The hottest Substack posts right now

according to Hacker News
Category

Fortune tellers

Klement on Investing • 3 implied HN points • 13 Feb 26
💰 Finance Behavioral Finance Empirical Research Financial Markets Venture Capital Investing
  1. Chinese investors often use superstitions like horoscopes when making investment decisions, showing a cultural difference from the West.
  2. A lab experiment found positive Chinese fortune-telling reports raised willingness to invest by over 20 percentage points, and Chinese horoscopes influenced choices more than Western ones.
  3. Worryingly, venture capital managers were even more swayed than individual investors, so these beliefs can meaningfully affect market behavior.

5 SIEM Capabilities for Detection Engineering

Detection at Scale • 59 implied HN points • 15 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Data Management Programming Cloud Computing Automation Security
  1. Detection Engineering involves moving from simply responding to alerts to enhancing the capabilities behind those alerts, leading to reduced fatigue for security teams.
  2. Key capabilities for supporting detection engineering include a robust data pipeline, scalable analytics with a security data lake, and embracing Detection as Code framework for sustainable security insights.
  3. Modern SIEM platforms should offer an API for automated workflows, BYOC deployment options for cost-effectiveness, and Infrastructure as Code capabilities for stable long-term management.

The History of DeFi

DeFi Education • 1218 implied HN points • 08 Feb 22
🔮 Crypto Finance Decentralization Blockchain Innovation Digital Assets
  1. Bitcoin is the foundation of crypto and DeFi, starting in 2009. It's important to learn about Bitcoin to understand everything that followed.
  2. Ethereum followed Bitcoin and introduced smart contracts, which allowed DeFi technologies to grow. This innovation opened doors for many other projects.
  3. DeFi has evolved significantly, with innovations like MakerDAO for stablecoins and automated market makers like Uniswap. The future will focus on cross-chain liquidity and expanding DeFi beyond just Ethereum.

The strategy behind Dia's design

Keeping Tabs by The Browser Company • 134 implied HN points • 17 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Design Product Development Innovation User Experience Software
  1. Dia is designed to be familiar and easy for users to switch to, so they can start using it without a steep learning curve. This familiarity helps people feel comfortable as they explore its new features.
  2. The design focuses on simplicity by avoiding clutter and ensuring there's only one clear way to do a task. This keeps the experience user-friendly and avoids overwhelming users with options.
  3. Dia's unique chat features rely on innovation, allowing users to interact with their internet life in new ways. These features enhance the browsing experience while still being intuitive and accessible.
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All hail the demise of Adobe-Figma

Alex's Personal Blog • 98 implied HN points • 01 Aug 25
💼 Business Trade Startups Finance Tech Business Economy
  1. The economy is not as strong as it seemed, with job data showing a slowdown and rising long-term unemployment. This means we may be facing challenges ahead instead of stability.
  2. The failed acquisition of Figma by Adobe is seen as a positive outcome for Figma and its investors, allowing them to see a larger increase in value without being bought out.
  3. Increased competition in the market is beneficial for users and smaller companies, reminding us that antitrust actions can protect growing startups from larger corporations.

Economics Links, 2/15/2025

In My Tribe • 243 implied HN points • 15 Feb 25
💰 Finance Substack International Health Policy Trade Economics
  1. The European Union may have created a big, slow government that doesn't serve its people well. Some believe smaller countries manage their affairs better.
  2. Importing goods doesn't always harm jobs; a trade deficit can actually mean a strong economy. More spending and demand can lead to more jobs, not fewer.
  3. Becoming successful on platforms like Substack is tough. It often takes a large existing following or writing about popular subjects to grow your audience.

MakerNews - November 2025 Update

Maker News • 22 implied HN points • 01 Dec 25
🕹 Technology DIY Projects Innovation Hardware Software Gadgets
  1. This month showed that making is all about experimenting and learning from mistakes. Many projects started with failures but led to exciting outcomes.
  2. There was a focus on sharing the messy process of building rather than just the polished final product. It's okay if things aren't perfect; what's important is the journey.
  3. Creators are using innovative methods, like modifying devices for new uses, showing how curiosity can lead to unexpected and fun projects.

