[hpvic03]

Shouldn't "Show HN" rules also apply to "Launch HN"?

"Off topic: ... sign-up pages, newsletters, lists, and other reading material. Those can't be tried out, so can't be Show HNs. Make a regular submission instead."

https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

This looks like an awesome product, but kind of annoying to see a "Launch" but it's just a waitlist. Why not wait until Monday?

[dang]

(I'm going to mark this subthread off topic to be fair to the founders, who haven't broken any rules.)

It's a good question that has been on my mind too. I'm going to revisit the Launch HN process once the W21 stampede settles down.

You guys have probably noticed that we've been stacking two Launch HNs per day for a while now. This is because of how big the W21 batch is. Demand for Launch HNs is growing as YC grows; meanwhile frontpage supply is strictly limited. Not sure yet what to do, but the 'price' is going to have to go up somehow!

This subthread was at the top of the page. When a comment like this appears, it means that many other readers have the same question, and if it's upvoted to the top of the thread, that's even clearer.

[hpvic03]

Totally fair, I don't want this to be the top comment, I hate the middlebrow-dismissal and I've sort of committed that sin with this comment.

Thanks!

[dang]

That sin is a co-creation and the upvoters bear the greater part of it :)

[0xferruccio]

To be fair there are launch HN posts for hard tech companies too where you can't try the product yet!

[hpvic03]

Sure, but if it's software and it's about to be publicly accessible very soon, why not wait for that?

[flaque]

I’d cut them some slack, they seem like they’re just following the YC advice. Move fast, launch early. No reason to be a stickler about the rules.

Besides, tons of apps and services launch via testflight, gated betas/waitlist-then-interview. Superhuman, dispo, and clubhouse all did that strategy.

[capableweb]

They follow one set of YC advice, but not another set of YC rules (what hpvic03 wrote). Although I do think YCnews takes Launch HN and Show HN differently. The first is only available to YC companies while Show HN is for anyone.

> Besides, tons of apps and services launch via [insert shitty "growth hacking" launch strategies]

Yeah, tons of them do but let's avoid that here if we're trying to keep the level a bit higher than just fad-of-the-day applications.

[tptacek]

No, they explicitly do not apply. YC companies also have their own rules for hiring posts. It's a fringe benefit of owning the site.