I have been a member of HN since 2009. Back then I was fascinated by startup culture after seeing major exits like AdMob and Zappos. I used to think there was something magical or lucky about achieving startup success. But what I learned from 15 years on HN is that the secret to a successful startup is pretty straightforward (if not easy). Solve a problem that a lot of people or businesses have, charge money for your solution, talk to customers, stay lean early on, fail early and often, iterate and improve, and don't run out of money.