The hottest Substack posts right now

according to Hacker News
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Long overdue life updates

box. • 419 implied HN points • 29 Nov 23
💼 Business Time management Personal Growth Product Development Startups Entrepreneurship Leadership
  1. Finding a balance between creating for an audience and focusing on personal projects is tricky but important. Having too many outside distractions can slow down real work, so taking breaks from attention helps keep goals on track.
  2. Loneliness is a big issue that needs meaningful solutions. Sometimes it's hard to work on this emotionally heavy topic, but caring about it makes the work feel worthwhile.
  3. Managing time as a solo founder can be challenging. Setting boundaries and valuing personal time helps stay focused on what truly matters, without getting overwhelmed by small tasks.

Some Regulatory Certainty

Points And Figures • 612 implied HN points • 28 Feb 25
🔮 Crypto Financial Technology Market Trends Investment Innovation Regulation
  1. The SEC has decided that crypto memecoins are not considered securities, giving the industry more regulatory clarity. This is a positive change compared to the confusion that existed before.
  2. While crypto hasn't become essential for everyone's daily life yet, there are potential future uses, like tokenizing assets or using stablecoins for easier international payments.
  3. Regulation can sometimes create unfair advantages for big companies and stifle competition. It's important to be aware of these effects while also ensuring that people aren't misled by things like memecoins.

✅ The market for public relations talent levels off

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 299 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
💼 Business Workplace culture Public Relations Talent Management AI Integration
  1. The public relations job market is steady, with most salaries staying the same and only slight decreases for some roles. Both employers and employees feel cautiously positive about this stability.
  2. There is a growing need for AI skills in public relations jobs, so it's a good idea to learn about AI to stay competitive in the field.
  3. Employers are focusing more on personalized benefits and inclusive hiring practices to attract and retain talent, making work environments better for everyone.

"Pivot Global" Interview Video

Japan Economy Watch • 159 implied HN points • 08 Apr 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Corporate strategy Stock Market Economy Innovation
  1. The interview covers various topics such as the state of Japan's economy, stock market, wages, and strategies of niche companies
  2. There is discussion on the importance of new entrepreneurs in driving positive social changes in Japan
  3. The interview highlights the potential for Japan's economic recovery through embracing innovation, new companies, and adapting to changing business dynamics

A loan offer you can’t refuse

Klement on Investing • 5 implied HN points • 20 Feb 26
💼 Business Credit Risk Empirical Research Financial regulation Organized Crime Corporate Governance Banking Corporate Finance
  1. When a company is downgraded to junk, bank loan availability falls sharply — about a 10% drop in the year after and roughly 30% cumulatively over five years.
  2. That sudden loss of bank financing pushes distressed CEOs and CFOs to seek alternatives, and the chance of mafia infiltration rises by roughly 5% after a downgrade.
  3. Financial distress is a key catalyst for organized‑crime infiltration because banks pull back when firms need money most, leaving a financing gap crime groups can exploit.
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Triplex — a SOTA LLM for Knowledge Graph Construction

Owen’s Substack • 59 implied HN points • 19 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Data science Machine Learning AI Open Source Software Development
  1. Triplex is a new tool that helps create knowledge graphs quickly and cheaply. It's much cheaper to use than older methods, making it easier for more people to utilize.
  2. This tool is small enough to run on regular laptops, which means you don't need powerful computers to build knowledge graphs. This makes technology more accessible to everyone.
  3. Triplex is open-source, allowing anyone to use and improve it. The community can experiment with it freely and innovate new ways to organize and understand information.

Issue #147: MrBeast Buys a Bank, Goldman Sachs Gives AI Agents Real Jobs, And Coinbase Wants Every AI Agent to Have a Wallet

Fintech Radar • 6 implied HN points • 16 Feb 26
💰 Finance Security Insurtech Banking Crypto Payments Compliance AI Fintech
  1. Creators are starting to buy and run real financial assets, using massive audiences to scale fintech products and distribution quickly.
  2. Banks and fintechs are deploying autonomous AI agents to handle high-volume, rules-based work like accounting, onboarding, and AML, which reduces the need for additional headcount.
  3. Infrastructure for agentic money is being built fast — agent-specific wallets, machine-to-machine payment protocols, and programmable guardrails let AI agents hold and spend funds safely.

