The hottest Substack posts right now

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Questions VCs Will Ask You! | Positioning Your Startup is Vital, How To Do It? | VC Remote Jobs and More

Venture Curator • 179 implied HN points • 09 Oct 23
💼 Business Startups Venture Capital Entrepreneurship Investing Marketing
  1. A great team is crucial for a startup's success, and investors will ask questions to understand how the team came together, their motivations, and any key gaps that need to be filled.
  2. When pitching to investors, be prepared to explain your product clearly, its target market, the problem it solves, and how it stands out. Investors want to know if customers will seek out and pay for your product.
  3. Investors focus on the market size, growth potential, competition, and go-to-market strategy when evaluating startups. Having a clear positioning statement and understanding your market's total addressable market are key.

What is a Mutual Fund?

Concepts of Finance 🧠 • 339 implied HN points • 03 May 23
💰 Finance Economic Trends Financial Education Portfolio Management Mutual Funds Investing
  1. A mutual fund combines money from many people to invest in things like stocks and bonds. This way, even if one investment doesn't do well, everyone shares the impact, reducing risk.
  2. There are different types of mutual funds, like equity funds for stocks and bond funds for fixed income. Each type focuses on different investments to suit various goals.
  3. People like mutual funds because they simplify investing. Instead of picking individual stocks, investors can buy a piece of many investments at once and still have the potential for good returns.

China's Deepseek is NOT as smart as ChatGPT-o1

Maximum Truth • 231 implied HN points • 29 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Data Innovation Competitiveness Machine Learning AI
  1. Deepseek performs on par with free AI models but does not reach the intelligence of OpenAI's paid models. It can exceed or match free AIs like Claude and ChatGPT-4o, but falls short against the more advanced paid versions.
  2. When tested with IQ questions only found offline, Deepseek does better than free models but still trails behind OpenAI’s paid models. Its results imply it may have leveraged internet data for online IQ tests, thus affecting its offline performance.
  3. Despite being competitive, the US maintains a lead in AI intelligence. Deepseek shows promise but faces challenges ahead, especially with the restrictions on technology that China experiences.

Revisiting One Last Funny Chart

Erdmann Housing Tracker • 84 implied HN points • 30 Jul 25
💰 Finance Housing Market Monetary Policy Economic Trends Investment Strategies
  1. Low interest rates are often thought to cause high housing prices, but the actual situation is more complicated and involves other factors.
  2. Migration from places like Los Angeles to Phoenix affected housing demand, suggesting that it wasn't just low rates driving the price spikes.
  3. There's debate about how much the increase in debt and risky borrowing contributed to the housing market issues, complicating the traditional narratives about housing crises.
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In the World of AI, What Have Engineers Experienced?

AI Disruption • 39 implied HN points • 07 May 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Tech Companies AI Engineers Silicon Valley
  1. Silicon Valley AI engineers are burnt out due to high workload and constantly changing priorities.
  2. Many tech companies use AI for the sake of using it, focusing on hype rather than real problem-solving.
  3. The rush to release AI products quickly can lead to failures and negative consequences, highlighting a current bubble in the AI industry.

Building the next generation of media brands on Substack

Substack • 593 implied HN points • 10 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Features Branding Publishing Digital Customization Media
  1. Substack has introduced new themes and search options to help creators customize their publications. This means writers can make their sites look different and more engaging.
  2. Improved search features allow readers to find specific content quickly. Now, they can easily search for topics or authors across all posts.
  3. The Bulwark, a successful Substack publication, moved its entire site to Substack to take advantage of these new features and saw a significant increase in subscribers and revenue.

Patagonia, Paul Newman and another kind of purpose

Thoughts on Writing • 519 implied HN points • 23 Sep 22
💼 Business Philanthropy Activism Brand Marketing Purpose
  1. Yvon Chouinard challenges the concept of business and brand purpose, emphasizing the importance of human purpose over corporate ideals.
  2. Paul Newman's approach to philanthropy through Newman's Own showcases a unique blend of humor, humility, and a genuine focus on product quality over profit.
  3. Maintaining a separation between business and charitable activities, like Newman's Own, can lead to successful ventures that have a positive impact, while keeping a light-hearted approach.

