The hottest Substack posts right now

according to Hacker News
Category
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Japan Reality Check #5: Are start-ups and VC a good investment in Japan?

Japan Optimist • 176 implied HN points • 25 Mar 23
💼 Business Investing Venture Capital Start-ups Economic Policy Entrepreneurship
  1. Japan's start-ups and venture capital outperform global peers with a 18% net IRR per year in the decade before COVID.
  2. Japan's venture capital ecosystem attracts top talent and continues to grow, showing a 7% outperformance over TOPIX.
  3. Japan's government actively supports entrepreneurship and innovation, aiming to create '100 Unicorns by 2027' through public-private partnerships and deregulation.

✨ Constellation Software - Rolling Up Vertical Market Software

Overlooked by Alexandre Dewez • 176 implied HN points • 13 Mar 23
💼 Business Management Acquisitions Culture Data-driven
  1. Constellation Software is a Canadian company that has achieved success by acquiring vertical market software businesses
  2. The key ingredients behind Constellation Software's success include a decentralized culture, disciplined M&A strategies, and strong fundamentals in the businesses they acquire
  3. Vertical Market Software businesses have strong fundamentals, are mission-critical, face low competition, and are capital-efficient

The Lifecycle of an Edtech Company - Part 1

system bashing • 176 implied HN points • 20 Jul 23
💼 Business Finance Startup EdTech
  1. Starting small and doing what you love can lead to building a strong community and following.
  2. As a business grows, the transition from a passionate creator to a structured company can bring challenges in managing relationships and revenue.
  3. Scaling a startup involves evolving into a company with defined roles, managing financial aspects, and adapting to market demands.

Are AI systems conscious? I interviewed Rob Long, a philosopher studying digital minds, to find out

muddyclothes • 176 implied HN points • 27 Apr 23
🕹 Technology AI training Language Models AI Ethics
  1. Rob Long is a philosopher studying digital minds, focusing on consciousness, sentience, and desires in AI systems.
  2. Consciousness and sentience are different; consciousness involves subjective experiences, while sentience often relates to pain and pleasure.
  3. Scientists study consciousness in humans to understand it; empirical testing in animals and AI systems is challenging without direct self-reports.

A New Era in Energy Technology

Startup Pirate by Alex Alexakis • 176 implied HN points • 23 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Renewables Energy Startups Innovation AI
  1. Europe is transitioning to clean energy to combat high electricity prices, energy dependence, and climate goals.
  2. Renewable energy advancements like solar power and batteries are facilitating economic growth and decarbonization.
  3. Innovations in energy technology, like AI-powered platforms and green hydrogen compressors, are reshaping the industry towards sustainability and efficiency.

Of Napoleon and Kafka: A (Brief) Genealogy of Power, Part Three

Earthly Fortunes • 176 implied HN points • 20 May 23
🕹 Technology Bureaucracy Software Organization Productivity Hierarchy
  1. In the past, power shifted from the church to civil services during the Industrial and French Revolutions.
  2. Napoleon revolutionized modern warfare and governance by implementing structured hierarchies, rules, and specialist roles.
  3. Software companies today mirror bureaucratic structures with defined hierarchies, rules, and organizational processes.

Epistemology and Synthetic Market Design: Examples from Ecosystem Services

Knowledge Problem • 176 implied HN points • 30 Jun 23
📖 Philosophy Epistemology Market design Institutions Policy
  1. Some of the most illuminating work in market design has been in payment for ecosystem services (PES).
  2. Synthetic markets and deliberate institutional design are criticized for being epistemic and teleological.
  3. Testing is essential in synthetic market design to understand how people respond to incentives in different institutional frameworks.

Where the stores are

Tabletops • 176 implied HN points • 08 May 23
🕹 Technology History Architecture Events Retail
  1. A glimpse into the nostalgic past of Apple store openings in malls.
  2. Interesting details about the first Apple store locations and connections to other brands.
  3. Apple's recent event at the Tower Theatre showcased the blend of classical music and technology.

Links for 2024-01-20

Axis of Ordinary • 98 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Ukraine AI Science Politics
  1. Self-rewarding language models could lead to superhuman feedback in AI.
  2. New advancements in science and technology include brain implants for high-resolution brain activity monitoring.
  3. Recent events in Ukraine show increasing tensions and technological developments in warfare.

The Four Anxieties of Engineering Leaders

Maestro's Musings • 140 implied HN points • 02 May 25
💼 Business Engineering Metrics Leadership Management Productivity
  1. Engineering leaders worry about losing top performers to burnout. These key team members are crucial, and their departure can hurt projects and team morale.
  2. There's a constant push and pull between achieving exceptional results and maintaining a healthy team culture. Leaders need to find a balance that works for everyone on the team.
  3. Most current metrics used to measure engineering success are flawed. They focus on activities rather than real impact, making it hard for leaders to see what's truly happening in their teams.