How the AI bubble will unfold

Expand Mapping with Mike Morrow • 24 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
💼 Business AI Startups Venture Capital IPOs Corporate Finance
  1. Major AI companies are burning huge amounts of cash and are staying private to avoid revealing weak financials, so an IPO could expose losses and trigger a sharp valuation drop.
  2. Training costs are enormous and likely to keep rising as models scale, while inference costs per token may fall but overall expenses can still grow because of bigger, token-hungry models and growing demand.
  3. The likely outcomes are limited: a rare proprietary breakthrough, real financial improvement through monetization and cost cuts (which risks losing users), or an IPO that reveals the losses and pops the bubble.

Fixing the Web Week Recap: 5/20/24

Unmoderated Insights • 99 implied HN points • 21 May 24
🕹 Technology Social media Digital Rights Tech regulation AI Ethics Data Privacy
  1. There's growing concern about deepfake videos during elections, as they can mislead voters. People can easily create fake videos that look real, making it hard for social media to verify what’s true.
  2. Tech companies are required to share their data, but many are making it harder to access it. This could lead to fines if they don't comply with new regulations.
  3. The European Union is leading the way in regulating tech companies more effectively than the US. They are gathering experts to tackle tech issues, which can teach other countries about better oversight.

Last Week in AI #252: DeepMind's real-world robots, NYT sues OpenAI, Baidu's Ernie bot hits 100M users, AI art generator controversy, and more! 🤖📰🚀🎨

Last Week in AI • 377 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Lawsuits Art Regulation AI Chatbots
  1. DeepMind is developing robots for real-world tasks like multitasking in different environments.
  2. The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for allegedly using its work to train AI without permission.
  3. Baidu's Ernie bot has over 100 million users, and is primarily used in Chinese but also supports English.

In Praise of Lying to Children

Going Awol • 179 implied HN points • 27 Mar 24
📖 Philosophy Gratitude Deception Children Truth Ethics
  1. The debate about lying to children, including about Santa, Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy, is a recurring one.
  2. Different ethical arguments are presented, like the Consequentialist Argument and the Non-Consequentialist Argument, discussing the impact of such lies on trust, critical thinking, and moral development.
  3. While some argue that lying to children about these characters can impede moral development and gratitude expression, others suggest that the magic added to a child's life through these stories can be a positive influence.

[2025–2026] Week 14: One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch

Behavioral Value Investor • 22 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
💰 Finance Value investing Investment education Behavioral Finance Portfolio strategy Equity Analysis
  1. True mispricings tend to come from special situations caused by forced selling or neglect, like spin-offs, post-bankruptcy stocks, or sidelined divisions. These situations often let patient investors buy assets the market is overlooking.
  2. Popular, hyped stocks—including hot-sector names, IPOs, and momentum-driven picks—are more driven by sentiment than fundamentals and are less likely to offer reliable bargains. They often create FOMO and poor entry points for long-term investors.
  3. Stick to your circle of competence and hunt for neglected or forced-sale opportunities, using careful research and tools such as long-dated options to capture asymmetric upside with limited downside. Sharing ideas and learning from others can help you find and refine these opportunities.

2nd Look at Local Housing Markets in December

CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 28 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
💰 Finance Mortgages Housing Market Real Estate Market Data Local Markets Inventory Home Sales
  1. December existing home sales look mostly unchanged year‑over‑year, and 2025 may end up as one of the weakest sales years since 1995.
  2. Inventory and listing trends are mixed: new listings were down about 4.5% year‑over‑year while active inventory was up roughly 9–10% YoY, with both measures still differing from 2019 levels.
  3. December closings mainly reflect contracts signed in October and November when mortgage rates averaged about 6.25%, and working‑day/seasonal adjustments can noticeably change the reported year‑over‑year results.

The Wings of Nightmare is LIVE!

The Lunacian • 920 implied HN points • 21 Nov 24
🔮 Crypto Metaverse Blockchain Gaming NFTs Digital Currency
  1. The Wings of Nightmare event is now live, allowing players to evolve specific base parts into limited-edition Nightmare Parts. There are only 39,000 Nightmare Parts available, so it's important to act fast!
  2. Players can explore two new realms called the Dream World and Nightmarescape, which are filled with fascinating creatures and challenges. Entering these realms requires sleep, and there's a risk of not returning.
  3. To evolve parts and earn rewards, players need to gather certain materials and use the App.axie platform. There are also chances to obtain Nightmare bodies through special actions, making this event exciting for participants.

