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It makes me pretty depressed, especially looking at my own startup. Hope this helps.

I found out about IH later than you did so I don't know how it used to be. I liked their forum at first but now it seems to be a recycling of either a success story, a not always well thought out ask for help, or showcase of a prototype, etc.

Where I have found value is in the in-person community. Channing & Courtland hosted a meetup a couple months ago in SF and I got to meet some awesome people. There's definitely a lot of want-a-preneurs in the group, but once you get past them and to the serious members, you can make some valuable connections.

This might be odd but I've always stayed away from their success stories. Being in the game right now, I'm laser focused on a goal and have my compass locked tightly to a north star. I've found the stories, while inspirational, to throw me off course.

That "immature" community you speak of is one of the best parts of IH. As someone who joined IH and the maker community in general last year, there are few other places that I turned to beforehand to get basic and/or "dumb" questions answered about entrepreneurship. Hacker News is far too elite for that kind of environment.

For me, it's a place to feel "safe" to ask questions that might get ridiculed or passed on elsewhere. It's not just about the informative podcasts and interviews, but also about being around people who have the same goals as you, but are at different stages. It just so happens that many of us are at the beginning. And there's nothing wrong with that. We're all learning together!

Thanks for putting out the podcasts. I’ve enjoyed all that I’ve listened to that are available on iTunes. I do think forcing people to sign up to read your content, interview transcripts and text interviews I’d counterproductive. You’re playing a long game, why optimise for signups instead of brand building?