Actually I disagree here. I'm grateful that the founder of all people actually took the time to respond. This show's that they care what their users think.
It wasn't the response that was being objected to, it was a (polite) suggestion that the rudeness of the response is not good marketing.
Nowhere does the replier suggest that the founder shouldn't respond at all, they are simply suggesting that a friendlier tone will look better than an unfriendly one.
See also: the old story about catching more flies with honey than vinegar etc.
I care about people who use the app and then respond with feedback based on actual usage. People who just say "shame on you" without knowing what they are talking about aren't helpful.
One thing I've learned is often times when people post a snarky comment like the one you replied to, they think they are talking into the abyss. Replying with some maturity and respect can often unmask the non-snarky person they actually are and make them feel bad when they realize what they said actually was towards a person who exists and is affected by their words.
What you did instead was insult them back and now you can be sure they will not have anything nice to say about your company. To do it on a place like Hacker News is quite shortsighted since you never know who you're talking to or who is reading your posts.
It does, but jasonmkey is a new account, presumably with no reputation to protect and no new startup to promote on a website dedicated to startups.
Therefore, the most useful advice is that given to someone with something to lose. Whoever was "wrong first" is irrelevant to the outcome desired by curiousoffice.
