6 ms·

Free resources to promote your next startup

147 points by trekhleb 5y ago

truly 5y ago
This is a huge list, and surely interesting, but which methods are the best? Going for everything there would be time wasted.
- trekhleb 5y ago
  I think if we would need to select the best advertisement method/channel it would be people who are in love with the product :)
- hatmatrix 5y ago
  Probably depends on where you expect your intended audience to be.
shangxiao 5y ago
I don't have a startup but I did make a useful little Python library while at my previous job to help ease the pain with using argparse to make CLIs. It's called bargeparse [1]. The idea is to define an entry point function and use its signature as a means to declare the CLI arguments & options. I was surprised at how well Python's syntax for function arguments works for this... especially the use of pos-only & keyword-only arguments to force a particular style. [1] https://github.com/shangxiao/bargeparse https://github.com/shangxiao/bargeparse
- Felk 5y ago
  Wow, that looks extremely useful. I typically use docopt for all my CLI needs, but it looks like this could be really nice as well. I will have to try it the next time I'm building a CLI.
- shezi 5y ago
  I love that! Argparse is such an old and boring solution to such a simple problem that we need more like this. And I have hope that one of the solutions will make it into the standard library at some point. There are some others like yours: Google's python-fire (1) Docopt (2), which creates the cli from the documentation instead of the other way around Click (3) And my own commandeer (4) Typer (5) (1) https://github.com/google/python-fire https://github.com/google/python-fire (2) http://docopt.org/ http://docopt.org/ (3) https://click.palletsprojects.com/en/8.0.x/ https://click.palletsprojects.com/en/8.0.x/ (4) https://pythonhosted.org/Commandeer/index.html https://pythonhosted.org/Commandeer/index.html (5) https://typer.tiangolo.com/ https://typer.tiangolo.com/
- sebst 5y ago
  This is a cool one. I once stumbled upon bargeparse and have used it several times. And, you're right: argparse can cause some pain ;) I've taken the liberty to post your project to my Python news aggregator over here[1]. [1] https://news.python.sc/item/0d111c5d-0eff-41d5-8d5c-ecb18301f06f https://news.python.sc/item/0d111c5d-0eff-41d5-8d5c-ecb18301...
- BiteCode_dev 5y ago
  What's the benefit over well established solutions like typer ?
  - nxpnsv 5y ago
    I’ve done this with my own crappy code, optparse, argparse, hug, fire, click, and typer. For me typer is pretty much perfect…
    - BiteCode_dev 5y ago
      Typer has the wonderful fast api paradigm and the battle tested click foundation. Pretty much a match made in heaven.
  - bmn__ 5y ago
    I can make a guess: GP does not know, he started working on the software and pointlessly duplicated existing projects, but with worse quality, because he neglected to survey the landscape. I have noticed that happening regularly and out of curiousity interviewed those fellow programmers. I found out it's not because of lack of diligence, or because they attribute no value to a survey, but because of a risk-loving psychology trait that expresses itself in staking out ground and claiming it as one's own. (Armchair psychology warning, I am not qualified to make that conclusion; leave the real work confirming this hypothesis to the scientists in the field.) IMO, this behaviour is harmful and we should work together to socially shun it like we already do for compulsive hoarding of physical objects. We have trouble finding a piece of software that works well because we spend so much effort to repeatedly sift through the mountains of published software that is mostly garbage.
    - shangxiao 5y ago
      Couldn't be further from the truth, see my reply.
  - shangxiao 5y ago
    Typer looks neat. I don't think it was well-established when I started on this, there were quite a few offerings but the only one I managed to find was python-fire. It didn't quite do what my team wanted and there were a few behaviours that we didn't quite like so we decided to make this. Having said that bargeparse was meant to rely solely on stdlib as the environment we were operating in was tightly controlled and any 3rd party packages had to go through a lengthy review process to be whitelisted. Additionally, since our team (and others in our organisation) were mostly using argparse, the goal was to provide a way to declaratively interact with it using existing features in the language itself.
- d4rkp4ttern 5y ago
  Python-fire is a great package for this. Will look into bargeparse https://github.com/google/python-fire https://github.com/google/python-fire
chrischapman 5y ago
