Hridoy Rehman posted a tweet that lists 22 online platforms where startup founders hang out, ranging from X (Twitter) to Founder Cafe, and includes a brief one‑liner for each venue. The full list is captured in the original tweet.
The list at a glance
- Social & public‑building: X, Indie Hackers, Product Hunt, Hacker News
- Founder networks: YC Startup School, MicroConf, FounderPass, Founder Cafe
- Content & writing: DevTo, Hashnode
- Progress & launch trackers: Makerlog, Betalist, Tiny Startups
- Community niches: RevGenius, SEO Wins, HubSpot Trends, GrowthHackers, Designer Hangout
- Reddit subforums: r/startups, r/SaaS, r/SideProject, Failory
Why engineers should pay attention
These venues are where early‑stage users first surface product ideas, report bugs, or look for tooling partners. A quick scan of X or Hacker News can surface real‑world pain points that inform roadmap decisions. Indie Hackers and Product Hunt often host detailed launch posts that include performance metrics—useful for benchmarking your own services. Reddit threads (e.g., r/SaaS) provide candid feedback but require careful moderation to separate hype from actionable insight.
Trade‑offs and cautions
Signal quality varies dramatically. X and Reddit are high‑volume, low‑signal streams; you may spend more time filtering noise than extracting value. Communities like YC Startup School or MicroConf are invitation‑only or require active participation to gain trust, which can be a time sink for small teams. None of these platforms charge a fee, but the implicit cost is the engineer’s time spent listening and engaging.
When to start using them
Allocate a 30‑minute weekly slot to monitor X, Hacker News, and one Reddit community relevant to your product. If you notice recurring requests or bugs, open a short survey or a public issue thread to capture the data formally. As you validate the channel’s ROI, expand to niche sites like FounderPass or Designer Hangout for deeper, domain‑specific insights.