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Ask HN: What has HN given you?

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Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#411

Post by verylittlemeat »

_jcwu wrote: post #224
arkis22 wrote: post #14

I've been through a lot of web communities. HN is easily the most intellectual, respectful, and diverse. The simple reason is that we like to be here! In the same way that it takes a village to raise a child, your understanding of the world around you is drastically deepened by various points of view. I don't expect to find a better village anytime soon.

I remember when I first joined that I really liked how people who disagree here do not downvote but rather challenge you through a comment. It was a nice change from reddit... But times have changed and people love to downvote here these days.

I think hacker news does an ok job at mitigating this by not allowing you to downvote until you reach a certain amount of karma.

Obviously that creates its own problems but at least you have to have a little bit invested in the community before you can start trying to dictate the conversation.

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#412

Post by verylittlemeat »

petercooper wrote: post #399
opportune wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm very curious as to whether there are any other communities on the web that are as generally "high quality" as HN (bonus points if those communities are tech-focused or tech-adjacent). Anybody got any links? To date HN has the highest (consistent) quality of any online community I've encountered

https://www.metafilter.com/ - it's been going for almost 20 years. Not really tech per se, but is tech/liberal/academic leaning.

Just a note, you have to pay a one time fee of $5 to comment on metafilter.

Also I say the following as a long time member of metafilter: it's really gone downhill. If you're the type of person who thinks dissenting opinion on hacker news is restricted you will probably be shocked by what goes on at metafilter. They have a serious problem with passive aggressive bullying and groupthink on political and social justice issues.I don't think it's hyperbole to say that the conversation there has been hijacked by a handful of aggressive users who shameless brigade threads to their narrative. Metafilter is a shadow of what it was even 5 years ago.

That said, ask.metafilter.com is the best part of metafilter and is worth the $5 price of admission alone.

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#413

Post by krrishd »

I joined in high school, and several things came out of it:

- I commented with feedback on a random product posted here several years ago, and got an internship from them out of it

- I met a few other high schoolers with similar interests, and was added to a group called 'HS Hackers' that spawned the subsequent 'Hackathon Hackers' group, from which I was referred to some defining internships, met a co-founder, and met some of the more valuable people I know

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#414

Post by mikeokner »

mazumdar wrote: post #315
callmevlad wrote: post #133

Nearly 5 years ago, a few months after being rejected from YC and a few weeks from being essentially bankrupt (my daughter had an unexpected surgery while we had only catastrophic health insurance), my brother and I posted a Show HN about Webflow ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5407499 ). It was our last-ditch attempt to show a proof-of-concept to the world before going back to our old bosses to ask for our jo…

Nearly 5 years ago, a few months after being rejected from YC for the first time, I came across your Show HN and started using Webflow to build a mockup of my product's sign-up page (I did not know how to code at that time). Over the next 2.5 years, I reapplied to YC five more times. I interviewed twice in the second round. I eventually got rejected every time. From the ideation stage, to $1M in revenue, YC has an ap…

> We don't solve problems, but we create some amazing products that people want.

Sure sounds like you're solving someone's problem ;)

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#415

Post by unclebucknasty »

callmevlad wrote: post #214
unclebucknasty wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an awesome story. Congrats! Quick question: My understanding may need to be updated, but doesn't YC give you Ramen-survival cash? How did you deal with the financial challenges with so little and a family, etc.?

Yeah, the first year even after YC funding was very tough. Long story short: sold a car, borrowed a ton on those credit card write-yourself-a-check 2% balance transfer deals (thankfully had good credit to be able to do that), and withdrew early from an IRA (those penalties hurt!) - wouldn’t recommend :)

Ah. Understood. It can be a tough call: Am I being persistent and believing in my team/self/product or am I just being stubborn and not reading the signs? There's always a certain insanity to starting a business in the first place, hence is it any less sane to continue?!

So, I imagine that the ray of hope that YC-acceptance presents might embolden one to continue and take on that additional risk as you did.

Still, very gutsy and glad it worked out for you.

(BTW, I can attest: yes, those 401k/IRA penalties hurt!)

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#417

Post by Gargoyle »

b0rsuk wrote: post #309
sureaboutthis wrote: post #26

Next to nothing. I scan for links and sometimes find one or two to my interest. I might scan the comments to see if the link is being revered or dissed before I visit. If I'm bored, I've made a few comments. Otherwise HN is nothing more than a link list to me.

Oh come on. You keep coming back. If nothing else, HN gave you something intriguing.

He said what he gets from it- a list of links.

I mostly agree.

I come here for the links, and HN does deliver some quality links each day. I've lowered my expectations for discussion to "mediocre subreddit."

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#418

Post by godelski »

snowwrestler wrote: post #396
kbenson wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me about it. I remember when it was single digit dollars, and it was a curiosity, but it didn't hold my interest. Then it was double digits, and I was like, "huh." Then is was somewhere around $40, and I thought "maybe I should get a couple? But money's kind of tight, maybe later." Then it was over $100, and I thought "surely this can't go much higher? This definitely isn't the time to buy." I thought that same…

I looked at bitcoin very early, when it was pitched as digital currency free from the problems of fiat money. My impression was that the proponents did not understand currency and that bitcoin would make a terrible currency. As it turns out, I was right. But by being right, I missed a huge speculative windfall. While it would have been nice to make a bunch of money for nothing, I don't really have regrets because my…

Most people I know invested in still talk about it as a currency. We talk transaction rates and all that, but they are still convinced it is the "money of the future." So I think a lot still luck out. There are clear market manipulations. But that's why I still stay out. I do not see it as a missed opportunity.

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#419

Post by spython »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #410
spython wrote: post #405

HN got me into dancing. Around five years ago there was a thread about books that changed your lives. Someone wrote about Impro by Keith Johnstone - an introduction to improvisational theater interspersed with a lot of personal stories. I read it and fell in love with the honesty and the new view of social interaction the book offered. I found a dance theater studio near me - the closest thing to impro theater that w…

"an introduction to impro theater interspersed with a lot of personal stories" seems like a technically accurate but misleading description of the book to me. I struggle to capture the essence of the book, but I'd add that it shows a lot of insight into creativity, relationships, and the human condition.

You are right, and it is indeed quite hard to describe this book. It is less monolithic, more like a collection of short stories each offering unique insight into a topic.

Here is one of my favorite stories from the book: https://books.google.de/books?id=j0n2DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT15&dq=%22...

Re: Ask HN: What has HN given you?

#420

Post by amsilprotag »

spython wrote: post #405

HN got me into dancing. Around five years ago there was a thread about books that changed your lives. Someone wrote about Impro by Keith Johnstone - an introduction to improvisational theater interspersed with a lot of personal stories. I read it and fell in love with the honesty and the new view of social interaction the book offered. I found a dance theater studio near me - the closest thing to impro theater that w…

What a coincidence. I just started reading and bookmarked the archive.io of Impro yesterday after seeing used copies on Amazon starting at $25. I'm assuming it's out of print?

https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-KIkLrSPi_3lzPl5v/Keith%20Joh...

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