3 ms·

Hacker News does not depend on me buying products from it for it's survival. If you can't see the difference in why a company cannot depend on word of mouth, th

Hacker News does not depend on me buying products from it for it's survival. If you can't see the difference in why a company cannot depend on word of mouth, then you're just really not trying to have an honest conversation.

tcfhgj 1y ago
Plenty companies don't advertise by shoving unwanted ads in people's faces.
- dylan604 1y ago
  There are plenty of companies I haven't heard of. QED
  - tcfhgj 1y ago
    and yet they survive somehow
    - nickff 1y ago
      Many of them don't. Consider that BMW famously didn't run ads for most of its history... but now it does.
      - tcfhgj 1y ago
        Many doing ads don't.
account42 1y ago
Hacker News depends on a constant stream of new users to keep the site alive, just like any other discussion forum. But you're right that unlike the average company this site seems to be OK with a stable but small user base and isn't aiming for unbounded exponential growth.