The systems I wrote were independent of HN and didn't slow it down. I got significant grief for them and pulled them.

Standard "wisdom" for start-ups includes "If you're not embarrassed by your first product then you didn't launch early enough," and "Try the minimal viable product before investing too much time." I both launched early, and made sure the "product" was absolutely minimal. It got slated by the people it was trying to help, so I didn't bother refining it.

The experience was educational and instructive.

(minor edit to remove some inappropriate snark - apologies)

I wouldn't be surprised if that was because people misinterpreted it as complaining about reposting, which is a contentious topic on HN.

The complainers were probably just a vocal minority.

Stay? When was HN ever fast? It's a tech demo for a language that's been more-or-less abandoned, that accidentally grew into a popular website.