![Screenshot of a Hacker News dashboard page. The number of visits jumps from 0 on March 27 to around 3,000 each on March 28 and 29, before slowly tailing off.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/637d6390b70424b49c14ff1e/6386e50302482e3d94368ac8_63586b9b5e50c01dec604028_what-61-points-on-hacker-news-did-for-my-startup-HERO.webp)
Hacker News is not just a sinkhole for your morning’s productivity. I’ve been frequenting HN for years and it is my primary source of information. Recently, I also discovered it is a great platform to launch your startup.
I submitted a link to Routific’s developers page on Friday March 28, around 6 p.m. PST. Thirty minutes later, we were on the front page. One hour later, we were cruising at #6. It never reached the Top 5, but a roller coaster of excitement ensued nonetheless:
- 6,899 visits
- 9,300 pageviews
- 125 early-access signups
- 99 API accounts created
- 8 pricing requests, including one titled: “shut up and take my money”
- 2 investor inquiries
- 1 enterprise deal
wow. very trafic. such excite! yum pie.
These numbers may not be all that much, but for a startup’s first launch — before which everything was zero — it is quite exciting!
Some tweets followed — amazing how the whole world is on HN:
![Screenshot linked to an original tweet by @SteveRepetti. The text reads "VERY COOL -> Optimize your logistics with the most advanced routing software ever https://routific.com #CoolStartups"](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/637d6390b70424b49c14ff1e/638017b3538c622e32703df6_6358719b54d14a505ed067c6_steve-repetti-tweet-about-routific.webp)
![Screenshot linked to an original tweet by @Stumpy. Text reads, in French: "API pour optimiser la livraison, un service qu'il est bien! Routific http://buff.ly/1ltG45g"](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/637d6390b70424b49c14ff1e/638017b3538c62ee2b703df5_6358726869e0249807a0c52e_stumpy-tweet-about-routific.webp)
![Screenshot with a link to an original Twitter post by Hiroshi Kurokawa @hydrakecat. Test in Japanese reads"実際の地図で Vehicle Routing Problem を解く API。機会があれば使ってみたい。https://routific.com/developers"](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/637d6390b70424b49c14ff1e/638017b3538c62b9e5703df7_635872b2f23f7a43ac356193_hydrakecat-tweet-about-routific.webp)
Comments posted by HN readers have gained a reputation for being harsh and pedantic, so I was surprised by the quality of the discussion and encouraging comments on the HN thread. Perhaps they tone it down when you submit a Show HN?
I also submitted it to proggit, but got down-voted immediately. Thank you Hacker News for being so supportive. What would we do without you?
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