I would guess it matters if you have a product that targets other startup-type people (e.g. some PaaS products), but otherwise I agree, the emphasis placed on it does seem odd. I had never heard of it before starting to read HN, and I still rarely see it mentioned elsewhere. Articles are linked here regularly, but the only TechCrunch article I can remember seeing linked in "regular" circles on the internet (i.e. anything other than startup-specific blogs/sites) was http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/28/women-in-tech-stop-blaming-..., which provoked a bunch of responses.
I've seen those "As seen on TC" images all over the web. It's to the point where they mean nothing to me.
And a backlink from TC is great, but I can count many many many sites with a backlink from TC that don't get powerful search engine traffic. It's still just 1 backlink.
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I've always wondered on "my startup is credible because I was on TC"...
Wouldn't actual user count and other metrics be more credible than "I was able to schmooze to some editor"?
I would guess it matters if you have a product that targets other startup-type people (e.g. some PaaS products), but otherwise I agree, the emphasis placed on it does seem odd. I had never heard of it before starting to read HN, and I still rarely see it mentioned elsewhere. Articles are linked here regularly, but the only TechCrunch article I can remember seeing linked in "regular" circles on the internet (i.e. anything other than startup-specific blogs/sites) was http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/28/women-in-tech-stop-blaming-..., which provoked a bunch of responses.
I've seen those "As seen on TC" images all over the web. It's to the point where they mean nothing to me.
And a backlink from TC is great, but I can count many many many sites with a backlink from TC that don't get powerful search engine traffic. It's still just 1 backlink.
Sure they would. But if a company has a complimentary quote from a reputable source then I'm more likely to find it credible than one without.
Reputable to whom? To the end user?
Unless the end user is a TC reader the endorsement is irrelevant. And that's my entire point.