Don't Send All 'Your Data To Investors' Too Early In The Process: The Counter-Intuitive Fund-Raising Advice | VC Remote Jobs & More

Venture Curator • 139 implied HN points • 29 Nov 23
💼 Business Venture Capital Investors Jobs Startups Fundraising
  1. Avoid sending all your data to investors early on in the fundraising process, as it can hinder progress.
  2. Getting the first meeting with a VC might not be easy, but follow-up meetings can be harder to secure.
  3. Creating a data room and providing access too soon can lead to a lack of engagement from investors, leading to a failed fundraising process.

Older people consume differently

Klement on Investing • 4 implied HN points • 03 Feb 26
💼 Business Forecasting Consumer Goods Retail Demographics Consumption Healthcare Markets
  1. People buy different things as they age: healthcare and housing spending tends to rise while education, leisure, clothing and transport fall.
  2. The pattern depends on national demographics. Similar population declines can lead to very different sector effects — Japan shows broad declines, China has healthcare holding up while leisure and transport fall sharply, and Singapore mixes increases and declines because it is ageing but still growing.
  3. This shifts the revenue outlook for companies: leisure and clothing retailers face structural declines while healthcare providers and food retailers look more resilient.

Data Science Weekly - Issue 504

Data Science Weekly Newsletter • 239 implied HN points • 21 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Data science Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Data Engineering Data Visualization
  1. AI companies are complicated and must consider many factors like research, funding, and competition. Understanding these can help predict how they might evolve in the future.
  2. Debriefs, or team discussions after projects, can greatly boost team performance. They help everyone learn from experiences and improve future collaboration.
  3. New research shows that specific ingredient pairings in food can be explained by flavor networks. This indicates there are universal patterns in how different foods complement each other.

How Leaders Can Make the Open Door Policy, Inclusive

Thinking Through • 750 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
💼 Business Psychological safety Leadership Diversity Inclusion Teamwork
  1. Two things must be true for someone to take advantage of an open-door policy: self-confidence and psychological safety.
  2. Psychological safety in a team means feeling okay to take risks, express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences.
  3. To build a psychologically safe environment, leaders can practice candidness, sharing mistakes, inclusive language, encouraging team input, and teaching team members to grow.

From Google Blogger to Substack: Coming Soon!

Musings on Markets • 899 implied HN points • 25 Mar 22
💼 Business Blogging Finance Investing Economics Publishing
  1. The author started blogging in 2008 and has written over 600 posts on finance topics since then. This blogging experience has helped him rethink his views and develop new ideas.
  2. He is moving his blog from Google Blogger to Substack because it allows him to easily transfer his old posts and offers a better format for readers.
  3. Both platforms will continue to host his posts, and he encourages readers to choose between them while assuring that the experience will remain similar.

The robotics company working with OpenAI to eat every warehouse worker's lunch

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 651 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Competition Robotics Artificial Intelligence Automation Investment
  1. Brett Adcock's humanoid robot company aims to replace human workers in warehouses with subscription-based robots that can work 20 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  2. Figure AI collaborates with OpenAI to combine robotics and AI, aiming to create 'embodied AI' by leveraging OpenAI's strengths in language models and Figure's expertise in robotics.
  3. Adcock positions Figure AI to compete with Elon Musk's humanoid robotics effort 'Optimus' and dismisses other competitors due to limitations in hardware or software capabilities.

Ambiq’s IPO is good fun, and 7 Q2 '25 VC data points

Alex's Personal Blog • 98 implied HN points • 08 Jul 25
💼 Business IPO Venture Capital Startups Market Trends Tech industry
  1. Ambiq is going public earlier than usual, which is exciting. They make chips for AI devices, and by leaving China, they are boosting their profits.
  2. Core Scientific's shareholders are unhappy about a deal with CoreWeave because the deal is risky. If CoreWeave's stock drops before the deal closes, it could be worth less than expected.
  3. In Q2 2025, US startups saw a lot of investment, especially in AI. Early-stage startup valuations are at record highs, showing a strong interest in new ventures.

