HN Explorer

Ask HN: Startups should brag less and ship more (guilty as charged)

3 points by paulwilsonn ↗ HN
Every founder I know (including me) spends too much time on decks and demos instead of shipping. We justify it as “raising awareness” or “community building.” But I’ve never seen a pitch deck go viral-only real products.

Anyone else feel this trap?

8 comments

[ 0.22 ms ] story [ 24.6 ms ] thread
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
ungreased0675
My first question when screening small companies: Please show me the product, I don’t mind if it’s half baked.

If they can’t show me something, that’s the end of the engagement.

paulwilsonn
Absolutely. A tangible product, even if rough, shows execution and commitment. Ideas are easy -prototypes prove there’s real traction.
Datail
I completely agree! If they can’t show anything, it makes it hard to believe in their ability to execute and complete the rest.
raw_anon_1111
You haven’t seen all of the funded YC “AI” companies with nothing but non technical founders, a pitch deck and trying to hire a “founding engineer” for peanuts with the promise of worthless “equity”.
jf22
It's not bragging. It's marketing.
ashed96
All marketers ~~are liars~~ tell stories.
ashed96
Opposite problem here - all building, no marketing. Now struggling with GTM because nobody knows we exist.

The real trap is thinking it's either/or. You need both engines running.