Data Update 7 for 2023: Dividends, Buybacks and Cash flows

Musings on Markets • 359 implied HN points • 08 Mar 23
💰 Finance Investment Strategies Corporate Finance Market Trends Dividend Policy Cash Management
  1. Buybacks are becoming more common than dividends for companies to return cash to shareholders. Companies find buybacks more flexible and less of a commitment than regular dividend payments.
  2. Dividends should be one of the last steps in a company's financial decisions. If a company has no good investments, it should consider paying dividends or buybacks as a way to return cash to owners.
  3. There are tax differences between dividends and buybacks that may influence shareholder preferences. Although dividends used to be taxed more heavily, the gap has narrowed in recent years.

Our Private Practice Thesis

99% Derisible • 98 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
💼 Business Startups
  1. The post discusses a thesis on reinvigorating private practice for startups.
  2. A more detailed presentation of the private practice thesis is available in the form of a deck.
  3. The author encourages those interested to check out the deck for further information.

Shrinking Hierarchy

David Friedman’s Substack • 224 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
💼 Business Innovation Economics Entrepreneurship Remote work
  1. Agoric institutions are where most people are self-employed and work together more like a community of entrepreneurs. This helps reduce reliance on traditional companies.
  2. Technological advancements are making it easier for individuals to create and share their work without the need for companies, like self-publishing or AI helping in content creation.
  3. As technology improves, it reduces costs and complexities of doing business. This means more people could work independently in the future, even if big companies still exist.

Should You Build a Custom Data Orchestration System? Here’s What to Consider

SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter • 317 implied HN points • 23 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Automation Software Development Data Engineering System Architecture
  1. Building your own data orchestration system can lead to many challenges, like handling dependencies and scheduling tasks correctly. It's important to think if it's really necessary or if existing tools will work better.
  2. A custom orchestrator needs to manage various functions like logging, alerting, and integrating with other tools. Without proper features, it can become complex and hard to maintain.
  3. Before you decide to create your own solution, consider what makes it different and better than what's already available. Make sure to also think about how you’ll get people to use your new system.

Transhumanism: Toward a Futurist Philosophy

Extropic Thoughts • 117 implied HN points • 23 Dec 23
📖 Philosophy Humanism Religion Meaning Transhumanism Nihilism
  1. Transhumanism is a philosophy focusing on improving humanity through technology and science.
  2. This essay discusses the origins and persistence of religion, contrasting it with the dynamic optimism of transhumanism.
  3. Dynamic optimism of extropian transhumanism promotes continuous growth and progress, contrasting with the stagnation and resignation often encouraged by religion.

Net Interest 2025 Year in Review

Net Interest • 12 implied HN points • 26 Dec 25
💰 Finance Investing Capital Markets Regulation Crypto Payments Fintech Private Markets
  1. AI soaked up massive capital and is reshaping finance. Hyperscalers spent hundreds of billions on data centers, and AI is changing equity research and powering new payments and agent-driven sales.
  2. Private markets are growing into the role once held by public markets, with private equity and credit expanding rapidly but raising valuation and liquidity concerns. Some private valuations look stretched and could create coordination risks if sentiment shifts.
  3. Retail investors and fintech are changing market structure while crypto infrastructure advances. Retail trading share has risen and firms like Robinhood gained influence as stablecoins and tokenization grew under looser regulation.

Five Lessons From Building AI Developer Tools

Kathy PM • 15 implied HN points • 22 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Artificial Intelligence User Experience Product Design Developer Tools
  1. AI shifts complexity rather than removing it. The mess moves from configs and docs into prompts, retries, and opaque layers, so teams must decide where to contain it.
  2. Developers want AI that manages itself quietly in the background. They don’t want to babysit agents, re-run tasks, or constantly context-switch between new dashboards and chats.
  3. Trust and integration matter more than flashy features. Predictability, consistency, and small reliable automations inside editors and pipelines make work lighter and let developers feel in control.

Defending Open Source AI Against the Monopolist, the Jingoist, the Doomer and the Idiot

Future History • 200 implied HN points • 19 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Economics Policy Innovation AI Open Source
  1. Open source software, like Linux, is crucial for innovation and economic growth. If it were starting today, too many restrictions could hurt its potential.
  2. Different groups, like monopolists and jingoists, try to control technology by spreading fear or misinformation. This can lead to laws that stifle competition and creativity.
  3. It's important to support open source AI to encourage fairness and competition. When more people can innovate, technology can improve everyone's lives.

