4 ms·

It's misleading to focus only on the direct benefits. The benefits of PR are always mostly indirect. For example, Y Combinator makes zero direct revenue from h

by pg 15y ago

It's misleading to focus only on the direct benefits. The benefits of PR are always mostly indirect. For example, Y Combinator makes zero direct revenue from hosting HN. But I would feel pretty dishonest if I were to claim on that account that it has no effect on our bottom line.

inkaudio 15y ago
Exactly , his post is not objective. Front page of hackers news is essentially word of mouth marketing, which the author(Noah) says matters. Based on the data provided Noah does not know if the HN readers who signed up for the free accounts are recommending the paid services to others. So the value is at the very least $300 a month, it could be significantly more than that. Moreover what effect does the HN traffic have on their advertising, their job board, book sales ? He does not measure, so I doubt the accuracy of his conclusion.
- cs702 15y ago
  I'm trying to quantify some of the second-order effects with a poll here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680400 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680400 (FWIW, as I write this, the number of 37signals customers claimed by the respondents to the poll already exceeds the number of signups the SvN post states came from HN).
- batista 15y ago
  Front page of hackers news is essentially word of mouth marketing, which the author(Noah) says matters. Not every kind of word of mouth matters. HN is not that big of community, and is comprised mostly of certain types of users that either don't care about 37's products, or know about them already anyway. Based on the data provided Noah does not know if the HN readers who signed up for the free accounts are recommending the paid services to others. Why, can't he check for affiliate links? So the value is at the very least $300 a month, it could be significantly more than that. Like a whooping $1000 a month?
gp3 15y ago
In the case of Hacker News, wouldn't you look at the conversion rate of HN readers -> YC applicants, and determine the value by looking at the value of the larger (and theoretically better) applicant pool?
ahoyhere 15y ago
It's not misleading, but the comparison to HN and Y Combinator is. HN isn't a product which is for sale. There is no way to pay for HN.
- pg 15y ago
  That's not important to the argument. If we made $300/month directly from HN, it still wouldn't be worth it financially.
- chc 15y ago
  I think you've misunderstood what PG was saying. In this analogy, Y Combinator and Basecamp are the products for sale and HN is a promotional channel. PG's point is that Y Combinator benefits from Hacker News in ways other than the direct "I clicked on the link from Hacker News and then immediately took an action that made money for Y Combinator."

by pg 15y ago

inkaudio 15y ago

Exactly , his post is not objective. Front page of hackers news is essentially word of mouth marketing, which the author(Noah) says matters. Based on the data provided Noah does not know if the HN readers who signed up for the free accounts are recommending the paid services to others. So the value is at the very least $300 a month, it could be significantly more than that. Moreover what effect does the HN traffic have on their advertising, their job board, book sales ? He does not measure, so I doubt the accuracy of his conclusion.

cs702 15y ago
I'm trying to quantify some of the second-order effects with a poll here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680400 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680400 (FWIW, as I write this, the number of 37signals customers claimed by the respondents to the poll already exceeds the number of signups the SvN post states came from HN).
batista 15y ago
Front page of hackers news is essentially word of mouth marketing, which the author(Noah) says matters. Not every kind of word of mouth matters. HN is not that big of community, and is comprised mostly of certain types of users that either don't care about 37's products, or know about them already anyway. Based on the data provided Noah does not know if the HN readers who signed up for the free accounts are recommending the paid services to others. Why, can't he check for affiliate links? So the value is at the very least $300 a month, it could be significantly more than that. Like a whooping $1000 a month?

gp3 15y ago

In the case of Hacker News, wouldn't you look at the conversion rate of HN readers -> YC applicants, and determine the value by looking at the value of the larger (and theoretically better) applicant pool?

ahoyhere 15y ago

It's not misleading, but the comparison to HN and Y Combinator is. HN isn't a product which is for sale. There is no way to pay for HN.

pg 15y ago
That's not important to the argument. If we made $300/month directly from HN, it still wouldn't be worth it financially.
chc 15y ago
I think you've misunderstood what PG was saying. In this analogy, Y Combinator and Basecamp are the products for sale and HN is a promotional channel. PG's point is that Y Combinator benefits from Hacker News in ways other than the direct "I clicked on the link from Hacker News and then immediately took an action that made money for Y Combinator."