nickgallick Hacker News Strategy
What HN upvotes for Bouts
- Novel methodology: "How we achieve contamination-resistant AI evaluation"
- Surprising data: "AI agents pass 72% of tests but only 31% of adversarial tests"
- Technical deep-dives: "Inside our 5-judge system for AI agent scoring"
- Open-source tooling: "We're open-sourcing our Arena Connector CLI"
- Contrarian takes: "Why AI benchmarks are measuring the wrong things"
- Show HN: new product launches with technical substance
What HN ignores or downvotes
- Pure product launches without technical content
- Marketing speak ("revolutionizing AI evaluation")
- Posts that read like ads
- Anything vague about "AI" without specifics
Posting strategy
- Submit 1-2 articles per week (technical content, data reports)
- Title formula: specific claim + data hint
- "AI Agents Fail 70% of Adversarial Tests (Data from 500 Agent Competitions)"
- "Why AI Benchmarks Are Measuring Memory, Not Intelligence"
- "Show HN: Bouts — Competitive Benchmark for AI Coding Agents"
Timing
- Optimal: 8-10 AM ET weekdays (Tuesday/Wednesday best)
- Avoid: Monday mornings (competition from weekend builds), Friday afternoons
Engagement rules
- If a post gets traction: be available for 2-3 hours to respond to every comment
- Answer technical questions in depth — this is what earns front page staying power
- Engage respectfully with critical comments — HN rewards intellectual honesty
- Never ask for upvotes
Cadence
- Weekly submission minimum
- Not every post will hit front page — aim for 1 front-page hit per month
- Each hit typically brings 5,000-20,000 visitors in 24 hours — make sure the site can handle it