Can I mention my startup by name in a post?
No. Rule 2 bans promotion everywhere except the Monthly Share Your Startup thread, and the moderators get the final say on what counts as promotional.
Subreddit guides
r/startups rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/startups: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.
Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.
Current public stats
- Members
- 2,134,289
- Verified
- September 29, 2026
- Category
- Startup founders and entrepreneurs
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- Relevant Content Only: We are a community of discussion based around startups, not traditional businesses. All content must be relevant to startups. You are welcome to ask how to apply startup methodologies to your traditional business if you frame your question in a non-promotional way. We want you to be able to ask any question that helps your startup.
- No direct sales, advertisements, or promotion: **No direct sales, advertisements, or promotional posts of any kind**. We have designated places that are an exception to this rule and they will always be stickied at the top of /r/startups. * You MAY share your startup in the Monthly Share Your Startup thread Self-promotion is anything you have an interest, stake or relationship with including being friends with someone at the company. At the end of the day, /r/startups moderators have the final say if your comments are promotional or not.
- Submissions Serve a Specific Purpose: Submissions are for discussing methodologies, experiences, strategies, techniques, markets, and other such things WITHOUT tying them directly to your own project using its name or URL. Titles must be clear and descriptive. Submissions must have at least 250 characters of content. The more details you provide us the better support our community can provide you with. Like life, the more you put into something the more you get out of it. No legal questions. Use our Legal Office Hours.
- Feedback Has a Place: All Feedback Requests (including surveys/polls) belong in our [Feedback Thread or other appropriate weekly thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/boq669/your_weekly_threads_guide_learn_about_the_new/). You are invited to repost each week. Be sure to contribute to the others in the thread and ask them to return the favor to increase engagement. You may not publicly offer feedback or direct support outside of the Stickied Threads.
- Rules for Links in Comments/Discussion: Sometimes you think the best solution is simply to link to a resource that might answer someone's question. We want you to be able to link in discussion to relevant content. We also don't want the discussion to turn into a self promotional mess and link farm. If you are going to link to something in the comments please make sure to: * Write at least a sentence explaining why the link is relevant to the discussion. * Link only content you have no affiliation with. Affiliate links = banned.
- Do Not Solicit PM Requests / Post DM Notices: The purpose of making a submission or comment is to engage in a public discussion with the community. It is not to request a PM/DM from someone. Do not post a notice that you DMed someone. You are more than welcome to engage privately with one another, but it is up to you to take the initiative directly.
- Sharing Your Blog is To Start a Discussion, Never For Self-Promotion: Sharing your blog is not a means to self promote. A link to the original blog post is allowed with **prior** Mod approval. If you are submitting your own blog content, the full body of the content must be included in the post, properly formatted for reddit. Include an outline & timestamps with a video. If your blog is over 2000 words you may ask for an exemption. All other rules still apply. No blogs about your "startup" journey allowed.
- Always Be Kind and Supportive: The goal of this community is to encourage people to learn and be inspired to pursue ventures related to startups. Do not troll, harass people, or be an asshole. **This does not mean to lie. It means to give support and explain why you don't like something.** Try to remember people likely do not have much experience yet or might be simply ignorant to what you know. Be willing to hold a discussion and try to explain your opinion or point of view to the benefit of the entire community.
- No Unscheduled AMAs: We do not allow unscheduled AMAs. We need to verify and approve all AMAs. If you wish to do an AMA you must use the "Message the Moderators" feature in the side bar and you must give us at least TWO (2) Weeks Lead Time to organize it with you.