Nebius Part 2: Cash, Optionalities, Challenges

Interconnected • 200 implied HN points • 17 Feb 25
💼 Business AI Market Trends Technology Startups Investment
  1. Nebius has a strong cash position with around $3 billion and no debt, which helps it stand out in the competitive AI market. This cash allows the company to potentially grow without heavy financial pressure.
  2. The company's various assets, like Toloka and Avride, provide unique opportunities that could enhance Nebius's offerings and market position. Keeping some of these assets might lead to greater strategic advantages.
  3. Nebius faces challenges in a crowded market, especially in understanding how to best utilize its subsidiaries and in competing against larger cloud service providers. Its future success will depend on careful geographic and strategic planning.

Best layoffs of the year

SuperJoost Playlist • 158 implied HN points • 22 Nov 23
💼 Business E-commerce Blockchain Layoffs AI Gaming
  1. Widespread job cuts for short-term profits can hurt innovation and diversity in industries.
  2. Reducing costs through layoffs can improve profitability in the short term, but may harm long-term innovation and diversity.
  3. Layoffs in the gaming industry can hinder new talent entry, reduce diversity, and push innovation to smaller, riskier firms.

In AI we trust, part II

Adam's Legal Newsletter • 22 HN points • 16 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Innovation Ethics Judiciary Legal AI
  1. AI can adjudicate complex legal cases with impressive accuracy and efficiency, demonstrating a capacity to act as a Supreme Court Justice or law clerk.
  2. AI like Claude can generate creative legal solutions, identify errors in expert testimony, and propose novel legal standards effectively.
  3. The future of AI in the legal industry is promising, as demonstrated by Claude's ability to produce high-quality work at a rapid pace and its potential for further improvement with more training.

CEO of Gig-work Surveillance Firm Resigns

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 752 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
💼 Business Finance Legal Leadership Surveillance Tech
  1. CEO of Gig-work Surveillance Firm, Maury Blackman, resigned after years of court battles and exposure of clandestine surveillance.
  2. Premise Data, an analogue of Uber for data-gathering, faced revenue stagnation despite investments and high-profile board members.
  3. Blackman's resignation led to Matt McNabb taking over as CEO, revealing a history of controversial events and legal issues within Premise.

Is the Data Orchestration category going away?

The Orchestra Data Leadership Newsletter • 39 implied HN points • 04 May 24
🕹 Technology Data Orchestration Management Control Infrastructure Software
  1. Data Teams still prefer classic open source tools over workflow orchestration functionality on Data and AI platforms.
  2. The Data Orchestration category might be fading as orchestration becomes embedded in other platforms and pricing becomes a concern.
  3. A robust system of control and management for data and AI pipelines is vital, encompassing aspects like alerting, lineage, metadata, infrastructure, and multi-tenancy support.

How to avoid the Migration Trap | Bruce Wang - Director of Engineering at Netflix

platocommunity • 98 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Innovation Engineering
  1. Successful technology migrations require thorough planning, dedicated resources, and strategic funding to avoid falling into the "Migration Trap."
  2. Proving significant value in a migration is essential - the new system must offer transformative benefits that the old system couldn't achieve to justify the effort and resources required for the migration.
  3. Maintaining a learning mindset throughout the migration process is crucial; being open to challenges, re-evaluating assumptions, and being willing to abandon the migration if it doesn't serve its intended purpose can lead to better outcomes.

Programmer Collaboration Styles

Rethinking Software • 299 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Remote work Agile practices Open Source Collaboration Software Development
  1. There are two main collaboration styles for programmers: individual stewardship and shared stewardship. Individual stewardship focuses on one person having full control, while shared stewardship means the whole team collaborates closely.
  2. Individual stewardship can lead to high-quality results because it allows for deep focus and mastery, but it might create knowledge silos. Shared stewardship promotes teamwork and knowledge sharing but may lead to average results due to differing skill levels.
  3. The right collaboration style can depend on the work being done. Tasks needing specialized skills might work better with individual stewardship, while general tasks benefit from shared stewardship and constant communication.

The End of Typing?

Workforce Futurist by Andy Spence • 293 implied HN points • 20 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Automation Training AI Workplace Communication
  1. Voice AI is changing how we work by making it easier to interact with technology using natural speech. This means less typing and more talking, similar to how we chat in real life.
  2. There are great uses for voice AI at work, like in training for customer service and leadership. It helps people practice important conversations in safe environments, leading to better performance.
  3. Implementing voice AI takes effort and thought. Companies need to find ways to use it effectively while also considering privacy and ethical issues. It’s about fitting the right tool to the right job.

CPI 3.1%

Points And Figures • 666 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
💰 Finance Markets Economics Policy Investing Inflation
  1. Inflation might be higher than reported due to isolated evidence like price increases in certain sectors.
  2. The government's policies are putting strong inflationary pressure on the economy, impacting various sectors and housing market.
  3. Business news sources may have biases and push narratives, so it's important to seek objective insights for informed decisions.