Ask HN: Am I the only who uses Show HN as inspiration? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Am I the only who uses Show HN as inspiration?

12 pointsmIOAMDA7 comments

Just a curiosity.

I use Show HN and the discussions by commenters to get inspiration on products I could possibly build. Sometimes I get google keep out to take some notes.

The gold mine of inspiration is really in the comments. You see what people think and sometimes you're able to identify what went wrong on a product, what need is not being met and how you could potentially build an alternative.

I wonder if I'm the only one doing this.

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I get the most inspiration from comments in Ask HN posts. And the most useful ones tend to be to questions in the form of "How do you deal with this business/technical challenge/situation?".

While the "Successful one-person businesses", "Successful passive income sources", etc., posts are popular and entertaining, I get less helpful details from them.

But folks providing details on their successes and/or failures around a more specifically-oriented question tend to lead to some interesting discussions and leads on people and their work that they may not divulge in the more show-and-tell-style posts.

Whenever you ask yourself, “am I the only one to XXX?”, the answer is universally NO. As to your question, I use it for inspiration as well. Especially applying lessons learned in comments for my work.

I actually do not go on show section. If something hits the front page, I will usually look at it.

I mainly look at the ask section. I find quite a bit of useful information or book recommendations in the comments.

I do read show and ask every Day. Also Indie hackers for same reason (motivation and inspiration)

Don't ignore your potential customers. I found great value in allowing a potential/client to actually use the demo/program/app. It can provide excellent (free) feedback to improve your product.

Yeah, I also get a lot of inspiration here. I am 17 and when I read HN I feel like I explore the world of tech and business. I get a lot of insights and startup ideas here You are not the only one))

I find it inspiring for my side projects. I find it a little depressing from a professional standpoint if the person is talking about a job that is more interesting than mine.

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