Works well
- A detailed writeup of a startup methodology you used, describing the problem and the approach without naming your own project or linking to it
- A question about applying startup methodologies to a traditional business, framed in a non-promotional way as the rules allow
- A strategy or market discussion backed by your own experience, with at least 250 characters of substance and a clear descriptive title
- A feedback request posted inside the weekly feedback thread, where you also give feedback to others and ask them to return the favor
- A share of your startup in the Monthly Share Your Startup thread, which is the one designated place for it
- A link in the comments to a resource you have no affiliation with, plus a sentence explaining why it is relevant to the discussion
Avoid
- Naming your own startup or dropping its URL in a regular submission, which breaks “Submissions Serve a Specific Purpose”
- Posting feedback requests, surveys, or polls as standalone posts instead of using the weekly feedback thread
- Sharing your blog post without prior moderator approval, or summarizing it instead of including the full formatted body when approved
- Writing a blog post about your own startup journey, which the blog rule explicitly bans
- Linking to content you have an affiliation with, or using affiliate links, which are banned outright
- Dropping a bare link with no sentence explaining why it is relevant to the discussion, which breaks “Rules for Links in Comments/Discussion” in the comments too, which the rules ban outright, or asking people to DM you instead of discussing in public, which breaks “Do Not Solicit PM Requests / Post DM Notices”
What r/startups Is For
r/startups is a discussion community for people working on startups, which the description defines as companies designed to grow and scale rapidly. The rules draw a clear line between startups and traditional businesses, so a local bakery owner does not belong here by default, though you can ask how to apply startup methodologies to a traditional business if you frame the question in a non-promotional way. The people posting here are founders and early team members asking questions about methodologies, experiences, strategies, techniques, and markets. The community is built around discussion, and the moderators have set up specific places for common content like feedback requests and sharing your own startup, so a big part of fitting in is posting in the right spot.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The rule that decides most things here is “No direct sales, advertisements, or promotion”, which bans promotional posts of any kind and only allows sharing your startup in the Monthly Share Your Startup thread. “Submissions Serve a Specific Purpose” is the second big one, because it says you cannot tie a discussion directly to your own project using its name or URL, and it requires at least 250 characters of content with a clear and descriptive title. “Feedback Has a Place” sends all feedback requests, surveys, and polls to the weekly feedback thread, so a standalone feedback post will not survive. “Rules for Links in Comments/Discussion” lets you link in comments only if you write at least a sentence explaining why the link is relevant and you have no affiliation with the content, and affiliate links are banned. “Sharing Your Blog is To Start a Discussion, Never For Self-Promotion” requires prior moderator approval for your own blog, and the full body of the content must be included in the post, properly formatted for reddit. “Do Not Solicit PM Requests / Post DM Notices” means you cannot ask people to DM you or post notices that you DMed someone. “No Unscheduled AMAs” means any AMA needs verification and approval, with at least two weeks lead time through the moderator message feature.
What To Post
A good post here is a discussion about a methodology, experience, strategy, technique, or market, written without naming your own project or linking to it. You need at least 250 characters of content, and the rules say the more detail you give, the better support the community can provide, so err on the side of a long, honest writeup. A clear, descriptive title matters, because the moderators remove posts that lack descriptive detail. If you want feedback on your product, put it in the weekly feedback thread, and the rules even invite you to repost there each week while contributing to others in the thread. If you want to share your startup at all, the Monthly Share Your Startup thread is the one designated place for it. If you want to share your own blog, message the moderators first for approval, then include the full body of the content in the post, properly formatted for reddit, and know that blogs about your startup journey are not allowed. If you link to someone else's resource in the comments, write at least a sentence explaining why it is relevant, and only link things you have no affiliation with.
What To Avoid
The fastest way to get removed is any form of promotion outside the Monthly Share Your Startup thread, and remember that self-promotion includes anything you have a stake or relationship with, even a friend's company. Do not name your own project or drop its URL in a regular submission, because the rules say submissions must discuss methodologies and strategies without tying them to your project. Do not post a feedback request, survey, or poll as its own post, since those belong in the weekly feedback thread. Do not link your own blog without prior moderator approval, and never post a blog about your startup journey, because that is explicitly not allowed. Do not drop a bare link in the comments without a sentence explaining why it is relevant, and never link anything you are affiliated with, since affiliate links get you banned. Do not ask people to PM you or announce that you DMed someone. Do not run an AMA without moderator approval and two weeks of lead time. Finally, keep every post over 250 characters with a clear title, and stay kind even when you disagree, because the community expects supportive discussion, not trolling.
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Common questions about r/startups
Where can I share my startup then?
Yes. The rules say you may share your startup in the Monthly Share Your Startup thread, which is stickied at the top of the community.
Can I post a link to my own blog?
Only with prior moderator approval, and you must include the full body of the content in the post, properly formatted for reddit. Blogs about your own startup journey are not allowed at all.
Can I link to a helpful article in the comments?
Only if you have no affiliation with it, and you write at least a sentence explaining why it is relevant to the discussion. Affiliate links get you banned.
Can I post a survey to get user feedback?
No. All feedback requests, including surveys and polls, belong in the weekly feedback thread, and you are welcome to repost there each week.
Lists featuring r/startups
Use these audience lists to decide whether r/startups is the best fit for your Reddit SEO plan or just one supporting community.
Best Subreddits For Startup Founders
A practical list of startup-founder subreddits for asking better questions about validation, traction, operations, and early company building.
- Audience
- Startup founders
- Subreddits
- 6
Best Subreddits For Product Launches
A Rankhog list of subreddits for product launches: where founders can share progress, ask for feedback, and avoid link-first launch spam.
- Audience
- Founders planning product launches
- Subreddits
- 6
Best Subreddits For Product-Led Founders
A Rankhog list of subreddits for product-led founders working on activation, onboarding, roadmap choices, discovery, and user feedback.
- Audience
- Product-led founders
- Subreddits
- 5
Best Subreddits For SaaS Founders
A Rankhog list of high-signal subreddits where SaaS founders can learn, ask sharper questions, and join Reddit conversations without sounding promotional.
- Audience
- SaaS founders
- Subreddits
- 6
Best Subreddits For SaaS Sales
A focused list of subreddits for SaaS founders and operators improving sales conversations, outbound strategy, demos, and B2B go-to-market.
- Audience
- SaaS sales teams
- Subreddits
- 5
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