If you get onto the front page of Hacker News, you can show that to other publications (such as Ars Technica or Techcrunch, for example) and they are more likel

If you get onto the front page of Hacker News, you can show that to other publications (such as Ars Technica or Techcrunch, for example) and they are more likely to write an article about your company. Then you can take the Ars Technica post and show it to Business Insider, etc, and then show that to The Guardian technology section and then, if you're lucky, show that to CNN or whoever. Getting a front page post on Hacker News shows other news outlets that people are interested and that it might be worth covering. It can be the first rung on the press ladder.