companies and not the multitude of other independent hackers out there outside of that pipeline. I've just stopped sharing stuff like this because it hurts the entire ecosystem long term. shrug
Hey lowglow, it actually started/was tested by YC founders, but we just onboarded several new founder networks in the weeks leading to launch, including First Round, Slow Ventures, Social Capital, Fuel Capital. There are many, many brilliant founders contributing (also note that ratings are hidden while written reviews show by whom they are posted).
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#16This is obviously modeled after Product Hunt with similar rating/review systems, and suffers from the same issues regarding rating/review quality. Despite the emphasis on "unbiased" reviews, the reviews/comments (example: https://founderkit.com/biz/slack ) boil down to "I used it and it's good" which doesn't help anyone , and is essentially a manifestation of confirmation bias and makes the entire thing a popularity…
I mean, no one is forcing you to use this product :) but I actually find the ratings to be really directionally accurate, which considers them in aggregate, and use this site all the freaking time. Yesterday I needed a decent conference calling tool, I went with the first one I found and the reliability was terrible - I know there are a million sites out there for this but good luck googling "best free conference call." One founder kit search later I jumped on uber conference and rescued the call. It didn't matter that I was using the best, most deserving startup, I just needed something that worked...
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#17Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire). There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/ And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tool…
"I have a three-point throw that's different, but way more useful. I'm just too busy working on other stuff to show Steph Curry who's boss."
There's nothing helpful in your comment. At risk of being hypocritical, I'll add a piece of advice; be constructive. Telling everyone you have a genius solution that you're hogging all to yourself (but aren't acting on?) is not helpful. "Here is a way you could make this tool more helpful to people like me."
Ideas aren't valuable. If they were, there would be a marketplace for ideas, and it would be doing billions of dollars in business. It's execution that's valuable. There are 7 billion people on the planet, your idea isn't unique, so share it to be helpful to others or build it yourself, but please don't berate the hard work of others and then tell us you have something better with nothing to show for it.
I'm falling into the trap of HN negativity here, but it's so frustrating to see talented creators who are actively executing get roasted with no discernable actionable constructive criticism.
Listen - I get it, we have guttural reactions to things (especially things we have neat ideas about or know ways to do better.) I tell the people I work with to lead with a compliment, always, before criticizing and I often forget to do so myself (I didn't do so here ;)). Doesn't mean it's OK - and in an environment like HN where you actively have time to think before you hit the "reply" button, it's pretty unacceptable. We're adults. We're all trying to build things and do what we love. We can be supportive.
There's more concentrated disappointment here that's aggregated from other sources besides you, so please don't feel like this is targeted to call your comment out, specifically. Please try to be thoughtful in the future, if you can.
Edit: You updated your post, thank you. Please be kind to content creators - they're working to make things better for more people than just you, and could use your help in figuring out how to make their products appealing to you.
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#18Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire). There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/ And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tool…
I hear you - there's a lot. Seems people are motivated to build tools for founders, which is great.
When we built this, we were tired of the curated lists too. 1) They don't change as the community's barometer on what they're using changes. 2) It's one person's view, not the founder community.
The goal of founderkit is to be more than just reviews, but this was the logical place to start since nobody seems to have done it in a way where it's alive.
If you don't want to use it, no prob. Lots of people have found it useful. Maybe you will too after it's more than just reviews.
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#19Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire). There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/ And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tool…
"I have a three-point throw that's different, but way more useful. I'm just too busy working on other stuff to show Steph Curry who's boss." There's nothing helpful in your comment. At risk of being hypocritical, I'll add a piece of advice; be constructive. Telling everyone you have a genius solution that you're hogging all to yourself (but aren't acting on?) is not helpful. "Here is a way you could make this tool mo…
You're right. I realized I wasn't being very constructive in the comment, and edited it. I only saw your comment afterwards though.
Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
"I have a three-point throw that's different, but way more useful. I'm just too busy working on other stuff to show Steph Curry who's boss." There's nothing helpful in your comment. At risk of being hypocritical, I'll add a piece of advice; be constructive. Telling everyone you have a genius solution that you're hogging all to yourself (but aren't acting on?) is not helpful. "Here is a way you could make this tool mo…
You're right. I realized I wasn't being very constructive in the comment, and edited it. I only saw your comment afterwards though.
No worries. I did it, too. I led with criticism followed by understanding instead of the other way around. It's hard to get ourselves out of destructive patterns. :)