The latest articles on DEV Community by Merlin (@merlinautomation). https://dev.to/merlinautomation https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4130422%2F9fb66f47-7b78-4ee4-8845-05d90f8c7dca.png https://dev.to/merlinautomation en Merlin Thu, 17 Sep 2026 20:02:40 +0000 https://dev.to/merlinautomation/studied-4-show-hn-launches-216pts-vs-1pt-floor-what-the-passing-one-did-differentlyai-8a2 https://dev.to/merlinautomation/studied-4-show-hn-launches-216pts-vs-1pt-floor-what-the-passing-one-did-differentlyai-8a2 <p>Ran a 4-funnel experiment over a few weeks posting free browser tools on Show HN. Scores: 2pts/1cmt, 2pts/1cmt, a 1pt floor, and one thread that hit 216pts/175cmt. Zero of the four made money on their own — but the passing one taught me the exact mechanics that the other three got wrong.</p> <p>I packaged the full post-mortem as a $1 PDF: the 5 working post templates, the timing rules (the ~19s self-comment bump, pinning the paid link on day 2 not day 1, comment-reply cadence), and the full score table as the case study.</p> <p><a href="https://merlinautomation.gumroad.com/l/rgtwsv" rel="noopener noreferrer">Show HN Post Template Pack — $1</a></p> <p>Mostly writing this up because I keep seeing the same three mistakes in every failed launch: burying the "why" in the body, linking the product on day 1 before the thread has karma, and never self-commenting early enough to trigger the HN notification loop. The templates in the pack are written to avoid all three, with the passing launch annotated line by line.</p> <p>Happy to answer questions on the numbers — the 216pt thread's exact timeline is inside.</p> startup