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The Startup Foundry
thestartupfoundry.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2011
Paul Hontz runs The Startup Foundry, a blog with startup news, founder interviews, and advice on getting press coverage.
What HN saysHN commenters recommend it as a startup-focused blog with good content, though one notes few recent updates.
42HN people shared it
23linked it in comments
127stories submitted
3.3Kstory points
6 years agolast shared
2011people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1The Startup Foundry (2014)14 people · 1 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 2Angry Bird’s “overnight success” only took 8 years.5 people · 259 points · first shared 2011 · 51 comments on HN
- 3Make your startup ridiculously easy to write about. Put together a press pack2 people · 125 points · first shared 2011 · 14 comments on HN
- 4Startup Toolbox - Follow up to "HN: We’re creating a “Startup toolbox”.2 people · 42 points · first shared 2011 · 4 comments on HN
- 5O’Reilly: When something is commoditized, an adjacent thing becomes valuable2 people · 38 points · first shared 2011 · 10 comments on HN
- 6How to get your startup coverage online2 people · 31 points · first shared 2011 · 3 comments on HN
- 7Hacker News and drive by traffic: How to make the most of your startups launch2 people · 31 points · first shared 2011 · 10 comments on HN
- 8Love of the Game: Be foolish enough to believe your startup will make it.2 people · 18 points · first shared 2011 · 1 comments on HN
- 9One Day One Job – How a pissed off CEO became a startups biggest revenue stream2 people · 8 points · first shared 2011 · 2 comments on HN
- 107 Tips for Scoring Your First Article2 people · 1 points · first shared 2011 · 1 comments on HN
- 11Tip us2 people · first shared 2011
- 12If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?1 people · 445 points · first shared 2011 · 220 comments on HN
- 13ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately1 people · 161 points · first shared 2011 · 39 comments on HN
- 14Don't yell at waitresses. You look like a jerk and it blows investments.1 people · 127 points · first shared 2011 · 83 comments on HN
- 15Hopelessly perfect: Why it’s smart to work at a no-shot startup1 people · 119 points · first shared 2011 · 33 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
g0atbutt · 2011-04-02
Hi I'm Paul Hontz and I run The Startup Foundry. I built TSF as a place where entrepreneurs could learn and grow from each other. Often times I will cover a hot startup that is still flying under the radar, conduct interviews with founders via Skype, or share advice.
We have some fantastic content lined up this week and I hope you'll check us out. We are obviously not a techcrunch clone, but I think that's a good thing :) Say "hi" in the comments if you decide you want to hang your hat at TSF for a while. All the best, Paul.
Edit: link http://thestartupfoundry.com
lifefundr · 2011-02-23
Funny you should mention this...The Startup Foundry is doing exactly that. A blog focused only on startups. Check it out, we have gained a lot of traction and have a relatively large following for being so new (about two weeks). http://thestartupfoundry.com
MichaelApproved · 2012-03-26
http://thestartupfoundry.com
Edit: This could also be relevant to getting coverage http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/08/18/7-tips-for-scoring-your-first-…
revorad · 2012-01-04
Doesn't seem to have too many updates in the last few weeks, but generally has good content - http://thestartupfoundry.com/
TamDenholm · 2011-06-13
http://thestartupfoundry.com/ is what i replaced my TC feed with.
ktsmith · 2011-04-07
A lack of sleep and too many hours is the first thing that seems to be highlighted in a lot of startup stories. The second is a lack of good nutrition and the idea of subsisting on ramen. For example the most recent article[1] on the startup foundry has an image with the text "Ramen - Startup Flavor" and this is said about the founders diet:
His diet primarily consists of Ramen Noodles and whatever fruit is on sale
My first thought wasn't "Wow this guy is really committed to his idea and company." it was instead "I hope that's an embellishment and this guy is taking better care of himself than that." Failing to take care of yourself by eating poorly and getting insufficient sleep just compounds your problems.
[1] http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/04/06/love-of-the-game-be-foolish-en…
keiferski · 2011-04-04
Nice list. You should add The Startup Foundry too. http://www.thestartupfoundry.com
EDIT: nevermind, didn't notice there was more than one page. You should put the page navigation at the top of the page.
sgrove · 2011-04-02
Definitely have to recommend Paul and his site, TSF. I just signed up for the daily digest after seeing it on twitter a few times, and I'm enjoying it.
