Ask HN: low-key launch?

[joshu]

Any ideas on how to soft-launch a website? I built something (with the help of a developer) that is a fun little personal project. Not a business -- I want to build an interesting little community. Unfortunately, given attention on my other projects, I really don't want to get the two conflated.

So, any ideas how to do a soft launch? I was thinking about announcing it on HN and then just locking down logins if it grew too fast.

[_b8r0]

That doesn't sound too bad. You'll probably get a little interest from HN that may yield a few accounts/signups but that'll die down fairly quickly. I'd say start with that and then look at baby steps to growing it if you want more users.

[pclark]

sounds like the perfect case for a "review my startup" post, might want to submit it under a dummy account even. ps: dibs on invite?

[joshu → pclark]

good idea.

right now we're just using twitter auth to log in. if you have a twitter account, you should be good.

the idea is a community for sharing useful tips. (the other exercise was to see how well i could do on a project if i wasn't actually coding it myself. i hired someone. thankfully he is excellent - i am thrilled)

[pclark → joshu]

cool, i'll keep an eye out for your submission...