Learning from the Best

Permit.io’s Substack • 79 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Practices DevOps Open Source Software Development
  1. Learning from bigger companies can help solve problems effectively. They often share their insights which can be adapted to smaller projects.
  2. Not reinventing the wheel is smart. Using existing solutions like policy engines can save time and effort while ensuring reliability.
  3. Engaging with the community and resources available online can provide valuable knowledge and support for developers looking to improve their work.

Why Scrum is Stressing You Out

Rethinking Software • 445 HN points • 11 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Agile Methodology Productivity Project management
  1. Sprints make work feel never-ending because they are constant deadlines without breaks. Unlike past methods, there’s no time to rest and recharge, leading to ongoing stress.
  2. Sprints are often imposed on teams without their input, removing their freedom and motivation. Control over how work is done is important for reducing stress and improving satisfaction.
  3. In Scrum, there is little time for preparation before starting tasks. Developers need time to think, plan, and get ready to tackle projects, or they end up feeling overwhelmed and unprepared.

I coded the security system myself, it is very secure, because it doesn't work.

Permit.io’s Substack • 99 implied HN points • 15 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Security Software Development Open Source Authentication
  1. Before building your own security system, think about whether it's really necessary. You might find better solutions that are already out there.
  2. Developers often dislike focusing on security tasks because they can be boring. It’s typically more efficient to use existing security tools instead of creating something new.
  3. There are standard systems like OAuth and JWT for handling security, and using open-source or developer platforms can save you a lot of headaches.

The Rise of Closed AI Systems: A Shift in the AI Paradigm

Rod’s Blog • 99 implied HN points • 15 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Innovation Competition AI Open Source
  1. Open AI systems have been widely used in the past, promoting collaboration and sharing of AI technologies, but the trend is shifting towards closed AI systems that offer advantages like protecting intellectual property and user privacy.
  2. Closed AI systems, developed by private companies, are not accessible to the public or other researchers, leading to questions about transparency, accountability, and competition in the AI market.
  3. The emergence of closed AI systems presents a mix of benefits and challenges, such as fostering innovation and efficiency while potentially hindering collaboration and knowledge sharing in the AI community.

Earnings Season

Human Capitalist • 39 implied HN points • 13 Jun 24
💼 Business Corporate strategy Economics Finance Investing Market Trends
  1. Companies that grow their sales teams tend to see their stock prices rise. This shows that a bigger sales team can mean better future earnings.
  2. On the other hand, companies that cut their sales teams often experience a drop in market value. This suggests they may be less confident in selling their products.
  3. There may be other human capital factors that also relate to stock performance, and it's worth exploring these connections further. There could be more signs that predict how well a company will do financially.

Results from poll #4

The Counterfactual • 39 implied HN points • 21 May 24
🕹 Technology Data science Tech Trends AI Research Machine Learning Language Models
  1. The recent poll found that two topics, an explainer on interpretability and a guide to becoming an LLM-ologist, were equally popular among voters.
  2. The plan is to write about both topics in the coming months, keeping the content varied as usual.
  3. Two new papers were published this month, one on multimodal LLMs and another on Korean language models, highlighting ongoing research in these areas.

AI #45: To Be Determined

Don't Worry About the Vase • 896 implied HN points • 04 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Legal Ethics AI Innovation Future
  1. Many people are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential risks of advanced AI technologies, as the complexity of the alignment problem becomes more apparent.
  2. Some politicians, like Senator Cory Booker, are expressing worries about the societal impacts of AI technology and its current prevalence in daily life.
  3. Even with concerns, there are still lighthearted and creative discussions about the future of AI, including speculative scenarios involving children and AI-powered career choices.

