What 61 Points On Hacker News Did For My Startup

December 3, 2014
Screenshot of a Hacker News dashboard page. The number of visits jumps from 0 on March 27 to around 3,000 each on March 28 and 29, before slowly tailing off.

Hacker News is not just a sinkhole for your morning’s productivity. I’ve been frequenting HN for years and it is my primary source of information. Recently, I also discovered it is a great platform to launch your startup.

I submitted a link to Routific’s developers page on Friday March 28, around 6 p.m. PST. Thirty minutes later, we were on the front page. One hour later, we were cruising at #6. It never reached the Top 5, but a roller coaster of excitement ensued nonetheless:

  • 6,899 visits
  • 9,300 pageviews
  • 125 early-access signups
  • 99 API accounts created
  • 8 pricing requests, including one titled: “shut up and take my money”
  • 2 investor inquiries
  • 1 enterprise deal

wow. very trafic. such excite! yum pie.

These numbers may not be all that much, but for a startup’s first launch — before which everything was zero — it is quite exciting!

Some tweets followed — amazing how the whole world is on HN:

Screenshot linked to an original tweet by @SteveRepetti. The text reads "VERY COOL -> Optimize your logistics with the most advanced routing software ever https://routific.com #CoolStartups"
Screenshot linked to an original tweet by @Stumpy. Text reads, in French: "API pour optimiser la livraison, un service qu'il est bien! Routific http://buff.ly/1ltG45g"
Screenshot with a link to an original Twitter post by Hiroshi Kurokawa @hydrakecat. Test in Japanese reads"実際の地図で Vehicle Routing Problem を解く API。機会があれば使ってみたい。https://routific.com/developers"


Comments posted by HN readers have gained a reputation for being harsh and pedantic, so I was surprised by the quality of the discussion and encouraging comments on the HN thread. Perhaps they tone it down when you submit a Show HN?


I also submitted it to proggit, but got down-voted immediately. Thank you Hacker News for being so supportive. What would we do without you?

Routific honeycomb logo mark

The easiest-to-use route optimization platform for growing delivery businesses.

Portrait of Marc Kuo
Marc Kuo
Marc Kuo is the Founder & CEO of Routific, a route optimization platform for growing delivery businesses. Our mission is to green the planet by reducing the mileage and fuel consumption of delivery fleets. With over a decade of experience in the last-mile industry, he has advised hundreds of delivery businesses on their route planning and delivery operations.

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