> Thus, the main idea is to create the product that is useful, usable and attractive to the end users. Does this go against the idea of an MVP?
- NomDePlum 5y ago
  Not sure where you are quoting from, but out of curiosity what part of that description do you think is at odds with the definition of MVP?
  - chrischapman 5y ago
    The quote comes from the article but, yeah, I get your point. It just seems to me that "useful, usable and attractive" is more complete than "minimum viable". I've seen a number of posts about the meaning of "minimum" recently (MVT)[1] and this article suggests that you need to go beyond an MVP to get people talking about your product. Maybe I'm over-thinking this? The full quote I'm referring to is: > The main advertisement channel is of course people who are in love with your product. Their sharing activities is the best advertisement. Thus, the main idea is to create the product that is useful, usable and attractive to the end users. And only after that it does make sense to spread the word about something you've done. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28550454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28550454
    - Griffinsauce 5y ago
      You could flip it and challenge what you think is "minimum" - just checking off the bare minimum features may not be the minimum needed for a viable product: something people want to use. MVP is often seen through the lens of tech or resources while you should be looking at it from the user's perspective.
    - marginalia_nu 5y ago
      Makes sense. My hobby project, a search engine, blew up (on its own) in social media a few weeks too early, at a time it was appealing but not really useful, leaving a lot of people trying it out but not many using it. However I do honestly believe more in slow organic growth than expkosive overnight success.
gervwyk 5y ago
This is very helpful! Thanks for sharing. We’re planning a few marketing sprints for Lowdefy [0] and resources like this is really a timesaver. If someone has any other useful sources, please share. [0] - https://github.com/lowdefy/lowdefy https://github.com/lowdefy/lowdefy
asicsp 5y ago
Here's another such resource: https://github.com/sw-yx/launch-cheatsheet/ https://github.com/sw-yx/launch-cheatsheet/ I find it difficult to adapt these recommendations as a single person though (apart from posting on social media where I'm active anyways).
timdaub 5y ago
Nice resource and definitely something I've been looking for too. However, with my project [1], I feel like having to find my audience somehow. I've created tons of content on the blog. I post to reddit and HN. Other sites too. But I've done as was recommended to me by many startup books: I've created a niche product that's only useful to a few people. But now, nobody "gets" what I'm doing either. Definitely, most of HN isn't interested. If anyone knows communities that are into an intersection of: data, ML, finance, and crypto currencies, I'd appreciate links here! - 1: https://rugpullindex.com https://rugpullindex.com
- asdev 5y ago
  you need to hang out in crypto related discords, maybe a community around the Ocean protocol you talk about. I'm familiar with crypto but from a glance I have no idea what these tokens are. HN is anti-crypto if you didn't know so better to go where crypto enthusiasts are
  - timdaub 5y ago
    Thanks, that sounds promising! Any recommendations for good Discord servers fitting the topic?
- randomsilence 5y ago
  >But I'd like to vehemently push back on these ideas: Rug Pull Index is not a startup. It needs no vision, no mission, and no explosive growth. The last thing I want is to be a spineless digital coordinator of yet another tech startup. [1] vs >Our long-term vision is the creation of a decentralized index coin (ERC-20) on Ethereum that will allow investors to gain diversified exposure to the best data assets sold on Ethereum. [2] Who should use your site but others who also want to offer data asset funds? Why do you build the exposure for rugpullindex instead of directly creating the fund? If I have data and want to share it, I don't need rugpullindex. Your site could use a filter for various data markets. Then data providers from each market could check if they have something valuable to offer. To push your site, you could try to establish the ocean protocol in one market segment. That would lead to investors who create datasets and portfolios. You create a healthy market which allows you to create the index coin for that market segment. Right now, investing in the index is risky because competing data sets to core assets of the index could drive down its value fast. [1] https://rugpullindex.com/blog#WereNOTAStartup https://rugpullindex.com/blog#WereNOTAStartup [2] https://rugpullindex.com/about https://rugpullindex.com/about
byteface 5y ago
Also take courage and pick a good time of day.