Getting started with Notes

Substack • 546 implied HN points • 11 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Online Publishing Social media Digital marketing User engagement Content creation
  1. Using Notes on Substack helps you connect with new readers by sharing short posts, images, and videos. Posting frequently can really boost your subscriber count.
  2. Start with a welcome video to introduce yourself and what you offer. This gives potential subscribers a clear idea of what to expect.
  3. Engage with other creators in the Substack community. Sharing your ideas and discoveries can build connections and grow your audience.

Live video, Substack Summer Recaps, and new tools and features

Substack • 432 implied HN points • 24 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Live Streaming Publishing Digital Media Content creation User engagement
  1. Substack now offers live video features, allowing creators to host events and engage directly with subscribers. This could help users connect better with their audience and share real-time updates.
  2. Publishers can edit images directly from the post editor, making it easier to manage visuals. This update simplifies the process of adding or modifying images in posts.
  3. Category tabs have been introduced to help readers find relevant content easily. This makes it simpler for subscribers to explore topics they are interested in.

AI Web scraping use-cases for Data Teams: Intelligence gathering

The Orchestra Data Leadership Newsletter • 39 implied HN points • 21 May 24
🕹 Technology AI Artificial Intelligence Web scraping Data Teams Data Engineering
  1. Web scraping with AI can enhance intelligence gathering by efficiently collecting and processing data from various public sources on the internet.
  2. Leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) can improve the accuracy and robustness of web scraping systems when dealing with changes in HTML code structure.
  3. Using tools like Nimble for web scraping allows for more efficient and accurate data collection by training models on different types of websites for specific use cases.

How to Be a Leftist Without Being a Utilitarian or a Free Will Skeptic (UNLOCKED)

Philosophy for the People w/Ben Burgis • 259 implied HN points • 02 Apr 23
📖 Philosophy Utilitarianism Ethics Free will Justice Meritocracy
  1. Rejecting free will or embracing utilitarianism is like burning down your house to kill a fly.
  2. Meritocracy doesn't justify extreme inequality; our society isn't a true meritocracy.
  3. Belief in moral rights maintains dignity and autonomy and challenges market-worshippers for a fairer society.

💥 Tech Talks Weekly #18

Tech Talks Weekly • 39 implied HN points • 13 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Software Development JavaScript Event Sourcing Conferences Java
  1. This week's Tech Talks Weekly features new talks from 15 different tech conferences. You'll find a variety of topics and insights from prominent speakers.
  2. Popular talks include topics like future-proofing Spring applications and managing code quality. These sessions can help you stay updated on tech trends.
  3. You can support the community by sharing this resource with friends and filling out a feedback form to improve future content.

Reaping the Whirlwind: A September 2022 Inflation Update

Musings on Markets • 699 implied HN points • 27 Sep 22
💰 Finance Inflation Economic Impact Market Trends Investment Interest Rates
  1. Inflation has returned strongly in 2022 after a long period of stability. Many businesses and investors were caught off guard as they hadn't adjusted their strategies for high inflation.
  2. Rising inflation is leading to higher interest rates, which can impact the economy and market investments. This has caused a shift in investor behavior, making them more cautious.
  3. Higher inflation also makes the future of economic growth uncertain. Investors are nervous, and their outlook on the economy has worsened, affecting their investment decisions.

LLMs Fight With Both Hands Tied Behind Their Back

Am I Stronger Yet? • 313 implied HN points • 27 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Programming Machine Learning Software Development Data science
  1. Large Language Models (LLMs) like o3 are becoming better at solving complex math and coding problems, showing impressive performance compared to human competitors. They can tackle hard tasks with many attempts, which is different from how humans might solve them.
  2. Despite their advances, LLMs struggle with tasks that require visual reasoning or creativity. They often fail to understand spatial relationships in images because they process information in a linear way, making it hard to work with visual puzzles.
  3. LLMs rely heavily on knowledge in their 'heads' and do not have access to real-world knowledge. When they gain access to more external tools, their performance could improve significantly, potentially changing how they solve various problems.

