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I would give them a break. Rather than just criticize them maybe provide useful feedback about content they could send you or why you think the emails weren't useful. If you don't like the emails just hit reply and tell them why. I'm sure they'd happily adjust what they are sending out based on good feedback.

Getting this stuff right is really hard for an early startup. You don't send enough email and you end up forgoing conversions and engagement. You send too much and you're called a spammer. On top of it, you don't have enough data about your customers to know what is useful information or not so you end up sending vague emails about "need help getting started" or "check out links X, Y and Z" until you have enough data to actually make and send good emails.

We had problems sending too much email early on too. I would suggest segmenting your user base and sending them emails based on there activity on the site. It certainly helped reduce the spam complaints.




That's the startup's problem and not their users. It's too much work to reply to every email you get which you wish you didn't.

I realize it's hard but the onus is on the startup to get this right. In the process they'll piss off some users but that's the process.


True, but it wasn't too much work to find a HN thread about it and complain there.

Either be constructive or don't say anything. Both are good feedback for the startup. Being mean doesn't help anyone - the startup or the user.


While combataircraft's tone isn't the nicest, he's voicing exactly what he's unhappy about, giving the Filepicker.io guys the information they need to improve in the future.

Could it have been put in a friendlier tone? Sure, but I'd argue that his feedback is actually constructive.




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