Data Science Weekly - Issue 538

Data Science Weekly Newsletter • 199 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Data science Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Cloud Computing
  1. Serverless computing can handle big tasks without limits, but it also brings challenges like managing large uploads effectively.
  2. Art careers can be influenced by the reputation of institutions, with established artists facing less access to elite spaces early on compared to newcomers.
  3. Learning about LLM evaluation metrics can help improve understanding and performance when working with large language models.

TBM 360: "Wait! I Thought the Team Was Overloaded?!"

The Beautiful Mess • 383 implied HN points • 30 May 25
💼 Business Leadership Productivity Team Dynamics Work Culture Management
  1. Teams often feel overwhelmed with too much work, but managers might deny there's a problem. It's important to listen to the team on the front lines.
  2. Sometimes, leaders want to cut down on projects, but managers are afraid to suggest it due to fear of losing resources. Clear and honest conversations can help break this cycle.
  3. If there are too many options with no clear priority, it's necessary to focus on one important goal at a time. This helps to reduce confusion and improves team effectiveness.

A meaning of life

Philosophy bear • 57 implied HN points • 10 Dec 25
📖 Philosophy Personal Identity Meaning Ethics Value theory Metaphysics Aesthetics Utopianism Transhumanism
  1. Meaning isn’t just an abstract answer but a story you craft to present your values to yourself in an aesthetic and emotional way, so life feels purposeful and livable.
  2. The best human life mixes bliss, adventure, creativity, friendship, and deliberate struggle, and rich, responsive simulations (with real-seeming people) can help deliver those deeply felt experiences.
  3. We can and should work to reshape the world and ourselves toward an intelligently designed moral order—ending involuntary death and needless suffering, guiding evolution, and improving animal welfare—while preserving voluntary challenge and growth.

Greece’s electric car moment?

The Greek Analyst • 279 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Renewable Energy Tech startups Research Electric Vehicles
  1. The number of electric cars in Greece is rapidly increasing, with more battery electric vehicles sold in the last year than in the previous four years combined.
  2. The country has seen a significant rise in the number of EV charging stations, with the infrastructure growing from less than 50 stations in 2018 to about 5,000 by the end of 2023, expected to reach over 100,000 by 2030.
  3. Greece's surge in electric vehicle adoption is supported by various incentives and subsidies provided by the government to promote alternative-fuel vehicles and infrastructure, with investments totaling nearly €240M since 2020.

Ticker Take: a weekly newsletter on investing.

Jon’s Newsletter • 119 implied HN points • 05 May 24
💰 Finance Investing Bonds Dividends Earnings Stock Market
  1. Selling stocks in May may not be the best strategy, as historical data shows it only works about a quarter of the time since 2008.
  2. The current stock market is looking healthier, with positive earnings and potential interest rate cuts, which might lead to steady gains this year.
  3. Investors are keeping an eye on dividend stocks and marijuana stocks, as both sectors show potential for growth and steady income.

The Sequence Radar #771: Last Week in AI: GPT-5.2, Mistral, and Google’s Agent Stack

TheSequence • 56 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Generative AI Large Models Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Compute Hardware Open Source AI Infrastructure
  1. AI is moving to an agent-first model where LLMs act as operators for long-running, multi-step workflows, improving planning, tool use, and end-to-end task completion.
  2. Open-weight and deployable model families are maturing, letting teams host, fine-tune, and run agentic coding and workflow assistants on their own infrastructure.
  3. Compute and energy limits are now a primary bottleneck, driving investment in efficient architectures like MoEs, distillation, edge inference, and new hardware approaches.

Open Source Security Landscape 2024

Resilient Cyber • 139 implied HN points • 21 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Risk management Software Development Open Source Cybersecurity
  1. Most codebases now use a lot of open source software, which can come with serious security risks. This means many systems are more vulnerable because they contain known vulnerabilities that might not be addressed.
  2. The number of components in applications is increasing, leading to software bloat. This makes it tough for teams to manage security and keep everything up to date, which can create more risks for users.
  3. Licensing issues are common in open source software, with many projects having conflicts or unclear licenses. This can lead to legal problems for businesses that use these components in their software.

An Amusing New Year's Eve

Deus In Machina • 36 implied HN points • 01 Jan 26
🕹 Technology APIs Programming Software Developer Tools Scripting
  1. PowerShell can call native C libraries through .NET P/Invoke, letting you bind libraries like raylib with just a .ps1 script and inline C# declarations.
  2. There are practical gotchas: types created with Add-Type can't be redefined in the same session. Platform-specific issues (like Wayland) can also break input functions, so you'll need restarts, renaming, namespaces, or a compiled DLL as workarounds.
  3. This is a fun way to build small demos — the example shows a Pong-like game — but the approach is clumsy for larger projects because of manual input handling and P/Invoke maintenance.