OpenClaw & The Lobster Trap: Why the First Real AI Assistant is Also the Most Dangerous

Divinations • 8 implied HN points • 27 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Software Hardware Open Source Privacy Autonomy AI Security
  1. A new class of AI agents can act autonomously on your machine, managing email, calendars, and multi-step workflows by keeping persistent personal memory and exercising deep system access.
  2. That deep local access creates serious security and identity risks: the agent can act as you, enable data exfiltration or ransomware, and become an uncontrolled enterprise risk if deployed widely.
  3. The project’s open-source virality shows huge demand for personal AI agency and will push larger companies to build safer, polished versions, but the current system is a powerful prototype, not a consumer-ready product.

On the FLI AI-Risk Open Letter

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1523 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Regulation Ethics Political Response Risk Assessment
  1. The FLI AI-Risk Open Letter calls for a pause in training AI systems more powerful than GPT-4, sparking mixed reactions.
  2. The letter combines short-term concerns with existential risks, suggesting high standards that might act as a de facto ban on AI development.
  3. Despite its flaws, the letter sets the stage for cooperation and lays the groundwork for future discussions around AI safety and regulation.

Hidden Trap Of Convertible Note and Liquidation Preference Multiples | Marc Andreessen On Risk-Cash Relation | VC Remote Jobs & More

Venture Curator • 179 implied HN points • 13 Nov 23
💼 Business Finance Entrepreneurship Venture Capital Startups Investing
  1. One should be aware of the hidden traps of convertible notes and liquidation preference multiples, especially in funding rounds.
  2. Founder should keep the liquidation preference multiples in check to prevent undesired outcomes for themselves.
  3. To tackle the impact of multiple liquidation preferences, founders can consider issuing sub-series of preferred stock for protection.

Functioning without function

antoniomelonio • 110 implied HN points • 15 Jul 25
📖 Philosophy Identity Existentialism Purpose Technology Society
  1. People often define themselves by their jobs, but the idea of having a job is changing. As roles disappear, we may struggle to answer the question, 'What do you do?'
  2. Without clear roles, we might feel bored and lost, needing something to strive for and find purpose in. This could lead us to focus more on relationships and personal connections.
  3. As technology takes over tasks, we might wonder about our significance and what we contribute to society. We may shift from job-based identities to being better partners, friends, and family members.

All content should flow toward newsletter signups

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 349 implied HN points • 19 Nov 24
💼 Business Finance Media Entrepreneurship Marketing E-commerce
  1. Good content should always encourage people to sign up for newsletters. This helps creators grow their audience and make money.
  2. You can succeed on platforms like Substack even if you start with no followers. Many people have built their subscriber base from scratch.
  3. Partnerships can help you grow faster. Teaming up with established brands can lead to more visibility and subscribers.

Will Kuroda Blink This Week?

Japan Economy Watch • 399 implied HN points • 14 Jan 23
💰 Finance Currency Exchange Market Analysis Economy Interest Rates Inflation
  1. The Bank of Japan is facing pressure to raise interest rates as the market challenges its efforts to keep rates down.
  2. Despite spending 5% of GDP on purchasing government bonds, the BOJ's attempts to control rates have not been successful.
  3. The future moves of the Bank of Japan will likely affect the yen's value, impacting inflation, trade competitiveness, and overall economic well-being of Japan.

Welcome to the BTB DeFi Substack

DeFi Education • 1798 implied HN points • 15 Jun 21
🔮 Crypto Education Technology DeFi Investing Finance
  1. A team is dedicated to DeFi because many people are interested in it. They are starting with a free Substack that will later become paid.
  2. Subscribers will get examples of paid posts first. This way, they can decide if they want to invest based on the information provided.
  3. The DeFi substack offers in-depth analysis of DeFi coins to help people make informed investment decisions, even if the team isn't investing in specific projects.

