Should Product Hunt Founder Ryan Hoover Ignore the Haters?

On Below the Line, Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover tells James Beshara about a Hacker News post that called Product Hunt a circle of insiders pushing portfolio companies. He says the claims were false, and that Hacker News had disliked the site from the start. The line he repeats is that haters are validation: if people come after you, you are doing something that matters. He did not brush it off. Years later he still remembers several days of physical stress, a pounding heart, and a fear of what the piece could cost Product Hunt, beyond the upset in the community.