On OpenAI Dev Day

Don't Worry About the Vase • 851 implied HN points • 09 Nov 23
🕹 Technology GPT-4 AI
  1. GPT-4 Turbo brings big improvements like knowledge up to April 2023 and cheaper prices.
  2. Function calling updates allow multiple functions in one message, improving accuracy.
  3. New modalities like GPT-4 with vision and DALL·E 3 offer exciting possibilities for developers.

Orange peels, human tests, and LLMs

The Counterfactual • 139 implied HN points • 28 Nov 23
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Research Cognition Benchmarking
  1. It's tricky to know what Large Language Models (LLMs) can really do. Figuring out how to measure their skills, like reasoning, is more complicated than it seems.
  2. Using tests designed for humans might not always work for LLMs. Just because a test is good for people doesn't mean it measures the same things for AI.
  3. We need to look deeper into how LLMs solve tasks, not just focus on their test scores. Understanding their inner workings could help us assess their true capabilities better.

Your AI strategy is a waste of time

Generating Conversation • 303 implied HN points • 21 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Digital Transformation Innovation AI Tools Tech Strategy Enterprise AI
  1. AI strategies are often unhelpful because things change so quickly. It's better to focus on just using more AI instead of getting stuck in endless planning.
  2. Experts in each department should choose the AI tools they need, rather than leaving it up to a central committee. This way, the people closest to the work can make the best decisions.
  3. Not every AI tool will work perfectly right away, and that's okay. Being open to trying different tools will help teams learn and improve their choices over time.

You Forgot One, Ben Franklin

Fireside Chat Logs • 79 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Personal Projects Industry insights Gaming Job search Skill development
  1. Layoffs are a common experience in the games industry, and it's important to be prepared for them.
  2. During a period of unemployment, focus on updating resumes, exploring benefits, networking, and pursuing personal projects.
  3. Embracing creativity by working on passion projects like developing games can be a fulfilling endeavor during challenging times.

Spotlight: Noemie Alliel – Managing Director @ Starburst

Space Ambition • 219 implied HN points • 30 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Startups Aerospace Innovation Consulting Investing
  1. Starburst Aerospace runs accelerator programs to help startups connect with large companies and secure funding. These programs provide valuable services and expertise to entrepreneurs without requiring direct investment.
  2. Successful startups often need a strong team and a well-researched idea, along with the ability to communicate their vision clearly. Investors look for uniqueness, innovation, and a solid understanding of the market.
  3. Emerging trends in the space industry include remote sensing, in-space manufacturing, and food production in space. These areas hold potential for significant growth and investment opportunities.

Why Did the Tesla Board Attempt to 'Ratify' Musk's Obscene Options Package Instead of Granting a New One?

lawrence’s Substack • 36 HN points • 13 May 24
💼 Business Tax Corporate Governance Finance Law Compensation
  1. The Tesla board attempted to 'ratify' Musk's 2018 options package instead of granting a new one due to legal challenges and potential losses for the company.
  2. Creating a new stock options grant for Musk would lead to massive expenses for Tesla and put the company in financial jeopardy.
  3. Musk does not want a new package as the prospects for Tesla's stock price growth have diminished, making a new reward less appealing, and also resulting in potential tax issues for him.

How Banks (Zeros) Make Money

DeFi Education • 899 implied HN points • 12 Apr 22
💰 Finance Investments Banking Cryptocurrency Regulation Asset management Revenue streams
  1. Banks make money by accepting deposits and giving loans. They charge fees for services like managing assets and processing transactions.
  2. Decentralized finance (DeFi) is changing how finance works, allowing people to cut out banks and manage their money directly. This means banks might lose some of their income.
  3. Crypto and other digital methods are making it easier for people to manage their money and investments without needing traditional banks. This could change the banking industry a lot in the future.

