Sorry, I don't understand the point you're making here. Are you saying that karma farming on HN leads to successful IPOs? Or are you saying that karma farming in general can be profitable? Because both of those are what I was trying to speak to when I said that I feel like there are much softer targets than HN: it seems much easier to me to profit from karma farming on other platforms than it would be here. Maybe I'm just not engaged enough and/or naive, but I don't think of even high-karma users on HN as being Influencers. Like, I don't see myself spending money on something specifically because tptacek endorsed it.
On Instagram, it makes sense to me:
1. I farm for likes and karma
2. I start endorsing low value crap from whatever fad is trending this hour
3. Profit
On HN, I have no idea what step 2 is: what is the middle step between farming and profit that doesn't involve, like, founding a startup? What's the specific tactic on this platform?
Sorry, I didn't see the "much softer targets" remark but I disagree anyway.
Marketing on HN can be very powerful. The mindshare gain can be enormous. Niches in general are very rewarding if the underlying platform (Google/Facebook/Amazon/Ebay) doesn't deplatform you.
I don't have time to look it up but I'm sure minimaxir (Certified HN Influencer) has made a study on it.
PG remarked on it in What I've Learned from Hacker News[1]:
"But what happened to Reddit won't inevitably happen to HN. There are several local maxima. There can be places that are free for alls and places that are more thoughtful, just as there are in the real world; and people will behave differently depending on which they're in, just as they do in the real world.
I've observed this in the wild. I've seen people cross-posting on Reddit and Hacker News who actually took the trouble to write two versions, a flame for Reddit and a more subdued version for HN."
Anecdata: just today I reactivated an account on a startup I learned about from a Show HN[2]
Ok, thanks, this is exactly what I needed. I'm apparently too much of a casual user here because I don't even recognize minimaxir as a username. So that's gotta be the disconnect for me: all the usual tactics apply, they're just less obvious to me because I'm not engaged enough.
I appreciate you taking the time to respond thoroughly. Thanks!
Edit: it occurred to me that another potential reason that the tactics used to monetize karma farming on HN may be less obvious to me than on other platforms is because here, the tactics are more specifically designed to target me
On Instagram, it makes sense to me:
1. I farm for likes and karma
2. I start endorsing low value crap from whatever fad is trending this hour
3. Profit
On HN, I have no idea what step 2 is: what is the middle step between farming and profit that doesn't involve, like, founding a startup? What's the specific tactic on this platform?