If I may make a sincere criticism, as a person who knows nothing about either side of this conversation....
We should all delete "I'm sorry you feel that way" from our mental phrasebooks. It is a phrase that always falls flat, comes across as potentially sarcastic, and is the textbook definition of a non-apology apology.
If you want to clarify something, go for it. If you don't want to apologize, don't feel obligated to do so. But please, for your own benefit, steer clear of this no-good phrase.
While it’s nice to hear more context in response to the OP’s criticisms, I’m not sure I would consider a response mostly defending the criticisms “beyond awesome”.
Most tech startups know the influence HN has, and to respond to a top post with a mostly defensive stance (vs. the OP points actually having an impact on the decisions being made) is a smart move on the part of the CEO (I would probably do the same thing).
Just saying I wouldn’t have used the words “beyond awesome”.
I recommended stripe to a friend because a hn (ad?) That mentioned the documentation was great. He struggled and I couldn't help him without a deep dive.
To be fair, my WordPress website has no problem with stripe.
Agreed, that phrase strikes me as without intrinsic meaning (though I can't say I ever grasped the meaning of "sorry" in the non-apology sense). It always seems to me like the person wants to say something that appears comforting without actually meaning anything, and seems disingenuous.
We should all delete "I'm sorry you feel that way" from our mental phrasebooks. It is a phrase that always falls flat, comes across as potentially sarcastic, and is the textbook definition of a non-apology apology.
If you want to clarify something, go for it. If you don't want to apologize, don't feel obligated to do so. But please, for your own benefit, steer clear of this no-good phrase.