147 points by trekhleb 5y ago

This is a huge list, and surely interesting, but which methods are the best? Going for everything there would be time wasted.

trekhleb 5y ago
I think if we would need to select the best advertisement method/channel it would be people who are in love with the product :)
hatmatrix 5y ago
Probably depends on where you expect your intended audience to be.

shangxiao 5y ago

I don't have a startup but I did make a useful little Python library while at my previous job to help ease the pain with using argparse to make CLIs. It's called bargeparse [1]. The idea is to define an entry point function and use its signature as a means to declare the CLI arguments & options. I was surprised at how well Python's syntax for function arguments works for this... especially the use of pos-only & keyword-only arguments to force a particular style. [1] https://github.com/shangxiao/bargeparse https://github.com/shangxiao/bargeparse

Felk 5y ago
Wow, that looks extremely useful. I typically use docopt for all my CLI needs, but it looks like this could be really nice as well. I will have to try it the next time I'm building a CLI.
shezi 5y ago
I love that! Argparse is such an old and boring solution to such a simple problem that we need more like this. And I have hope that one of the solutions will make it into the standard library at some point. There are some others like yours: Google's python-fire (1) Docopt (2), which creates the cli from the documentation instead of the other way around Click (3) And my own commandeer (4) Typer (5) (1) https://github.com/google/python-fire https://github.com/google/python-fire (2) http://docopt.org/ http://docopt.org/ (3) https://click.palletsprojects.com/en/8.0.x/ https://click.palletsprojects.com/en/8.0.x/ (4) https://pythonhosted.org/Commandeer/index.html https://pythonhosted.org/Commandeer/index.html (5) https://typer.tiangolo.com/ https://typer.tiangolo.com/
sebst 5y ago
This is a cool one. I once stumbled upon bargeparse and have used it several times. And, you're right: argparse can cause some pain ;) I've taken the liberty to post your project to my Python news aggregator over here[1]. [1] https://news.python.sc/item/0d111c5d-0eff-41d5-8d5c-ecb18301f06f https://news.python.sc/item/0d111c5d-0eff-41d5-8d5c-ecb18301...
BiteCode_dev 5y ago
What's the benefit over well established solutions like typer ?
- nxpnsv 5y ago
  I’ve done this with my own crappy code, optparse, argparse, hug, fire, click, and typer. For me typer is pretty much perfect…
  - BiteCode_dev 5y ago
    Typer has the wonderful fast api paradigm and the battle tested click foundation. Pretty much a match made in heaven.
- bmn__ 5y ago
  I can make a guess: GP does not know, he started working on the software and pointlessly duplicated existing projects, but with worse quality, because he neglected to survey the landscape. I have noticed that happening regularly and out of curiousity interviewed those fellow programmers. I found out it's not because of lack of diligence, or because they attribute no value to a survey, but because of a risk-loving psychology trait that expresses itself in staking out ground and claiming it as one's own. (Armchair psychology warning, I am not qualified to make that conclusion; leave the real work confirming this hypothesis to the scientists in the field.) IMO, this behaviour is harmful and we should work together to socially shun it like we already do for compulsive hoarding of physical objects. We have trouble finding a piece of software that works well because we spend so much effort to repeatedly sift through the mountains of published software that is mostly garbage.
  - shangxiao 5y ago
    Couldn't be further from the truth, see my reply.
- shangxiao 5y ago
  Typer looks neat. I don't think it was well-established when I started on this, there were quite a few offerings but the only one I managed to find was python-fire. It didn't quite do what my team wanted and there were a few behaviours that we didn't quite like so we decided to make this. Having said that bargeparse was meant to rely solely on stdlib as the environment we were operating in was tightly controlled and any 3rd party packages had to go through a lengthy review process to be whitelisted. Additionally, since our team (and others in our organisation) were mostly using argparse, the goal was to provide a way to declaratively interact with it using existing features in the language itself.
d4rkp4ttern 5y ago
Python-fire is a great package for this. Will look into bargeparse https://github.com/google/python-fire https://github.com/google/python-fire

chrischapman 5y ago

> Thus, the main idea is to create the product that is useful, usable and attractive to the end users. Does this go against the idea of an MVP?

