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I'd rather have seen features, screenshots, and examples on why this blogging platform is better than the rest. Who cares that you're Indian? What's your angle there? Link bait titles and sensationalist headlines might get you mad props on HN, but they aren't going to get you any respect for your platform.

As far as I'm concerned, you haven't actually done anything yet.

It looks like he's got running product. That's something.
Fair enough. I'm not really expecting any respect for the platform from a post on HN. I prefer that to come from people who actually use it and like it.

My angle is to

1. Show that there are people in Chennai who actually do things like this. There are very few startups here, and the kind of programmers who'd be willing to work in one are a very small minority.

2. Attract other people in the region to me. Right now I'm doing this alone and it's not easy. I want to work with someone, and looking around and meeting people isn't working out. People who read HN self select themselves into being the kind of people I want to work with.

I understand that you think this was a publicity stunt, and yes, I did want people to see it. But I think that stating it that way misses the point.

My point is, if it was a publicity stunt, it was very poor.

When you launch a product, tell me why it's awesome and provide me with some minimal friction to get in there and try it. When I'm like "Whoa that's cool." then I'll care more about the creators.

If you're looking for people to help you out then say that outright. If I was a programmer looking to work at a startup, I'd have already glossed over this whole thing and moved on.

I'm not hating on you or anything. I'm trying to help you out. Another word of advice - don't write people off from a basic meeting with them. I didn't even know about HN until I was already working for a startup.

Pet peeve: Creating a linkbait title and then apologizing for it. You're only allowed to apologize for things you are sorry about.
At the risk of making the same mistake again, sorry :)
Why not just write a WordPress plugin that does the same thing and focus on building out the membership?
Because not all blogs run WP... wanted it to be platfrom agnostic.