Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#1

Post by ElectricMind » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 10:37 AM UTC

For a few weeks, I am doubting if HN is another "user engagement" place like you know Reddit, FB etc. It seems a waste of times (to me) as I don't see any tangible benefits I am getting out of it.

So I would like to know if any of you have such experiences. I am specifically looking for stories like: 1) I posted this project and I started some company. Sold it or earning a lot of money or living my dream 2) I was hired because of my post on HN. 3) Girls chasing you because of your reputation as HN or met your wife because of your cool project ( Please don't hate me for this)

Basically money, power etc..

Forgive me for being blunt but I am not looking for "10-sec fame". I mean one day you got traffic 100K on the website. Good. But just for one day. Also, I am not sure blogging count as a tangible benefit unless it is paid service. I hope you understand my point.

Also intellectual debate, I get more information, I feel smart as benefits etc. don't count in this context.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#2

Post by yaseer » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:10 AM UTC

HN changed the trajectory of our company entirely, after the community found it interesting.

The story is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26327717

There are a lot of influential people on HN. I have seen companies win business and lose business for content posted here.

Either way, If the community takes interest in something (positive or negative), it is impactful.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#3

Post by 0x1DEADCA0 » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:11 AM UTC

It is a waste of time and a growing place of toxicity a smugness, but it is not very different from the rest of the internet.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#4

Post by username91 » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:12 AM UTC

Seeing what other people are working on via HN dulls my desire to work on similar things, so it's a nice way to kill ambition and melt into complacency.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#5

Post by sokoloff » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:12 AM UTC

I hired two strong engineers directly from contacts made here.

I made one (modestly) successful angel investment from a chain of events inseparably linked to here.

I do value the intangible enjoyment/education from HN much more than the concrete things above, though.

There’s no way the time I spend here is “paid back” just from the concrete RoI items and if you’re trying to build a financial Excel model to decide whether to spend time here, your answer probably rounds to “No”

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#6

Post by graeme » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:15 AM UTC

Hacker News is like a slot machine with positive expected value. Most days are interesting or sometimes a waste of time. Occasionally you see something like altering. I’ve gotten one big business idea that changed how I ran things and made me a lot of money. Like I mean permanently life altering my business worked instead of didn’t amount of money.

But most days are not like that.

You also get some information early. For example, if you paid attention you could have bought calls on Gamestop when they were cheap or puts on the S and P when they were cheap back in early 2020. It’s a filter: WSB talks about a ton of stocks, but when a news story hits HN that says “WSB is talking about Gamestop”? That is a highly filtered signal and equivalent to inside information.

Hacker News can be dumb in some ways of course but it is the highest signal place I know on the internet and genuinely early on a lot of things.

However, to get any benefit out of it you have to enjoy it, and it doesn’t sound like you do, so you probably wouldn’t benefit as things are.

I think the motto about it being a place to gratify intellectual curious really sums it up. This is a forum for people who are curious, and you come every day looking for interesting stuff. Slanted to programming, tech and business building, but with a mix of everything. And if you think about what you are working on as you do you will occasionally find legitimately useful gems.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#7

Post by dave_sullivan » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:15 AM UTC

Yes, it's a waste of time, I would leave and not return. I haven't made any money or started any companies or met any wives on this site, it's a total joke.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#8

Post by wayoutthere » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:15 AM UTC

0x1DEADCA0 wrote: post #3

It is a waste of time and a growing place of toxicity a smugness, but it is not very different from the rest of the internet.

Growing? You must be new here...

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#9

Post by redis_mlc » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:16 AM UTC

0x1DEADCA0 wrote: post #3

It is a waste of time and a growing place of toxicity a smugness, but it is not very different from the rest of the internet.

I'd agree. For experienced technologists, HN has become increasingly tedious - it's eternal September here.

Don't even get me started with the weekly UFO posts ...

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#10

Post by jsilence » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 11:16 AM UTC

0x1DEADCA0 wrote: post #3

It is a waste of time and a growing place of toxicity a smugness, but it is not very different from the rest of the internet.

I especially like that HN is free of sarcasm.