We haven't been able to get on there yet, but they provide a good form here: http://thestartupfoundry.com/tip-us/ , and a nice article on building up your press kit here: http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/03/18/make-your-startup-ridiculously… .
Really good guys, doing some great work. Easy to recommend.
benologist · 2011-02-21
TC writes whatever will generate ad impressions or curry favor with someone they wish would like them, and AOL's acquisition makes that official policy.
I really hope the guys at http://thestartupfoundry.com/ keep at it and become a significant presence.
bmelton · 2011-02-21
http://thestartupfoundry.com. What's old is new again. Paul Hontz had those exact same feelings, and has brought forth a blog that is closer to what TC used to be than any other I've seen.
Vivtek · 2011-02-21
http://thestartupfoundry.com/ is the reboot you're thinking of. So far, I've really found them good. Way better than TC (natch).
mindcrime · 2011-02-21
http://thestartupfoundry.com
and it's even created by our very own g0atbutt: http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=g0atbutt
so give these guys some support!
See also: http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-alternatives-to-TechCrunch
SoftwareMaven · 2011-06-12
vyrotek · 2011-04-02
SkyMarshal · 2011-02-21
WillyF · 2011-09-23
I am the single founder of One Day, One Job http://www.onedayonejob.com/ I'm not quite ready to consider it a success, but it is profitable enough to cover my living expenses. I recently hired some part-timers to help me grow it into something bigger.
I did an interview with The Startup Foundry a few months ago that is way too long but does a good job of telling my story: http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/03/02/one-day-one-job-how-a-pissed-o…
rokhayakebe · 2011-06-13
And they are already starting to go the TC way. http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/06/13/tsf-is-looking-for-funded-star…
scottchin · 2011-05-25
I think this perspective is very interesting. It reminds me of a recent quote from Tim O'Reilly where he talks about similar trends in that, "when something is commoditized, something adjacent becomes valuable."
I'm not sure if this the origin of the interview but here is a link http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/03/14/oreilly-when-something-is-comm…
Rexxar · 2011-04-18
That remembers me the history of Angry Birds creators: Should they have stop after 6 years without a huge success ?
http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/03/11/angry-birds-overnight-success-…
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2314532
petercooper · 2011-03-23
Along similar lines, here are some links relating to actually getting coverage in the tech press (rather than sending nasty e-mails as mentioned in this post):
http://www.martinbryant.net/approaching-tech-journalists-for-press-cov…
http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/02/08/four-guidelines-to-get-your-st…
http://www.copyblogger.com/irresistible-pr/
And Michael Arrington spent some time on the topic in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbUnatPfSgg
tnorthcutt · 2011-03-11
The OP's link is to the comment thread - here's the article link: http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/03/11/angry-birds-overnight-success-…
pitdesi · 2011-02-27
Another attempt at the same, not as complete in some regards but also includes billing
http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/02/18/startup-toolbox-a-resource-for…
ChuckMcM · 2013-08-06
Welcome to HN.
It is a pretty popular web site with a part of the technical crowd. It gets analyzed a lot [1][2]. It also gets a lot of 'spam' (since coverage on the front page of HN can send you lots of traffic [3][4][5]) HN "scores" its participants using a counter 'karma' [6] which also affects features visible to your account (well at least the down vote button) And with any 'score' there are people who score more than others [7]. And where there is scoring there is competition.
The bottom line is that certain behaviors emerge for people who actively try to achieve a 'high score' (more karma) and people who are trying to achieve 'viriality'[8] (more exposure).
It was unkind of me to point out the behavior (usually I just note it and ignore it) and for that I apologize.
Colin (grandparent posting) has a 'thing' about stuff that gets doubly or triply or more posted. I understand the annoyance, it can get annoying. But I've also noted that he posts a lot of links :-) A number of people tend to complain when their version of the link doesn't make it to the front page when someone else's done (it's a 'I'm not getting that karma whine') And generally harmless (other than it sometimes back fires and they get down voted for whining)
[1] http://blog.rjmetrics.com/surprising-hacker-news-data-analysis/
[2] http://hn-karma-tracker.herokuapp.com/overall
[3]…