The New Attention Economy

Litverse • 339 implied HN points • 05 Dec 22
🕹 Technology Attention Economy Digital Experiences Gaming Engagement Content creation
  1. The attention economy values depth over delirium, where engagement is meaningful and users seek what truly captures their attention in a world of digital distractions.
  2. Gamification, common in digital experiences, works by offering rewards and notifications to keep users engaged, but as it becomes ubiquitous, users are becoming desensitized to its effects.
  3. Products like Elden Ring and Substack focus on providing deep engagement, free from constant notifications and gamified distractions, offering users the opportunity to truly immerse themselves in the experience.

Infographics: Intraday Repo Market Flows

Concoda • 286 implied HN points • 06 Jan 25
💰 Finance Economic Trends Investment Strategies Market Analysis Banking Financial Instruments
  1. The intraday repo market shows how cash moves between banks and institutions. It's important because it helps maintain stability in the financial system.
  2. Visual infographics can help people understand complex market flows clearly. They make the data accessible and engaging for everyone.
  3. Tracking daily repo market timings is useful for understanding financial trends. It allows investors to make informed decisions based on current market conditions.

CISA - Secure Software Development Attestation Final Form

Resilient Cyber • 79 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Regulatory Compliance Cybersecurity Software Development Government Policy
  1. CISA has released a final form for secure software development that vendors need to follow to sell software to the Federal government. This means companies must prove their software is developed with important security practices.
  2. The attestation form applies to software developed or significantly changed after September 14, 2022, making it crucial for many vendors. This rule covers popular Software as a Service (SaaS) products as well.
  3. Not all software is included; for example, software created directly by Federal agencies and open-source software is exempt. This leaves some gaps in security measures that need attention, especially for software that might still pose risks.

A Game of Thoughts

the shimmering void • 93 implied HN points • 02 Aug 25
📖 Philosophy Community Creativity Imagination Collaboration Self-awareness
  1. Good thinking is like playing a game where you choose the right moves at the right time. Understanding these patterns can help you think more creatively.
  2. Collaborating with others in creativity is important. You need to be aware of your own feelings and those of your teammates to work well together.
  3. Your environment and connections with others greatly affect your creativity. Being part of a community helps your mind stay inspired and productive.

Facebook (Meta) Lesson 2: Accounting Inconsistencies and Consequences

Musings on Markets • 619 implied HN points • 10 Nov 22
💼 Business Finance Accounting Valuation Corporate Governance Investing
  1. Accounting mistakes can misclassify expenses, affecting a company's reported profits and overall valuation. When money is wrongly categorized, it can look like a company is performing worse than it actually is.
  2. Correctly categorizing expenses like R&D can show a company’s true financial health. For example, treating R&D as a capital expense can increase reported profits and the value of the company.
  3. Understanding these accounting practices is important for investors. If investors misjudge a company due to these accounting errors, it may lead to undervaluation, making the company look cheaper than it really is.

The Future of Autonomous Weapons Systems

The Future of Life • 19 implied HN points • 07 Jul 24
🕹 Technology AI Systems Defense Tech Cyber Warfare Military Strategy Autonomous Vehicles
  1. Autonomous weapons systems are rapidly developing, especially after the Russia-Ukraine war, with countries learning from real battlefield experiences. Bigger nations like the US and China may soon engage in a 'drone wars' cold war using these technologies.
  2. There are phases of evolution for these systems. It starts with semi-autonomous units, progresses to more independent operations, and eventually leads to fully integrated battle networks where AI makes most tactical decisions.
  3. By 2030, the use of autonomous weapons will be widespread, making human combatants less effective on the battlefield. New strategies will focus on mass deploying these systems and using advanced AI for decision making.

Facebook's Challenges

In My Tribe • 379 implied HN points • 25 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Social media Content Moderation Advertising
  1. Facebook struggles with content moderation because it has to balance user complaints. If they are too strict or too lenient, someone will be unhappy.
  2. Switching to a subscription model would likely not work well for Facebook since it would lose valuable user data that helps target ads.
  3. Facebook sees TikTok as a competitor and has changed its platform to reach users who want to connect with strangers, which has led to some issues with political content.