The hottest Substack posts right now

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How writers, podcasters, and creators are building real communities on Substack

Substack • 409 implied HN points • 02 May 24
💼 Business Digital Platforms Content creation Community Building Entrepreneurship Marketing
  1. Using chat features on Substack helps writers attract more subscribers. When creators use chat, they often see 10% more subscribers at launch.
  2. Paywalled chat conversations can significantly boost paid subscriptions. Writers who have these chats are growing their revenue twice as fast as those without.
  3. Regular chat participation keeps subscribers engaged. Creators with ongoing chats are 12% more likely to retain their paid readers.

Hertz And EV's

Points And Figures • 532 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
💼 Business Operational Efficiency Industry Impact Cost Analysis Electric Vehicles
  1. Hertz is selling off their 20,000 EVs due to operational challenges and inefficiencies in the EV business.
  2. Tesla is highlighted as the top choice for EVs with the best range, features, and price.
  3. The real issue with EVs isn't the vehicles themselves but rather the government subsidies and operational complexities, such as charging and maintenance, that impact rental car companies like Hertz.

The question of socialism posed inescapably in the final moment of the human economy

Philosophy bear • 178 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
📖 Philosophy Social Philosophy Futurism Political theory Ethics
  1. If AI becomes capable of doing all jobs, humans may only be consumers and possibly owners of capital. This raises questions about the need for human ownership in a fully automated economy.
  2. Arguments for private ownership of productive assets disappear when human labor is no longer relevant. This challenges our traditional views on capitalism and economic roles.
  3. We face a choice between adopting a form of fully automated socialism or continuing an unequal system where a small group owns most resources. Both paths raise important ethical and practical questions.
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Video Game Thoughts Bonus Bag #3

The Bottom Feeder • 484 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Indie games Video Games Game design
  1. Steam Next Fest is a good opportunity for indie game developers to showcase their demos, despite the overcrowded market.
  2. Indie game developers often struggle to come up with completely new game ideas, leading to a trend of mixing and matching existing genres.
  3. The video game industry is facing challenges such as burnout, harsh recession period, and layoffs, impacting both developers and players.

Introducing prediction market embeds for Substack

Substack • 319 implied HN points • 29 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Online Platforms Data Analysis Content creation Prediction Markets Digital Tools
  1. Substack now allows users to embed prediction markets from Polymarket in their posts. This can make articles more engaging by providing real-time data on trending topics.
  2. The new feature is launching just in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics, letting writers easily add betting odds on various events. This could enhance the coverage of the Olympics on Substack.
  3. Polymarket is also starting a news site on Substack called 'The Oracle,' which will give insights and analyses based on active prediction markets. This aims to help readers understand global events better.

What Is SwiGLU? How to Implement It? And Why Does it Work?

Aziz et al. Paper Summaries • 59 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Deep Learning Neural Networks Software Development Machine Learning AI
  1. SwiGLU is a type of activation function used in deep learning. It's a mix of two parts: the Swish function and Gated Linear Units, which helps models learn better patterns.
  2. To implement SwiGLU, you can use a straightforward code in Pytorch that combines linear transformations with the Swish function. This makes it easier for neural networks to handle complex data.
  3. The exact reason why SwiGLU works so well is not fully understood yet. Researchers are still exploring why this approach gives better results in certain models.

Watched pots, petards and black ducks

The Jolly Contrarian • 179 implied HN points • 07 Apr 23
💼 Business Regulation Organizational Structure Crisis Management Banking Risk management
  1. Consider supporting independent content creators financially to help sustain quality content production.
  2. Complex regulations like Basel III can be so convoluted that even regulators may not fully understand the consequences, highlighting potential systemic risks.
  3. Banks need to focus on managing both known and unknown risks, including risks that may not be obvious or mentioned in regulations, to prevent potential disasters like financial crises and organizational failures.

This Week in Marketing: Pinterest vs. Snap, Meta's scam ads, AI Search, and teen safety in 2025

The Social Juice • 22 implied HN points • 09 Nov 25
💼 Business E-commerce Marketing Advertising Media Technology
  1. Pinterest's user growth was strong, but its stock took a big hit due to lower ad revenue from tariffs. It's important for companies to adapt their strategies in response to changing market conditions.
  2. Meta is making a lot of money from scam ads, which raises concerns about trust and integrity in digital advertising. Brands need to be careful about where they invest their marketing dollars.
  3. Discord is focusing on teen safety by introducing new features, showing that companies are becoming more aware of their responsibilities to protect young users online.

