4 ms·
The biggest problem to me is that while IH started out as a curated collection of interviews, it's turned into a forum where basically everyone has advice in th
by Shank 8y ago
The biggest problem to me is that while IH started out as a curated collection of interviews, it's turned into a forum where basically everyone has advice in the form of articles they want to share and success stories...even when they're brand new. The early content had a sense of authority and assuredness that the tips and successes were genuine.
There's a thread on IH right now called "Why would a company lie about their revenue on IH?" [0] that perfectly exemplifies this. Earnings mean absolutely nothing if people lie. One bad number can spoil the whole lot. It shouldn't because that's just how statistics works, but it calls into question every non-verified number on the site. It's not motivating that people claim to get $x thousands of dollars per month without something backing it. It just starts to look like fake critical mass.
As counter-intuitive as it is, I'd like to see less company names. More founder names, less companies. Less "here's how I got my first users for SUPER PRODUCT" articles, because it feels like it's all just a way to promote SUPER PRODUCT. SUPER PRODUCT made $100k a month (and you've never heard of SUPER PRODUCT). That might help cut down on fake revenue numbers and inspire more integrity. As it stands, it seriously does feel like a part time ad forum.
[0]: https://www.indiehackers.com/forum/why-would-a-company-lie-about-their-revenue-on-ih-07e1a2f670 https://www.indiehackers.com/forum/why-would-a-company-lie-a...
- oisdjfdsf 8y agoAgreed. IH used to be well curated and information-dense. Now it's essentially indistinguishable from /r/startups
- csallen 8y agoAlthough it's a bit harder to find at the moment than it should be, the early content on Indie Hackers still exists and we're still conducting interviews at the same pace as in the past: https://www.indiehackers.com/interviews https://www.indiehackers.com/interviews
- louisswiss 8y agoI mean, it takes literally one click to get from the homepage to a list of interviews, ranked chronologically, with pretty awesome filters. Get your sh*t together Courtland :)
- oisdjfdsf 8y agoThanks for responding. OP's post actually inspired me to browse the site for content and now I'm listening to one of your recent founder interviews =) My advice is put your interviews and podcasts back on the homepage. Attention is in short supply. Especially amongst entrepreneurs. When I see your reddit-esque homepage, it makes me feel like I'm wasting time and should get back to more productive tasks.
- RikNieu 8y agoAgreed. I just listen to the podcasts lately because my podcast app makes it easy to find new content. The IH site is not that great anymore, its hard to find new interviews and the forum is just noise - for me personally at least. I think the focus should return to the interviews and podcasts, with the community aspects being secondary. People were initially drawn to learning from successful product builders, not chatting in an /r/entrepreneur type forum. Maybe it's time to focus on the central value prop again?