The posts on the site are the original posts. To seed the site so it wouldn't look like a wasteland, I emailed a few high value HN posters who had email addresses shown on their HN profiles and begged them to post a tip.

A few of them graciously obliged, and some of those probably told a colleague/acquaintance to post a tip as well.

It's why I love HN, there's more of a sense of community here.