The Game

Venture Prose • 539 implied HN points • 13 Aug 23
💼 Business Market Trends Entrepreneurship Venture Capital Startups Investors
  1. Venture capital world has become overly competitive, leading to deals made without proper diligence or due consideration.
  2. Consensus in the industry spreads rapidly, leaving founders vulnerable to hype and unfounded opinions.
  3. Investors often don't provide enough guidance or mentorship to young founders, leaving them to run companies without sufficient support.

Import AI 338: Consciousness and AI; self-improving language models; maps of thought.

Import AI • 539 implied HN points • 28 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Reinforcement Learning Language Models AI AI Ethics Consciousness
  1. Facebook introduces Code Llama, large language models specialized for coding, empowering more people with access to AI systems.
  2. DeepMind's Reinforced Self-Training (ReST) allows faster AI model improvement cycles by iteratively tuning models based on human preferences, but overfitting risks need careful management.
  3. Researchers identify key indicators from studies on human and animal consciousness to guide evaluation of AI's potential consciousness, stressing the importance of caution and a theory-heavy approach.

Dall·E 3 Is Out! Create Stunning Images in Seconds (No Matter What Topic You're Writing About)

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 539 implied HN points • 04 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Image Generation AI Software
  1. DALL·E 3 is an advanced and free AI tool that helps creators make unique images quickly. It's perfect for writers who want to enhance their stories without spending hours searching for pictures.
  2. The tutorial shows you how to use DALL·E 3 effectively. You can create images related to various topics, making it versatile for different writing needs.
  3. With DALL·E 3, you own the rights to the images you create. This means you can use them for personal projects or even sell them if you choose.

Import AI 342: Mistral dumps an LLM on BitTorrent; AMD vs NVIDIA; Sutton joins keen

Import AI • 539 implied HN points • 02 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Language Models AI Research
  1. AI startup Lamini is offering an 'LLM superstation' using AMD GPUs, challenging NVIDIA's dominance in AI chip market.
  2. AI researcher Rich Sutton has joined Keen Technologies, indicating a strong focus on developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
  3. French startup Mistral released Mistral 7B, a high-quality open-source language model that outperforms other models, sparking discussions on safety measures in AI models.

Don't just apply, opt-in

Creating Value from Nothing • 662 implied HN points • 27 Jan 25
💼 Business Career development Company Culture Recruitment Employee engagement Hiring
  1. Candidates can experience the company culture firsthand by attending events like the Super Weekend. This allows them to see what working there is really like.
  2. Meeting actual customers and solving real-world problems helps potential hires understand the company's mission and approach better.
  3. The company commits to hosting regular Super Weekends to attract talented individuals and let them see how great the team is. It's a chance for candidates to really opt-in rather than just applying.

Issues in Philosophy of Memory 4

The Memory Palace • 59 implied HN points • 25 Jun 24
📖 Philosophy Memory Metaphysics Politics Ethics Epistemology
  1. The philosophy of memory is growing quickly, with more conferences and research on it recently. People are exploring topics about how we remember and what memory means.
  2. The fourth conference on philosophy of memory will take place in Geneva in June 2024. It will feature key talks and papers from researchers from many different countries.
  3. The event will cover a wide range of memory-related topics, from how we remember to the connections between memory and emotions. It aims to inspire new ideas and discussions in the field.

Consumers don’t really care if AI made the ad. That's fine. They never cared about marketing.

The Social Juice • 83 implied HN points • 15 Nov 25
💼 Business Consumer behavior Advertising Media Strategy Marketing Branding
  1. Consumers mainly care about price and product, not whether AI made the ad. Brands need to focus on deeper questions that make people think about their values rather than just selling products.
  2. Marketers should balance the opinions of customers and non-customers, considering wider feedback to create meaningful campaigns. Creativity gets lost when brands only focus on what customers think.
  3. Brands are experimenting with new strategies to connect with audiences, like collaborations and fun campaigns. They need to evolve and engage in ways that go beyond traditional marketing tactics to stay relevant.

