# Target subreddit dossier

**Your reputation map.** Every Reddit suggestion for Digital Brand Generation must pick a home from this list and respect that community’s rules, tone, and promo tolerance.

**Last reviewed:** 2026-07-23  
**Rule:** Always re-check the live sidebar + pinned posts before publishing. Mods change rules; this file is a playbook, not law.

**Global strip-test (use on strict subs):**  
If you remove the product name / URL / CTA, does the post still teach something useful? If no → wrong venue (or wrong draft).

---

## How we use this list

| Goal | Prefer these |
|------|----------------|
| **Reputation (90%)** | Comment/answer in Tier A–B; journey lessons with zero links |
| **Hard feedback** | r/roastmystartup |
| **Explicit launch / share** | r/saasbuild · r/LaunchMyStartup · sticky “Share Your Startup” threads |
| **India angle** | r/StartUpIndia · r/IndiaStartups · r/StartupIdeasIndia |
| **Build-in-public series** | r/EntrepreneurRideAlong |
| **Idea-stage only** | r/Startup_Ideas · r/StartupIdeasIndia |
| **Avoid as “real reputation”** | Paid/owned promo rooms (see r/NowInTech note) |

**Never cross-post the same promo text to many of these on the same day.** Rewrite per community or don’t post.

---

## Tier A — Strict (advice only; promo = ban risk)

### 1. [r/startups](https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Serious founders solving company-building problems |
| **Promo** | **Banned in main feed.** Use monthly *Share Your Startup* + weekly feedback stickies only |
| **Must** | Correct flair; real substance (≥ short posts get removed); account age/karma gates |
| **Works** | Pivot stories, architecture/ops decisions, fundraising lessons, postmortems with numbers |
| **Fails** | Launch announcements, milestone flexes, “check my SaaS”, surveys, co-founder hunting in feed |
| **Your angle** | “I spent X building an AI founder OS — here’s what broke” (no link). Product links only in stickies |

### 2. [r/Entrepreneur](https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Huge, spam-hardened; allergic to gurus and funnels |
| **Promo** | **No promotion/sales/solicitation** in feed; weekly threads only |
| **Must** | ~10 **in-sub** comment karma before posting; engage first; **no AI slop** (enforced) |
| **Works** | First-person operator stories with metrics; specific questions |
| **Fails** | Blog links, validate-my-idea, DM me, hire/cofounder pitches, crypto |
| **Your angle** | Human-written failure/lesson posts. Warm account with comments for weeks first |

### 3. [r/Entrepreneurship](https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneurship/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Smaller, educational / Q&A |
| **Promo** | **No self-promo / blogspam** |
| **Must** | Respectful; surveys need mod approval |
| **Works** | Direct practical questions; learning-focused stories |
| **Fails** | Link drops, service pushes, low-effort motivation |
| **Your angle** | “How do you handle X as a technical founder?” — teach in comments |

### 4. [r/startup](https://www.reddit.com/r/startup/) *(singular)*
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Learn tools/skills to build a startup; mutual support |
| **Promo** | **No spam / no solicitations**; **self-posts only** |
| **Works** | Skills, process, feedback framed as learning |
| **Fails** | Link-only ads, solicitations |
| **Your angle** | Tooling / process lessons (OAuth, AI cost, founder UX) as self-posts |

### 5. [r/Entrepreneurs](https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneurs/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Overlaps Entrepreneur*; treat as **strict until sidebar says otherwise** |
| **Promo** | Assume **no cold promo** |
| **Works** | Peer advice, lessons |
| **Fails** | Same as r/Entrepreneur |
| **Your angle** | Comment-first; verify live rules before any standalone post |

