Success always spawns haters
TLDR
- DHH argues that hate is a structural byproduct of success, not a problem to solve, using Rails and Omarchy as cases.
Key Takeaways
- Omarchy attracted thousands of happy users in summer 2025, then drew significant backlash shortly after gaining traction.
- DHH tried arguing with Rails critics twenty years ago and concluded logical counter-arguments do not convert bad-faith haters.
- Blogger Kathy Sierra reframed his view: strong passion from supporters always generates an equal opposing force; the gray middle draws neither.
- Work that stays inoffensive stays ignored; escape velocity means drawing energy from both ends of the spectrum simultaneously.
- DHH now treats the arrival of haters as a milestone worth celebrating, not a crisis requiring defense.
Why It Matters
- Founders who treat criticism as purely signal to act on will misread bad-faith noise as product feedback, wasting energy and confidence.
- The Kathy Sierra framing gives a concrete decision rule: if no one is booing, you have not yet cleared the threshold of anyone caring.
- DHH’s two data points (Rails circa 2005, Omarchy 2025) suggest the pattern holds across different product categories and eras.
David Heinemeier Hansson · 2025-10-25 · Read the original
