# Founding Engineer Brief: Hacker News Show HN Technical Q&A

**Issue:** FRE-632  
**Requestor:** CMO  
**Priority:** High  
**Time Commitment:** 30-45 min review + launch day availability

---

## Context

We're submitting Scripter to Hacker News Show HN as part of launch week. HN has a sophisticated technical audience that will fact-check claims and ask deep technical questions.

**Submission Details:**
- **Title:** "Show HN: Scripter – A modern screenwriting app built with Tauri + SolidJS"
- **Timing:** 10:30 AM PT on launch day (Month 10, Week 1)
- **Your Role:** Answer technical questions in comments (10:30 AM - 2:30 PM PT)

---

## Technical Claims Requiring Your Verification

### 🔴 HIGH RISK - Must Verify

**1. Tauri Performance: "50MB RAM, instant startup"**

HN will fact-check this. We need accurate numbers.

**Questions:**
- What is actual RAM usage on macOS M1? Windows 11? Linux?
- Do we have benchmark screenshots? (Activity Monitor, Task Manager)
- What's the cold startup time?
- How does this compare to WriterDuet (Electron)?

**Evidence Needed:**
- [ ] Screenshot: Scripter RAM usage
- [ ] Screenshot: WriterDuet RAM usage (comparison)
- [ ] Startup time measurement

**Draft Response (please verify):**
> "Our measurements show ~50MB on macOS M1, ~70MB on Windows 11. Electron apps like WriterDuet typically use 400-600MB. Happy to share our benchmarking methodology."

---

### 🟡 MEDIUM RISK - Should Verify

**2. CRDT Implementation: "WebSocket + CRDT for conflict-free real-time collaboration"**

**Questions:**
- Which CRDT library? (Yjs, Automerge, custom?)
- How is conflict resolution handled?
- What's the sync latency?
- Max simultaneous editors tested?

**Evidence Needed:**
- [ ] Brief technical explanation
- [ ] Demo GIF showing multi-user editing (if available)
- [ ] Sync latency numbers

**Draft Response:**
> "We use [CRDT library] for conflict-free editing. Each edit is an operation in the CRDT, which guarantees eventual consistency. Sync happens over WebSocket with [X]ms round-trip. Happy to dive deeper into the implementation!"

---

**3. AI Features: "AI writing assistant (scene continuation, character analysis, format fixing)"**

HN has AI skepticism. We need to be authentic about capabilities.

**Questions:**
- Which models? (GPT-4, Claude, custom?)
- How is AI integrated into the writing flow?
- What's the latency and cost?
- Rate limiting?

**Evidence Needed:**
- [ ] Demo GIF showing AI in action
- [ ] Brief architecture description

**Draft Response:**
> "We use [model] for AI features. It's opt-in and integrated into the writing flow - hit a button to get scene suggestions or character analysis. Not trying to replace writers, just augment. Latency is ~[X] seconds, cost is baked into Premium tier."

---

### 🟢 LOW RISK - Nice to Verify

**4. Turso DB: "SQLite at edge"**

**Questions:**
- How is Turso configured? (libSQL, HTTP API?)
- Edge location strategy?
- Query latency (p50, p95)?

**Draft Response:**
> "Turso gives us SQLite at the edge with libSQL. We're on the [region] edge location. Query latency is ~[X]ms p50, ~[Y]ms p95. Much better than our Firebase setup for [specific use case]."

---

**5. SolidJS: "faster than React, smaller bundle"**

**Questions:**
- Bundle size comparison?
- Lighthouse scores?
- Why SolidJS over React/Svelte?

**Draft Response:**
> "SolidJS compiles to vanilla JS with no virtual DOM. Our bundle is [X]KB vs. ~[Y]KB for equivalent React app. Lighthouse performance score is [Z]. The fine-grained reactivity means updates only touch what changed."

---

**6. Real-Time Collaboration: "like Google Docs for scripts"**

**Questions:**
- Max simultaneous collaborators?
- Sync latency?
- Video chat integration?

**Draft Response:**
> "We support [X] simultaneous editors with sub-[Y]ms sync latency. CRDT handles conflicts automatically. Video chat is [built-in / coming soon]. Great for writers' rooms and co-writing sessions."

---

## Action Items

### Before Launch (T-3 days)

**Schedule 30-45 min technical review meeting with CMO**

**Agenda:**
1. Walk through HN post draft (10 min)
2. Review each technical claim for accuracy (15 min)
3. Gather evidence: screenshots, benchmarks, GIFs (10 min)
4. Refine response templates (10 min)

**Deliverables from Meeting:**
- [ ] Verified technical claims with accurate numbers
- [ ] Evidence gathered (screenshots, benchmarks)
- [ ] Response templates finalized
- [ ] Launch day availability confirmed

### Launch Day (10:30 AM - 2:30 PM PT)

**Your Responsibilities:**
- Monitor HN comments for technical questions
- Respond within 10 minutes to technical questions
- Escalate to CMO for business/pricing questions
- Stay available in Slack/Discord for quick coordination

**Question Types You'll Handle:**
- Tauri vs. Electron architecture
- CRDT implementation details
- Database/performance questions
- SolidJS technical decisions
- Real-time sync technical details
- AI model/architecture questions

**Question Types CMO Will Handle:**
- Pricing and business model
- Company/team questions
- User experience feedback
- Competitive positioning
- Roadmap questions

---

## Launch Day Coordination

**Communication Channel:** [Slack/Discord channel link]

**Escalation Triggers:**
- Negative comment gaining traction → alert CMO immediately
- Technical challenge we can't answer → "Great question, let me research and follow up"
- Server issues → alert CTO immediately
- Press inquiries → forward to CMO

**Timeline:**
- **10:00 AM PT:** Team check-in (confirm readiness)
- **10:30 AM PT:** Post goes live
- **10:30 AM - 2:30 PM PT:** Active monitoring (both CMO + FE)
- **2:30 PM PT:** Debrief and handoff

---

## Reference Documents

- `/plans/hacker-news-showhn-submission.md` - Full HN strategy (13KB)
- `/plans/FRE-632-A2-technical-review.md` - Detailed technical checklist (7.3KB)
- `/plans/FRE-632-hn-submission-checklist.md` - Master execution checklist

---

## Next Steps

1. **CMO:** Schedule 30-45 min technical review meeting
2. **FE:** Review this brief and note any concerns with claims
3. **Both:** Attend technical review meeting (T-4 days before launch)
4. **FE:** Gather evidence (screenshots, benchmarks) before T-3 days
5. **Both:** Confirm launch day availability

---

**Questions?** Reach out to CMO in Slack/Discord.

**Timeline:** Launch day is [DATE TBD - awaiting user confirmation]
