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Ask HN: What Happened to Indie Hackers?
I was a huge fan back in its heyday but in recent years the site has become a complete disaster. Discussions are dead, nobody that actually makes money posts there, and the newsletter seems like its written by a 16 year old "maker." I could go on and on. I don't get what happened. Am I the only one who feels this way? Did csallen exit?
- codegeek 5y agoI did notice that recently there are a lot of "I m building in public" type folks. Also no real interviews since January 2021.
- username90 5y agoIs there a problem with "I'm building in public" people? Or do you mean they have nothing interesting and just announce they are building X taking up space?
- codegeek 5y agoI may sound elite but yea, most of them are wantrapreneur types and worst, selling their product/service in the name of being an indiehacker. Nothing wrong with hustling but I don't see much of quality anymore.
- ezekg 5y agoI actually deleted my IH account awhile back because of this. It turned into... something else. As far as alternatives -- https://www.starterstory.com https://www.starterstory.com has some good interviews though not really tech-focused. And I also came across https://console.dev/qa https://console.dev/qa a couple weeks back and it gives me heydey IH vibes, but not everything is a business.
- readonthegoapp 5y agoI don't know what it was like back in the day Other than I tried a time or two and had people shit on my ideas so I bailed Soft I know But I've been back for a few months and generally enjoying it and finding it almost semi-useful Forums generally do seem dead-ish I would prefer to pay $20/mo -- at least -- to have truly engaged people. But not sure if charging a small fee would help or hurt.
- latexr 5y agoIt was bought by Stripe four years ago[1]. No idea if or how that’s related with what you’re observing. [1]: https://www.indiehackers.com/blog/acquired-by-stripe https://www.indiehackers.com/blog/acquired-by-stripe
- silb 5y agoThe site became noisy by indie hackers creating products for other indie hackers and using the site for promoting their products. There's also a community focus on less hackerish topics as paid newsletters and content products. Also, the whole site is a bit sluggish, which may lead to less engagement in the discussions.
- ezekg 5y agoIt essentially became Product Hunt 2.0 instead of focusing on its own niche.