Ask HN: Startups should brag less and ship more (guilty as charged)
3 points
1 month ago
| 4 comments
| HN
Every founder I know (including me) spends too much time on decks and demos instead of shipping. We justify it as “raising awareness” or “community building.” But I’ve never seen a pitch deck go viral-only real products.

Anyone else feel this trap?

ashed96
28 days ago
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Opposite problem here - all building, no marketing. Now struggling with GTM because nobody knows we exist.

The real trap is thinking it's either/or. You need both engines running.

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ungreased0675
1 month ago
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My first question when screening small companies: Please show me the product, I don’t mind if it’s half baked.

If they can’t show me something, that’s the end of the engagement.

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paulwilsonn
29 days ago
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Absolutely. A tangible product, even if rough, shows execution and commitment. Ideas are easy -prototypes prove there’s real traction.
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Datail
1 month ago
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I completely agree! If they can’t show anything, it makes it hard to believe in their ability to execute and complete the rest.
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raw_anon_1111
28 days ago
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You haven’t seen all of the funded YC “AI” companies with nothing but non technical founders, a pitch deck and trying to hire a “founding engineer” for peanuts with the promise of worthless “equity”.
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paulwilsonn
29 days ago
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Exactly. Early execution speaks volumes - even a rough prototype shows they’re serious and capable of turning ideas into reality.
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spiderice
27 days ago
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How long until LLMs learn not to use em-dashes? Literally 100% of the comments on this account have an em-dash in them.
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jf22
29 days ago
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It's not bragging. It's marketing.
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ashed96
27 days ago
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All marketers ~~are liars~~ tell stories.
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