Alternative Assets Explained

Concepts of Finance 🧠 • 279 implied HN points • 22 Jun 23
💰 Finance Financial Education Assets Investing Wealth Management Market Trends
  1. Alternative assets are investments that aren't traditional stocks or bonds. They can include things like real estate, collectibles, and even parking lots, giving you many options to consider.
  2. Many people think only the rich can invest in alternative assets, but that's not true. There are plenty of investment opportunities available for regular investors too.
  3. Investing in alternative assets can be risky, but it also offers a chance to diversify and potentially earn good returns. It's important to research and understand what you're getting into.

Why It's Time To Channel Your Inner 5-Year-Old

Surfing the Future • 59 implied HN points • 27 Mar 24
💼 Business Events Entrepreneurship Innovation Leadership Networking
  1. Revisit your childhood curiosity - Keep asking 'why?' like a 5-year-old to drive deep change.
  2. Explore new environments - Travel to different places and meet people with diverse perspectives to spark fresh ideas.
  3. Embrace innovative thinking - Take time to rethink and approach things from a new perspective every year to spur creativity.

7 proven mental models for engineering managers

Leading Developers • 218 implied HN points • 04 Feb 25
💼 Business Team Dynamics Decision-making Leadership Productivity Management
  1. Use mental models to help make better decisions as a manager. They can guide you to avoid mistakes and think more clearly.
  2. Consider the opposite of what you want to achieve. This helps in identifying what to avoid and improves decision-making.
  3. Always think about the long-term effects of your choices. It's important to consider not just what happens now, but what could happen later.

Google, Amazon, and Booking: anti-monopoly gathers pace

The Counterbalance • 176 implied HN points • 10 Oct 23
💼 Business Market Power Regulation Antitrust Monopoly
  1. Regulators are taking more action against tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Booking to prevent monopolistic behavior.
  2. The European Commission blocked Booking's acquisition of eTraveli, highlighting concerns about increasing dominance and its impact on competition.
  3. Antitrust cases are evolving to focus on broader systemic power issues within ecosystems, challenging traditional narrow views of harm in mergers.

Decoding Sequoia Capital: How Do They Dominate the VC Landscape?

Venture Curator • 199 implied HN points • 12 Jun 23
💼 Business Financial Strategies Startup Venture Capital Investing Entrepreneurship
  1. Sequoia Capital is a powerhouse in the VC landscape, known for remarkable strategies that have led to unprecedented success.
  2. Sequoia has an impressive track record of investing in one in five private unicorns globally, with a focus on disruptive products and founders with technical knowledge.
  3. Key figures at Sequoia, like Don Valentine and Doug Leone, have distinct investment philosophies highlighting the importance of market potential, strong founding teams, and learning from failures.

Data Science Weekly - Issue 493

Data Science Weekly Newsletter • 319 implied HN points • 05 May 23
🕹 Technology Engineering Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Data science Data Visualization
  1. Data scientists often lack key skills needed for the job, which can be frustrating for those hiring. It's important for data scientists to continually improve their skills and adapt to job requirements.
  2. There's a significant increase in data downtime and resolution times, signaling that overall data quality management needs improvement. Companies should focus on better data practices to enhance their operations.
  3. New programming languages, like Mojo, are emerging that aim to simplify coding and enhance user experience. These advancements can make programming more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

Why Do VC Firms Want an Option Pool Before the VC Round? | Lessons from the Dot-Com Era for Generative AI Hype| How Startups Use VC Funds to Invest in Other Startups? | VC Remote Jobs and More

Venture Curator • 179 implied HN points • 15 Sep 23
💼 Business Tech Trends Venture Capital Startup funding Investment Strategies Remote work
  1. VC firms prefer having an option pool before the funding round to ensure proper allocation of shares and ownership percentages among founders, investors, and future employees.
  2. Lessons from the Dot-Com era suggest parallels with the current Generative AI hype, highlighting potential trends in commoditization, emergence of innovative disruptors, and advice for startups to focus on long-term goals.
  3. Startups often reinvest VC funds into other startups, showcasing a trend seen during peak market craziness, where companies like Stripe and Coinbase made significant investments.

