Ask HN: HN complains, I propose solutions, nobody cares. Why? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: HN complains, I propose solutions, nobody cares. Why?

10 pointsmariushn8 comments

Sometimes I think about solutions to common patterns in complains observed on HN. I build something, submit to HN, but get no upvotes / feedback. Trying to understand what am I doing wrong, if you could please help.

Here are some examples of common complains & actions I took:

1. High healthcare costs in USA.

I've started a free open source project to help with some areas: https://juvmed.com/plan Nobody cared. Since then, I've taken down the dashboard.

2. Medium sucks

Popups, paywalls, oh how we love to outline everything wrong with Medium! Proposed an alternative, didn't even get a vote or comment: https://reader.booxia.com/

3. High credit card transaction fees / PayPal

Wrote how bank transfers could be made easier https://medium.com/@mariusandreiana/open-letter-to-banks-please-make-bank-transfers-easier-d0200f803c68

and posted about a cheaper alternative https://straal.com/

If it's not initiated by Stripe, nobody seems to care.

What am I doing wrong?

HN sometimes suffers from the emperor-has-no-clothes syndrome. I, too, like to post on several topics here which the wider community tends to ignore because their conclusions go against the grain of the community's most widely held beliefs.

I've noticed that, if I raise contrarian views in comments, those are swiftly downvoted, sometimes to oblivion. If I post a story which can't itself be downvoted, instead it's ignored.

This is one of the risks one takes when speaking out against the tragedy of the commons. Perhaps South Park [0] said it best, the crowd often chooses to "kill the wise one."

[0] http://southpark.cc.com/clips/t6qyw9/kill-the-wise-one

To steal a Chicago quote, "we don't want nobody that nobody sent." Your solutions are nothing because you're nobody. Sorry, but you're trying to tech your way through with out having an invisible hand behind you. That includes but is not limited to a network of people IN the industry you're trying to help, which gets you strategic partnerships, funding, etc INTO the solution. If other people don't believe in you or can't make money WITH you, your solutions really wont get anywhere.

Before you read another start up book or more effort in to another idea, read books on psychology. Also, try getting a job in an industry one of your solutions is targeting - that might help you become somebody rather than nobody.

Good luck.

Thanks for opening a new perspective. It makes sense!

Find an existing market first. It is much easier to sell to people that are already looking to buy something. Just because someone says something is a problem, it does not mean they will open up their wallet.

I have built stuff that nobody wanted. I put in far too much time on these projects only to hear crickets at launch.

Here are a couple of books that I found helpful for getting me to approach things from a different perspective:

$100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

Will It Fly by Pat Flynn

This is Marketing by Seth Godin

You seem to be a developer. The language you speak seem to be not well understand by humans. It took a while for me to understand this simple point. After I understood, I now know why there is marketing and why marketing is often bigger than development. So basically, it not about the idea, its about the communication. Like judging a book by its cover.

Hope this "simple" inside from myself helps to resolve your understanding.

Thanks!

You certainly have good ideas, and that is rare. Incorporate a company, assemble a good team, and commercialize them.

I understand you OP. I feel the same. I also don't understand why isn't your product getting speed. I'm sure you don't have to beat Stripe even if yours did, you should have significant number of users considering how big the market is which Stripe is targetting.

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