NomDePlum 5y ago
Not sure where you are quoting from, but out of curiosity what part of that description do you think is at odds with the definition of MVP?
- chrischapman 5y ago
  The quote comes from the article but, yeah, I get your point. It just seems to me that "useful, usable and attractive" is more complete than "minimum viable". I've seen a number of posts about the meaning of "minimum" recently (MVT)[1] and this article suggests that you need to go beyond an MVP to get people talking about your product. Maybe I'm over-thinking this? The full quote I'm referring to is: > The main advertisement channel is of course people who are in love with your product. Their sharing activities is the best advertisement. Thus, the main idea is to create the product that is useful, usable and attractive to the end users. And only after that it does make sense to spread the word about something you've done. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28550454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28550454
  - Griffinsauce 5y ago
    You could flip it and challenge what you think is "minimum" - just checking off the bare minimum features may not be the minimum needed for a viable product: something people want to use. MVP is often seen through the lens of tech or resources while you should be looking at it from the user's perspective.
  - marginalia_nu 5y ago
    Makes sense. My hobby project, a search engine, blew up (on its own) in social media a few weeks too early, at a time it was appealing but not really useful, leaving a lot of people trying it out but not many using it. However I do honestly believe more in slow organic growth than expkosive overnight success.

gervwyk 5y ago

This is very helpful! Thanks for sharing. We’re planning a few marketing sprints for Lowdefy [0] and resources like this is really a timesaver. If someone has any other useful sources, please share. [0] - https://github.com/lowdefy/lowdefy https://github.com/lowdefy/lowdefy

asicsp 5y ago

Here's another such resource: https://github.com/sw-yx/launch-cheatsheet/ https://github.com/sw-yx/launch-cheatsheet/ I find it difficult to adapt these recommendations as a single person though (apart from posting on social media where I'm active anyways).

timdaub 5y ago

Nice resource and definitely something I've been looking for too. However, with my project [1], I feel like having to find my audience somehow. I've created tons of content on the blog. I post to reddit and HN. Other sites too. But I've done as was recommended to me by many startup books: I've created a niche product that's only useful to a few people. But now, nobody "gets" what I'm doing either. Definitely, most of HN isn't interested. If anyone knows communities that are into an intersection of: data, ML, finance, and crypto currencies, I'd appreciate links here! - 1: https://rugpullindex.com https://rugpullindex.com

asdev 5y ago
you need to hang out in crypto related discords, maybe a community around the Ocean protocol you talk about. I'm familiar with crypto but from a glance I have no idea what these tokens are. HN is anti-crypto if you didn't know so better to go where crypto enthusiasts are
- timdaub 5y ago
  Thanks, that sounds promising! Any recommendations for good Discord servers fitting the topic?
randomsilence 5y ago
>But I'd like to vehemently push back on these ideas: Rug Pull Index is not a startup. It needs no vision, no mission, and no explosive growth. The last thing I want is to be a spineless digital coordinator of yet another tech startup. [1] vs >Our long-term vision is the creation of a decentralized index coin (ERC-20) on Ethereum that will allow investors to gain diversified exposure to the best data assets sold on Ethereum. [2] Who should use your site but others who also want to offer data asset funds? Why do you build the exposure for rugpullindex instead of directly creating the fund? If I have data and want to share it, I don't need rugpullindex. Your site could use a filter for various data markets. Then data providers from each market could check if they have something valuable to offer. To push your site, you could try to establish the ocean protocol in one market segment. That would lead to investors who create datasets and portfolios. You create a healthy market which allows you to create the index coin for that market segment. Right now, investing in the index is risky because competing data sets to core assets of the index could drive down its value fast. [1] https://rugpullindex.com/blog#WereNOTAStartup https://rugpullindex.com/blog#WereNOTAStartup [2] https://rugpullindex.com/about https://rugpullindex.com/about

byteface 5y ago

Also take courage and pick a good time of day.