Ragnarok Landverse is Coming to Ronin!

Ronin’s Newsletter • 196 implied HN points • 19 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Digital economy Virtual Worlds Blockchain Gaming Industry
  1. Ragnarok Landverse is a new MMORPG coming to Ronin around Q1 2025. It's based on the classic Ragnarok Online and will offer players a fresh gaming experience.
  2. Players can pre-register for the game using their Ronin Wallet. This registration can lead to receiving rewards for participating in the launch.
  3. There is a partnership between Zentry, Maxion, and Gravity that will help build the Landverse ecosystem. This partnership will support a new gaming environment on Ronin.

Enlightenment as a Reality-Aligned Trance State

apxhard • 68 implied HN points • 10 Jul 25
📖 Philosophy Metaphysics Existentialism Consciousness Spirituality Mindfulness
  1. Enlightenment can be viewed as a calm state of mind that aligns with reality. This means trusting that everything in life has its place.
  2. When we meditate, it’s not just about being still; it’s about letting our thoughts settle while learning to observe them without rushing to act.
  3. To achieve peace, we must accept some discomfort and trust that our environment will meet our needs. By doing so, our conflicting desires can come together in harmony.

5 ways to reframe your pricing and packaging

Good Better Best • 3 implied HN points • 30 Jan 26
💼 Business Monetization Enterprise Growth Pricing SaaS Product Subscription
  1. Order and design of your pricing page shape buyer behavior — put the plan or add‑on you want customers to choose in prime real estate to boost signups or upsells.
  2. Frame higher tiers around outcomes, not just volume — position features like AI assistants or ongoing services as work the product does for the customer to justify premium pricing.
  3. Set sensible defaults and packaging to reduce friction and increase commitment — use annual defaults, clearer credit allotments, and well‑placed add‑ons to simplify buying and grow recurring revenue.

Notes on Chapter 25

Life Since the Baby Boom • 230 implied HN points • 07 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Media Software Internet Innovation Computers
  1. Meeting discussions often become unproductive when everyone tries to push their own favorite features instead of focusing on what's best for the product. Clear decision-making is essential to avoid mediocrity.
  2. Successful product development requires someone in charge who can confidently say 'no' to less important ideas, making it easier to prioritize essential features.
  3. Media strategy can be very effective when interviews are used to direct the conversation toward key topics, allowing for a more focused and engaging presentation.

How to find your Blue Ocean[Storytime Saturdays]

Technology Made Simple • 99 implied HN points • 02 Dec 23
💼 Business Competition Strategy Career Tech Innovation
  1. The Blue Ocean Strategy helps you differentiate yourself in your career and business by finding a less competitive niche with high growth potential.
  2. Effortless at its core, the Blue Ocean Strategy offers the path of least resistance to success, but still requires hard work.
  3. To find your 'Blue Ocean,' look outside for unique ideas, seek diverse feedback, and explore different groups and communities for growth and innovation.

The Great Crypto Liquidity Push

Alex's Personal Blog • 65 implied HN points • 21 Jul 25
🔮 Crypto Blockchain Regulations Investments Market Trends Cryptocurrency
  1. Crypto companies like Coinbase and Circle are seeing huge growth, with their stock prices rising significantly. This means there’s a growing interest in the crypto market.
  2. The U.S. is looking to stay ahead in the AI race, with companies pushing to secure more resources, like GPUs, to keep innovation alive. Meanwhile, some efforts in China may not be as effective due to overcapacity and inefficiency.
  3. Several crypto firms are planning to go public, showing a trend of integrating more crypto activities into traditional finance. This could change how we view and invest in cryptocurrencies.

Advocating for Why

Steelhead • 78 implied HN points • 10 Jan 24
💼 Business Product Development Startup Success Entrepreneurship
  1. Understanding why customers care or don't care about a product's value proposition is crucial for building an actually robust business with a compelling value proposition.
  2. The absence of information (what people don't do or say) is just as important as what they do, highlighting the importance of understanding why customers behave as they do.
  3. By combining the Customer Development framework with a deep understanding of why, entrepreneurs can build a good product, orient business functions correctly, and operate with greater capital efficiency.

Stop managing AI. The case for proactive agents.

