Comment by aazaa | Hacker News Reader

Comment by aazaa | Hacker News Reader

This appears to be long-form ad copy. It's characterized by extremely short paragraphs (often one sentence), one after another, and a winding story the reader must wade through to get to the payoff promised in the headline.

I can't stand this format and associate it with scams. But many prominent marketers consider it the key to their success. The authors of the OP appear to fall into the latter category.

After 1/3 of the way into the article, I don't know:

- what RocketChart is or what it does

- how the authors got 150 beta signups

I have, however, gained numerous insights into the emotional state of the author, friends, and family, and have been blasted with memes from here to Timbuktu.

If the article isn't long form ad copy, then it could use a thorough edit. Start with the actionable part and give me a high-level view of it in the first paragraph.

However, I strongly suspect otherwise.

The author themselves said this was their first time writing long form. I chalk most of your complaints up to this and the fact that english is his second language.

I give some allowance for ESL, but I refuse to believe he made it all the way through school without having to write "long form," aka a book report or something.

My favorite part is that in a post purportedly describing how simple the initial process of starting a business was for him, he starts off with "Let's face it, launching a business is hard." Well then why would I read this?

Props to you for sticking with it, but you can't say you weren't warned!

I mean it's obviously a marketing piece. It's a blog post on a SAAS website. What else can you expect?

Completely in agreement with you. Also, I find it difficult to find a "true" or "real" 150 beta signups in such a short time. Typically takes more time and development to get to that level depending on the product.

I find it extremely annoying.

Actually, this seems to be a good way to improve the article. I will check how I can modify it to provide insights and actionable tips at the beginning :)

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