It's possible to have a nice launch at HN, but whether or not that's going to translate into much value is another question. If you have a really great product that everyone just loves, and it's free (or free to try), and it's built for viral growth - then getting to the top spot at HN might jump start things for you.
But to anyone who doesn't manage to get any traction on HN or PH, I wouldn't worry about it too much - it's one of those things that's nice if it happens but you shouldn't be counting on it in your business plan.
Thank you for this. As a new maker, I am trying to understand the market and how things work. My product has b2b and b2c (free) offerings and I would like to hope that it’s useful. But you are right, making it here should not be the main point of the business plan.
But to anyone who doesn't manage to get any traction on HN or PH, I wouldn't worry about it too much - it's one of those things that's nice if it happens but you shouldn't be counting on it in your business plan.