Looking at the Datastructures- Trees [Math Mondays]

Technology Made Simple • 179 implied HN points • 18 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Recursion Data Structures Software Engineering Machine Learning AI
  1. Trees are powerful data structures that are great for efficient organization and retrieval of data in software engineering.
  2. Recursion works well with trees due to their recursive substructure, making implementation of recursive functions easier.
  3. Decision trees in AI excel at discerning complex patterns, providing interpretable results, and are versatile in various domains such as finance, healthcare, and marketing.

Space Advantages for Electronics Production: Microgravity & Extreme Temperatures & Vacuum

Space Ambition • 179 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23
🕹 Technology AI Semiconductors Manufacturing Electronics Space Tech
  1. Space offers unique conditions like microgravity and extreme temperatures that can help create better electronic materials. This can lead to higher purity materials and improved processes that are hard to achieve on Earth.
  2. The cost of launching materials into space has decreased significantly, making space manufacturing more accessible. New startups are emerging to support in-space production, which enhances the potential for innovations in microelectronics.
  3. To truly benefit from manufacturing in space, the economics need to prove that it's cheaper than Earth-based production. First, companies will focus on small-scale projects that can show clear advantages before scaling up.

Ruby Thelot: A Eulogy for Checkpoints

Do Not Research • 179 implied HN points • 11 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Community Building Internet History Digital Infrastructure Social media
  1. Checkpoints on YouTube started as a digital behavior in the comment section, reflecting user openness and vulnerability.
  2. YouTube comments section acts as a digital 'third place,' where users share semi-anonymously, similar to ancient city walls used for writing.
  3. Checkpoint stories highlight the importance of considering the fragility of digital infrastructures and the need for community memory preservation.

The Babe Ruth Effect in Venture Capital | When To Prioritize Growth Over Profitability? | VC Remote Jobs and More

Venture Curator • 179 implied HN points • 22 Sep 23
💼 Business Investing Remote Jobs Funding Venture Capital Startups
  1. The concept of the 'Babe Ruth Effect' in venture capital explains the importance of evaluating investments based on expected value analysis to achieve superior performance
  2. Deciding between prioritizing profitability or growth in startups depends on factors like market dynamics, access to funding, and business model, and it's crucial to understand where to focus at an early stage
  3. Successful venture capital funds exhibit a 'Babe Ruth Effect' by having more 'home run' investments of greater magnitude, even though they may also have a higher percentage of investments that lose money

What's Better Than Product Market Fit (PMF)? It's Product Market Distribution Fit (PMDF) | Tips For Negotiating Valuation With Investors | VC Remote Jobs and More

Venture Curator • 179 implied HN points • 25 Sep 23
💼 Business Startups Remote Jobs Investors Negotiation Venture Capital
  1. Achieving Product Market Distribution Fit (PMDF) is crucial for startup success, not just Product Market Fit (PMF). Channel selection plays a vital role in reaching target customers.
  2. Early investment in sales and marketing can lead to better business outcomes than solely focusing on product quality.
  3. Efficient distribution channels are essential for startup growth; understanding Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Lifetime Value (LTV) ratio is key in achieving success.

For WIRED: Google's relentless search for answers

escape the algorithm • 179 implied HN points • 02 Aug 23
🕹 Technology AI Search Engine Internet
  1. Web crawling and search engines do not provide a comprehensive view of the internet, just like a travel itinerary may not cover all destinations
  2. Technology products can be seen as either Physicians, condensing information for quick answers, or Librarians, guiding towards deeper context and exploration
  3. Google's evolution shows a shift towards prioritizing the answer over just providing links, moving towards a more 'Physician' approach

The Analytics Requirements Document

Sarah's Newsletter • 359 implied HN points • 27 Oct 22
💼 Business Analytics Team Collaboration Data Management Contracts Product Launch
  1. Analytics should be a first-class citizen in crafting product launches to avoid wasted time and ensure measurable success.
  2. Utilize detailed agreements like Product Requirements Documents (PRD) and Analytics Requirements Documents (ARD) to align teams, outline goals, data criteria, assumptions, and finalize expectations.
  3. Involving analytics early in the product evolution lifecycle is crucial for gathering and analyzing data effectively, helping in decision-making, and ensuring alignment across technical and business teams.