GPT-4.5 Feels Like a Letdown But It’s OpenAI’s Biggest Bet Yet

The Algorithmic Bridge • 605 implied HN points • 28 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Software Data science AI Machine Learning Innovation
  1. GPT-4.5 is not as impressive as expected, but it's part of a plan for bigger advancements in the future. OpenAI is using this model to build a better foundation for what's to come.
  2. Despite being larger and more expensive, GPT-4.5 isn't leading in new capabilities compared to older models. It's more focused on creativity and communication, which might not appeal to all users.
  3. OpenAI wants to improve the basic skills of AI rather than just aiming for high scores in tests. This step back is meant to ensure future models are smarter and more capable overall.

The Sequence Radar #763: Last Week AI Trifecta: Opus 4.5, DeepSeek Math, and FLUX.2

TheSequence • 70 implied HN points • 30 Nov 25
🕹 Technology Tech industry AI Development Machine Learning Software Engineering
  1. Claude Opus 4.5 is impressively smart and can handle complex coding tasks, making it feel like a senior engineer rather than just a chatbot.
  2. DeepSeek Math V2 shows how AI can self-correct and improve its mathematical reasoning, hitting new highs in performance and reliability.
  3. FLUX.2 brings amazing visual quality and features for generative media, proving that open models can achieve top-notch results without being locked down.

Corporate profits were biggest driver of inflation in Europe, IMF admits

Geopolitical Economy Report • 538 implied HN points • 27 Jun 23
💰 Finance Corporate Profits Monetary Policy Central Banks Inflation
  1. Corporate profits have been a major driver of inflation in Europe since 2021, with companies increasing prices more than the rising costs of imported energy.
  2. The IMF suggests that companies may need to reduce profit margins to help keep inflation in line with targets set by the European Central Bank.
  3. The study challenges the traditional view that inflation is solely caused by demand-pull factors, highlighting how excessive profit increases by corporations can also drive inflation.

Why Not Both? Surge's Moped-to-Rickshaw Transforming EV

The Micromobility Newsletter • 275 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Innovation Micromobility Electric Vehicles
  1. Battery-swapping specialist Gogoro announced details about their upcoming electric moped, featuring smart features like active-matrix lighting.
  2. Pure EV's entire line of electric two-wheelers will now use the AI-driven X software platform for advanced driving features and increased range.
  3. Surge introduced a unique vehicle that transforms between a moped and a rickshaw, offering the flexibility of two vehicles in one.

Cap Table Template

Venture Prose • 159 implied HN points • 07 Apr 24
💼 Business Finance Startup
  1. Be mindful of dilution when piling up post-money SAFE notes as a founder.
  2. Creating a proper cap table can reveal the dilutive impact of different funding rounds and securities.
  3. Use templates to simulate scenarios like adding co-founders, granting stock options, raising multiple rounds, and selling secondaries.

Is Dave Ramsey right?

Economic Forces • 18 implied HN points • 29 Jan 26
💰 Finance Economic Theory Personal Finance Behavioral Finance Decision-making Markets Institutions
  1. Simple rules and mental buckets exist because making perfect decisions about every dollar is costly. Heuristics cut cognitive effort and often produce good enough outcomes.
  2. Institutions like prices, brands, and cultural norms compress information and lower the mental cost of choices, letting people compare options quickly instead of doing detailed calculations.
  3. Competition and real budget constraints discipline behavior so many heuristics survive by being survivable, not perfect, but attention and memory limits can still create systematic, predictable mistakes in some contexts.

Synology DS923+ vs. FreeBSD w/ZFS

Blog System/5 • 827 implied HN points • 13 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Networking Data Storage Operating Systems Software Hardware
  1. Synology DS923+ and FreeBSD with ZFS offer different approaches for storage solutions. The DS923+ is a dedicated device designed for ease of use, while FreeBSD requires more manual setup and maintenance.
  2. The Synology system provides a friendly user interface and features like cloud backup options, while FreeBSD offers powerful command-line control but can be less user-friendly.
  3. Using the Synology NAS can give more peace of mind regarding data health and security due to its built-in features like encryption and monitoring alerts, compared to a DIY FreeBSD setup.

Achievement, here and there

benn.substack • 613 implied HN points • 14 Feb 25
💼 Business Innovation Technology Economic Development Startups Entrepreneurship
  1. Many startups often pivot to new ideas after their initial product fails. This happens so frequently in Silicon Valley that it’s often seen as a normal part of business.
  2. Founders usually start companies not just to solve problems, but also to gain status and success. They might care more about how they look to others than the specific product they offer.
  3. There's a growing trend where success in technology is being intertwined with politics. People are now noticing and valuing the impact of policy making as much as tech achievements.