The posts on the site are the original posts. To seed the site so it wouldn't look like a wasteland, I emailed a few high value HN posters who had email address

The posts on the site are the original posts. To seed the site so it wouldn't look like a wasteland, I emailed a few high value HN posters who had email addresses shown on their HN profiles and begged them to post a tip. A few of them graciously obliged, and some of those probably told a colleague/acquaintance to post a tip as well. It's why I love HN, there's more of a sense of community here.