---

## Tier B — Journey / feedback (medium; value-first)

### 6. [r/EntrepreneurRideAlong](https://www.reddit.com/r/EntrepreneurRideAlong/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Follow builders in real time; radical transparency |
| **Promo** | Medium — journey with numbers OK; 10% rule; warm up 2+ weeks |
| **Must** | Real numbers/timelines; don’t abandon a series without a closing post; give back on others’ ride-alongs |
| **Works** | Multi-part series, monthly P&L-ish updates, cost breakdowns, “X months in” |
| **Fails** | Vague idea posts, waitlist-only, marketing copy, abandoned series |
| **Your angle** | Best home for Startup HQ / AuraOS / Sentinel **build-in-public series** |

### 7. [r/founder](https://www.reddit.com/r/founder/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Founder-to-founder advice |
| **Promo** | Value-first; no bare ads |
| **Works** | Journey updates, MVP feedback asks, pivots, architecture-as-decision |
| **Fails** | Same-day multi-sub spam |
| **Your angle** | Technical founder decisions while shipping AI products |

### 8. [r/HowToEntrepreneur](https://www.reddit.com/r/HowToEntrepreneur/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | How-to / aspiring entrepreneurs; practical paths |
| **Promo** | Soft; educational framing wins |
| **Works** | Skill paths, “what I’d do differently,” process explainers |
| **Fails** | Pure launch hype |
| **Your angle** | “How a technical founder builds GTM / auth / AI cost control” |

### 9. [r/youngentrepreneur](https://www.reddit.com/r/youngentrepreneur/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Younger founders; encouragement + early-stage |
| **Promo** | Keep humble; mentor tone over pitch |
| **Works** | Honest early-stage lessons, mistakes, habits |
| **Fails** | Bro marketing, flex without substance |
| **Your angle** | Indie builder habits, shipping discipline — not “join my waitlist” |

### 10. [r/StartupFuture](https://www.reddit.com/r/StartupFuture/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Future of startups / building ahead |
| **Promo** | Discuss trends + your experiments; avoid ad copy |
| **Works** | AI systems theses, “what founders will need in 2 years” |
| **Fails** | Generic product dump |
| **Your angle** | AI OS for founders / agents as infrastructure (opinion + evidence) |

---

## Tier C — Idea & critique rooms

### 11. [r/Startup_Ideas](https://www.reddit.com/r/Startup_Ideas/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Idea discussion & validation |
| **Promo** | Idea/problem framing — not finished product launch ads |
| **Works** | Problem, ICP, constraints, specific critique asks |
| **Fails** | “Build this for me,” empty “is this good?” |
| **Your angle** | Only for **new** ideas or positioning tests — not Startup HQ launch spam |

### 12. [r/roastmystartup](https://www.reddit.com/r/roastmystartup/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Brutal product/idea roast |
| **Promo** | Roast = the point; still not a PH dump |
| **Must** | Real effort (not 2 sentences); **no Product Hunt / Vercel / free-subdomain spam**; real domain preferred; **no AI slop**; take punches without reporting for “mean” |
| **Works** | Landing page, ICP, pricing, positioning — invite specific roast |
| **Fails** | Defensive replies, low-effort, PH/Vercel links |
| **Your angle** | Startup HQ landing / positioning roast when ready for harsh feedback |

---

## Tier D — India-focused

### 13. [r/StartUpIndia](https://www.reddit.com/r/StartUpIndia/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Indian startup ecosystem |
| **Promo** | Community-first; local context wins |
| **Works** | India GTM, payments, hiring, compliance, local founder stories |
| **Fails** | US-only generic SaaS pitch with no India angle |
| **Your angle** | Building from India / for global + India founders; payment/ops realities |

### 14. [r/IndiaStartups](https://www.reddit.com/r/IndiaStartups/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Connect, share, ecosystem (tech, VC, innovation) |
| **Promo** | Discussion > ads; advice requests common |
| **Works** | Ecosystem questions, AI/startup India threads, peer help |
| **Fails** | Cold link spam |
| **Your angle** | Same as above; answer payment/cofounder/AI threads often |

