[attack]

Many people would prefer private critiques over putting their new site out to fry. Myself included.

[Hexstream]

Avoiding criticism is a good recipe for failure in the long run...

[staunch]

There's a significant difference between avoiding criticism and avoiding public criticism. There'd probably be a whole lot more people asking for HN feedback if the comments were only visible to them. That's a good market to go after.

[attack]

Both is best.