"If you are going play to a bunch of other musicians you better be amazing and blow people away or have something that will make jaded people remember you, i.e.

"If you are going play to a bunch of other musicians you better be amazing and blow people away or have something that will make jaded people remember you, i.e. amazing musicianship, great energy, brilliant songs or talent, even something unique like using different instruments like accordion or tuba. Otherwise you are wasting your time." I look it at more from the angle that if you want to become a better musician you should play with musicians who exceed your ability and learn from them. HN isn't the big stage in my opinion. Maybe it's more of a jam session or an audition, where you can show what you've got and display the potential. I honestly don't think there is too much promoting of new start ups, but the "Show HN" makes it easy to avoid them if I wanted to.