I have mentioned this before in other discussions, but there in a large element of luck in whether a Show HN post finds success on HN, or rouses the interest of HN readers.
There are many excellent projects posted in Show HN that get no traction (upvotes) at all. And then there a few lucky ones that suddenly take-off and make it to the HN front page.
There's no "wisdom of the crowds" moment that propels one Show HN entry to success over another because it's more worthy or excellent. In many cases it's simply down to random luck: capturing the attention of HN readers at a fortunate moment. Or not.
There are many excellent projects posted in Show HN that get no traction (upvotes) at all. And then there a few lucky ones that suddenly take-off and make it to the HN front page.
There's no "wisdom of the crowds" moment that propels one Show HN entry to success over another because it's more worthy or excellent. In many cases it's simply down to random luck: capturing the attention of HN readers at a fortunate moment. Or not.