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Ask HN: Why don't more people post their startup ideas on HN?
After rereading PG's article on the value of an idea, I scratched my head and asked myself this question. Why, if the value of an idea is so low, don't more people post their startup ideas on HN?
Here is a play-by-play of how my thought process went:
1) The value of an idea is very low; the value of a strong team is very high
2) I should try to meet more smart people who share my vision and like my idea
3) The best way to meet people with similar interests is by telling others about my interests
4) Wouldn't I meet more smart people who share my interests if I posted my idea on HN?
I quickly realized that it isn't that people are afraid to tell others about their ideas-- heck, I've been telling everyone I meet about my idea without hesitation-- rather, I hypothesize, that people are afraid of the unknown, the risk that there may be someone out there who is more capable and who doesn’t need them to execute their idea.
But, I then wondered, are the risks significant enough to offset the benefits? What do you think?
- jacquesm 17y agoIt depends on whether people want to profit from their ideas themselves (usually people that have no capability to actually execute are in this mode) or whether you'd be happy to see the idea realized at all, no matter whether you had a hand in it or not. People that have ideas and are good at executing them usually have their hands full anyway, not much loss to them if they can get other people to run with their ideas. Also, they probably realize that their ideas are not all that unique. If all you've done in your life is get this one 'great' idea then you're going to be much more protective about it. And that probably kills the one chance you had at realizing it.
- matthodan 17y agoDo you think the benefits of posing an idea on HN offset the risk of seeing someone else run with your idea? Assuming that you're capable and interested in profiting from your idea.
- jacquesm 17y agoAbsolutely. After all, you've had a long time to think about the implementation details, most others don't have that-start. Also, without a doubt someone somewhere is currently thinking about exactly that same idea. But he/she might not have access to the crowd at HN, which is a huge asset. An alternative to test the waters a bit would be to mail a couple of people and see how they respond. That way you get something in between without putting your idea out for the world to see. Worst case it's a bad idea, knowing that sooner will save you time and possibly $, best case you might find yourself some enthusiastic co-founders.
- Mz 17y agoI know for some people that talking too much about something is a means to avoid actually doing it. I know one individual who seems to feel no need to really accomplish anything as long as they are getting sufficient attention for whatever the heck they are doing. I don't think that is all that unusual. I mean if you are looking primarily for an emotional payoff, why bother doing something hard if there are easier ways to get it? I also think some things need to "incubate". And during incubation, it is detrimental to have certain kinds of inputs.
- nostrademons 17y agoPeople used to - we used to get "review my startup" posts every couple days, and for the first few months people would actually get really good feedback on them. Then more people started doing it, and the average startup became lamer and lamer, until eventually people just stopped reading & voting up "review my startup" posts. Then people figured it just wasn't worth submitting them, so it sorta stopped, mostly.
- jacquesm 17y agoThere have been some cases lately where I think the 'review my startup' line was just a ploy to get a spam link in under the radar. It seems to give a free pass to get a lot of people to look at some commercial proposition. Effectively it is hacking HN, in itself a funny thing.
- DanielStraight 17y agoFor me, there's a simpler reason: I don't have one.