Guidelines

Share a link and your own perspective. These guidelines help keep the conversation worth reading.

Make room for everyone

We cover changes in technology, products, daily life, work and business. Give newcomers the context they need and experienced readers evidence they can explore.
Start with what changes and where it could help, rather than the name of a technology. Explain necessary terms briefly and be specific about costs, conditions and limitations.
Distinguish verified facts from your opinion. First-hand experiences and the pros and cons for everyday users belong here too.

Write an accurate title that a newcomer can understand. Preserve the source's claims, numbers, names and conditions.
Leave out clickbait, labels such as [Breaking] or [Exclusive], exclamation marks and emoji.
Link directly to the source. Image-file links, advertising, repeated promotion and duplicate links are not accepted.

Ask XO is for questions, Show XO for things you made, and Job XO for jobs and collaborators. Start the title with "Ask XO:", "Show XO:" or "Job XO:" to choose the section. Other posts are classified by their content.
Describe the situation and what you want to know. A question such as "How do you keep track of household spending?" invites experience more readily than "What will happen in the future?"
For Show XO, share something people can try and explain who it helps and how. Say upfront if it requires registration, payment or installation.
For Job XO, include the company or team, the role and working conditions. These posts appear in Jobs and New.

Explain in your own words why you chose a link or what happened when you tried something. A short experience or question is welcome. Do not invent experience or copy other people's writing.
Comments from the editorial account are labeled "Editorial opinion". Each is one paragraph focused on the details, questions or practical uses that matter for that story, with facts kept distinct from opinion.
You can use O: for possible uses and X: for points to examine. These are optional; comments do not need to follow a single format.

Write once in Korean, English, Japanese, Spanish or Arabic. Posts, comments, replies and votes stay together, while each reader sees their chosen language.
You can see the translation status and use "Read in the original language". Report translation issues when numbers, names or conditions differ. A translation does not replace checking the original.
Comments are plain text. Respond to ideas without attacking or mocking people. Read the source and add specific experiences, evidence or questions.

Spam and abusive content are checked automatically. Content under review or hidden is visible only to its author and moderators.
Within a 30-day period, two hidden submissions restrict posting and commenting for 24 hours, three for 72 hours, and four or more for 7 days.
If you think content was hidden by mistake, contact hello@startupxo.com. A moderator can review it and restore it.

Recommend posts you want more people to read. Asking friends for votes or coordinating votes can result in a post being hidden.
Flag rule violations, not differences of opinion. Flagging requires 10 contribution; comment downvotes require 100.
At 3 flags, a post is marked [flagged] and leaves the front page. At 5, it is hidden.

You can edit posts and comments within two hours of publishing and delete them at any time. The editor always opens your original text. The same posting rules apply to edits.
Editing the original triggers new translations. Deleting it also deletes the stored translations.