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Hacker News will not care that your podcast tool exists. It will care if you explain plainly what you built, why, and let people try it without signing up. This playbook walks you from a week before your Show HN post to the week after, with the copy to use.

All guidesFor founders of a podcast tool

1. 7 days before: make it usable without a signup

HN readers bounce off email walls. Put a live demo on your landing page: paste an RSS feed or upload a 2-minute audio clip and get a result, like a transcript, chapter markers or show notes. If your tool needs an account, add a sample podcast they can click through. Test it on three real feeds, for example a long interview show, a solo show and one with bad audio.

2. 5 days before: write the Show HN post

Title format: "Show HN: [Name] – [what it does in plain words]". Example: "Show HN: Clipwise – turns a podcast episode into chapters and show notes". Your first comment should say who you are, why you built it, how it works technically, what it costs, and what is still broken. Example opener: "I host a small interview podcast and spent 3 hours per episode writing show notes. I built this to fix that. It uses Whisper for transcription and a second pass to find topic changes."

3. 3 days before: line up honest early readers

Do not ask anyone to upvote. HN detects voting rings and will bury your post. Instead, message 5 to 10 people who would genuinely use it and ask for feedback on launch day. Find them in r/podcasting, the Podcasting subreddit's weekly threads, or the Facebook group "Podcasters' Support Group". Message: "I'm launching a tool that writes show notes from your episode on Hacker News Tuesday. Would you try it on your latest episode and tell me what's wrong?"

4. Launch day: post between 8 and 10am US Eastern, Tuesday to Thursday

Submit at news.ycombinator.com/submit with your URL and title, then immediately add your first comment. Stay at your desk for the next 6 hours. Reply to every comment within 15 minutes, including the harsh ones. When someone says "Descript already does this", answer with a specific difference, not a defense: "Descript is an editor. This only does notes and chapters, for people who edit elsewhere, and it is free under 4 hours a month."

5. Launch day: capture who shows up

Watch your demo usage live. When someone mentions in a comment that they run a podcast, reply and ask what their show is and what broke. Add a one-line box after each demo result: "Want this for every new episode? Leave your email and RSS feed." A feed URL tells you exactly who they are and how often they publish.

6. If it does not reach the front page

Most Show HN posts don't. Do not repost the same day or ask friends to vote. You can email hn@ycombinator.com once, politely, asking whether the post qualifies for the second-chance pool. Meanwhile post the same story in r/podcasting and r/SideProject, rewritten for those audiences, not copy-pasted.

7. Days 1 to 3 after: follow up with every real user

Look at every feed URL submitted and listen to two minutes of each show. Email the host directly from the contact on their podcast site: "You tried Clipwise on your episode with [guest]. The chapters missed the ad break at 22:10. I fixed that. Want me to run your next 5 episodes for free and send you the notes?" Hand-delivered results turn testers into your first paying customers.

8. Day 7: write up what happened and keep going

Post a short, honest recap on your blog or as a comment reply: traffic, what users asked for, what you changed. Use the top three complaints to plan next week. Hulby, an AI cofounder, does this daily for founders, finding the podcasters who fit and drafting the follow-ups so you can keep building.

Mistakes to skip

  • Asking friends or a Slack group to upvote, which gets the post flagged or killed.
  • Requiring signup before anyone can see the tool working.
  • Using marketing language in the title instead of saying plainly what it does.
  • Disappearing after posting and leaving critical comments unanswered.

Want this done for your podcast tool, every day?

Hulby finds the people asking for what you built, writes every reply and email, and keeps you on it until they pay. Free to start.

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Questions

Is Hacker News a good audience for a podcast tool?

Partly. Many readers host or edit technical podcasts and like tools with a clear technical story. Treat it as a way to get feedback and a handful of early users, not as your main market.

Should I use Show HN or a regular post?

Use Show HN if people can try the product today. If it is only a waitlist, wait until it works.

Can I launch on HN more than once?

Yes, after a meaningful change, usually months later. Reposting the same thing quickly will be flagged.

What should I charge when I launch?

Show a real price on launch day. A free tier plus one simple paid plan is enough. HN readers trust a visible price more than "contact us".