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Why are you launching here and not on a facebook group dedicated to such market? There are also instagram micro influencers (less than 10k followers) you could

Why are you launching here and not on a facebook group dedicated to such market? There are also instagram micro influencers (less than 10k followers) you could also leverage... Not being a hater but launching here seems silly from the POV of marketing. This seems like something that would get traction rather quickly if pushed in the right context. Trust me. Put ads on facebook with your target demographics and search IG for women of color with a good amount of followers. That stuff works like magic. Edit: If you email me I can introduce you to one such group that has a lot of active users and is led by a black lady. You can pivot from there. --- Just realized my comment makes me sound like a huge dick. Not my intention. Im excited about the product and wish you the best of luck. I do feel strongly about marketing it (even if not my own project) and that made te words come out too strong.

benbowdene 10y ago
I would assume they are announcing their launch in multiple places (forums, subreddit, Facebook, Instagram, etc), not just Hacker News. A decent amount of VCs check this site so it's not terrible to be here. Also, they are apart of YC which typically shares all launches on Hacker News.
- pryelluw 10y ago
  A couple of hours here < a couple of hours working with influencers on social media.
John23832 10y ago
People show off apps and ideas here all the time.
ksenzee 10y ago
Did you miss the "YC W17" in the title? Of course they're announcing their launch on news.ycombinator.com. (Mind you, they probably rolled their eyes as they hit submit, knowing they'd get this kind of comment.)
- pryelluw 10y ago
  Oh, so they have to launch here? Didnt know that. Makes lots of sense. :)
  - dang 10y ago
    Not have to! Just can if they want to. Let me dig up the links for you where I posted about this... Edit: here's the rundown so far: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20launch%20job https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=.... Those comments trace the history of how the idea is evolving. I like explaining it to the community this way because the minute we announce something formal, people forget that it's all experimental and subject to change. But once it stabilizes we'll add it to the FAQ or something.
    - pryelluw 10y ago
      Oh ok. It does make sense now that Im past the initial shock of the post. This might produce a good initial buzz on social media.
slackoverflower 10y ago
Are you trying to say this type of content does not belong on HN? These founders are starting their new venture and trying to share it with a forum predominantly known for its startup culture. Is it the idea or their target market that tells you it is less useful to post here than a FB group? HN readers are known for living in our own startup/SV/tech bubble and stuff like this can only help us see the potential of ideas outside our interests! Tress looks awesome!
dang 10y ago
YC startups are doing Launch HNs these days, which is a new mechanism that we intend eventually to replace some of the job ads that appear on the front page. It's all a work in progress. But we would have invited Tress to post even apart from that, because it's so off-the-beaten-track for HN, and that's what keeps things interesting. You're right that HN isn't the best place to launch consumer products for customer acquisition, but there are other reasons to launch on HN, such as discussing ideas, product feedback, and getting on users' radar for future hiring. No reason not to do all the launches! p.s. As a local professional in the 'omg that's bad' department I can assure you that it's always the good users who worry about sounding like a dick :) Your comment shows how an excess of enthusiasm can sometimes come out the wrong way temporarily, but explaining it as nicely as you did makes it all ok.
- pryelluw 10y ago
  Thank you, dang. Last thing I want to do is rain on someones parade. Startups are hard enough already.
priscahazel 10y ago
We are definitely launching on all those other platforms and some more. We also thought it will be great to launch on Hacker News partly because we are in YC but also because of the rich discussion and feedback we could get from the Hacker News community. We would be happy to email you and would love an intro.
- pryelluw 10y ago
  Cool, pryelluw at gmail. No bs or strings (thumbsup).
mygo 10y ago
Is there a rule that you can only tell people about your app on one website? IMO the whole concept of the "launch" is a myth. You don't post a blog post and call it a day anyways. You've gotta keep talking about your business, and that usually means talking about your business in multiple arenas. Launch here, launch there, launch everywhere.

benbowdene 10y ago

I would assume they are announcing their launch in multiple places (forums, subreddit, Facebook, Instagram, etc), not just Hacker News. A decent amount of VCs check this site so it's not terrible to be here. Also, they are apart of YC which typically shares all launches on Hacker News.

pryelluw 10y ago
A couple of hours here < a couple of hours working with influencers on social media.

John23832 10y ago

People show off apps and ideas here all the time.

ksenzee 10y ago

Did you miss the "YC W17" in the title? Of course they're announcing their launch on news.ycombinator.com. (Mind you, they probably rolled their eyes as they hit submit, knowing they'd get this kind of comment.)

pryelluw 10y ago
Oh, so they have to launch here? Didnt know that. Makes lots of sense. :)
- dang 10y ago
  Not have to! Just can if they want to. Let me dig up the links for you where I posted about this... Edit: here's the rundown so far: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20launch%20job https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=.... Those comments trace the history of how the idea is evolving. I like explaining it to the community this way because the minute we announce something formal, people forget that it's all experimental and subject to change. But once it stabilizes we'll add it to the FAQ or something.
  - pryelluw 10y ago
    Oh ok. It does make sense now that Im past the initial shock of the post. This might produce a good initial buzz on social media.

slackoverflower 10y ago

Are you trying to say this type of content does not belong on HN? These founders are starting their new venture and trying to share it with a forum predominantly known for its startup culture. Is it the idea or their target market that tells you it is less useful to post here than a FB group? HN readers are known for living in our own startup/SV/tech bubble and stuff like this can only help us see the potential of ideas outside our interests! Tress looks awesome!

dang 10y ago

YC startups are doing Launch HNs these days, which is a new mechanism that we intend eventually to replace some of the job ads that appear on the front page. It's all a work in progress. But we would have invited Tress to post even apart from that, because it's so off-the-beaten-track for HN, and that's what keeps things interesting. You're right that HN isn't the best place to launch consumer products for customer acquisition, but there are other reasons to launch on HN, such as discussing ideas, product feedback, and getting on users' radar for future hiring. No reason not to do all the launches! p.s. As a local professional in the 'omg that's bad' department I can assure you that it's always the good users who worry about sounding like a dick :) Your comment shows how an excess of enthusiasm can sometimes come out the wrong way temporarily, but explaining it as nicely as you did makes it all ok.

pryelluw 10y ago
Thank you, dang. Last thing I want to do is rain on someones parade. Startups are hard enough already.

priscahazel 10y ago

We are definitely launching on all those other platforms and some more. We also thought it will be great to launch on Hacker News partly because we are in YC but also because of the rich discussion and feedback we could get from the Hacker News community. We would be happy to email you and would love an intro.

pryelluw 10y ago
Cool, pryelluw at gmail. No bs or strings (thumbsup).

mygo 10y ago

Is there a rule that you can only tell people about your app on one website? IMO the whole concept of the "launch" is a myth. You don't post a blog post and call it a day anyways. You've gotta keep talking about your business, and that usually means talking about your business in multiple arenas. Launch here, launch there, launch everywhere.