### 15. [r/StartupIdeasIndia](https://www.reddit.com/r/StartupIdeasIndia/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Ideas → MVP for **India** market |
| **Promo** | Feedback on India-specific ideas |
| **Works** | India problem + local constraints + ask for critique |
| **Fails** | Global SaaS dump with no India fit |
| **Your angle** | Only if the idea/product has a clear India wedge |

---

## Tier E — Explicit share / launch (promo allowed *if* formatted)

### 16. [r/saasbuild](https://www.reddit.com/r/saasbuild/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | SaaS journey + feedback; promo is **explicitly allowed** with learning |
| **Promo** | Allowed via flairs: Promote · Journey · Feedback |
| **Must** | Use flairs; keep journey concrete (not empty hype) |
| **Works** | “Built X, learned Y”; feedback asks; playbooks with numbers |
| **Fails** | Unnecessary fluff; posting without community context |
| **Your angle** | Primary **product-share** home among your list |

### 17. [r/LaunchMyStartup](https://www.reddit.com/r/LaunchMyStartup/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Launch showcase |
| **Promo** | Launch posts welcome |
| **Must** | **Include media** (screenshot/demo/logo) + description — text-only removed |
| **Works** | Clear ICP, stage, what feedback you want + visuals |
| **Fails** | Link-only, no media, empty hype |
| **Your angle** | Soft-launch day for Startup HQ / Sentinel with screenshots |

---

## Tier F — Use with eyes open

### 18. [r/NowInTech](https://www.reddit.com/r/NowInTech/)
| | |
|--|--|
| **Vibe** | Broad tech/AGI/startups news-style room |
| **Promo** | More placement-friendly than Tier A — **but** public materials describe it as a community run for marketing placement |
| **Risk** | Engagement may look real; trust/SEO signal ≠ founder reputation in Tier A |
| **Your angle** | Optional distribution only. **Do not** treat success here as substitute for r/startups or r/Entrepreneur credibility |

---

## Post-type → subreddit router

| Draft type | Primary | Secondary | Never |
|------------|---------|-----------|-------|
| Deep lesson / postmortem (no link) | r/startups, r/Entrepreneur | r/founder, r/startup | — |
| Build-in-public series + numbers | r/EntrepreneurRideAlong | r/saasbuild | r/Entrepreneur feed |
| Landing page roast | r/roastmystartup | — | PH/Vercel links |
| Soft launch + screenshots | r/LaunchMyStartup, r/saasbuild | Share-Your-Startup stickies | r/Entrepreneur, r/startups feed |
| India GTM / local ops | r/StartUpIndia, r/IndiaStartups | r/StartupIdeasIndia | Generic US-only pitch |
| Idea validation | r/Startup_Ideas | r/StartupIdeasIndia | Finished product ad |
| Future-of-AI thesis | r/StartupFuture | r/HowToEntrepreneur | Pure product dump |
| How-to for aspiring founders | r/HowToEntrepreneur, r/youngentrepreneur | r/Entrepreneurship | Waitlist spam |

---

## Reputation build order (recommended)

1. **Weeks 1–3:** Comment only in Tier A–B (especially r/startups, r/Entrepreneur, India subs). Earn in-sub karma.  
2. **Week 4+:** First value post (lesson / failure) — no links.  
3. **Ongoing:** Start EntrepreneurRideAlong series for Startup HQ.  
4. **When product is showable:** r/saasbuild + r/LaunchMyStartup (+ roast if brave).  
5. **Stickies only** for bare promotion in Tier A.

---

## Checklist before any suggested post

- [ ] Exact subreddit chosen from this dossier  
- [ ] Promo tier respected (A = no link in feed)  
- [ ] Flair / media / sticky requirements noted  
- [ ] India angle present if posting to India subs  
- [ ] Human voice (not AI-slop pattern)  
- [ ] Not the same text posted elsewhere today  
- [ ] Reminder: verify live sidebar