Kathy PM • 18 implied HN points • 24 Nov 25
🕹 Technology AI Tools Developer Tools Collaboration Automation Productivity
  1. Developers want tools that handle tasks proactively, instead of just reacting to commands. They don’t want to waste time managing tools; they want to focus on building.
  2. For AI tools to be useful, they need to understand the context of a project and work seamlessly with developers. This means recognizing patterns and anticipating needs before being asked.
  3. The future of coding tools should feel collaborative. We aim for AI that can act like a helpful teammate, reducing mental load and helping developers concentrate on creative problem-solving.

Implementing Chain-of-Thought Principles in Fine-Tuning Data for RAG Systems

Cobus Greyling on LLMs, NLU, NLP, chatbots & voicebots • 19 implied HN points • 07 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Natural Language Machine Learning Data processing Knowledge Management Artificial Intelligence
  1. Using Chain-of-Thought principles can help language models improve how they think and respond. This means they can become better at understanding complex questions.
  2. Fine-tuning training data is being done in a more detailed way to enhance performance. This makes the models more efficient and effective in answering specific tasks.
  3. The goal of these improvements is to reduce errors, or 'hallucinations,' in responses. This way, the model can provide more accurate answers based on the information it retrieves.

Is AI Capex Worth the Money? (ft. Goldman Sachs)

Enterprise AI Trends • 337 implied HN points • 11 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Cloud Computing Data science Enterprise Software Investment AI
  1. AI spending is still worth it because it can help big cloud providers move data to their services. This could open up a big opportunity for revenue, making the investment seem less risky.
  2. Most of the useful AI work happens behind the scenes and isn't visible to the public. This means many people might underestimate how much AI is actually helping businesses already.
  3. Companies are really committed to using generative AI and are treating it as a top priority. This commitment means we'll likely see more successful projects in the future.

Reading Kuroda's Mind

Japan Economy Watch • 239 implied HN points • 21 Jan 23
💰 Finance Monetary Policy Interest Rates
  1. Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda defied market expectations and successfully maintained Japan Government Bond rates below his target, causing losses for speculators.
  2. The perception of high inflation in Japan is misleading due to factors like food and energy prices and statistical illusions.
  3. To achieve sustained inflation and reach the 2% target, Japan needs significant wage hikes, as monetary policy alone has not been sufficient.

Garmin's ~$40B Pivot

SatPost by Trung Phan • 175 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
💼 Business Corporate strategy Product Development Finance
  1. Garmin transformed from an automotive GPS company to a leader in fitness watches by investing heavily in research and development. This shift helped it survive the competition from tech giants like Apple and Google.
  2. The company showed strong adaptability when its core automotive market declined, successfully pivoting to fitness and outdoor activities by creating specialized products like GPS-enabled watches for runners.
  3. Garmin's commitment to innovation and vertical integration has allowed it to maintain high-quality standards and respond quickly to market changes, helping it compete effectively despite challenges from larger tech companies.

The Best and Worst DeFi Investments of 2021

DeFi Education • 799 implied HN points • 28 Dec 21
🔮 Crypto Decentralization Market Trends Financial Analysis Blockchain Investments
  1. Investing in DeFi can be risky, so it's important to recognize projects that might seem profitable but could actually be scams, like Olympus DAO, which raised concerns about being a Ponzi scheme.
  2. Strong projects like Sushi and Rari had mixed results for investors. Issues within the teams or changes in market conditions can dramatically affect performance, showing the need to stay informed.
  3. Timing and strategy are key in investing. It's helpful to sell at good moments and manage how much of your portfolio is in high-risk investments to protect against big losses.

Developing the Arx General Intelligence System

Applied General Intelligence • 2 HN points • 04 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Research & Development Benchmarking Machine Learning Software Development Artificial Intelligence
  1. The Arx system is a new type of AI being developed to go beyond current technology like Large Language Models. It's designed to better understand, reason, and explain complex ideas.
  2. Arx-0.3 recently achieved a high score on the MMLU-Pro benchmark, proving its capability in solving multi-step problems and reasoning.
  3. The team plans to continue improving Arx and aims to roll it out to selected testers in the future, hoping to create a trusted intelligence system.

Coming soon

Space Ambition • 439 implied HN points • 24 Aug 22
🕹 Technology Development Investing Careers Research
  1. A group of passionate people is focusing on space technology and its benefits. They want to make space tech easier to understand for everyone.
  2. Their goal is to inspire discussions about space, encourage investments in SpaceTech, and help people find careers in this field.
  3. They plan to share clear insights and updates about SpaceTech to help people stay informed about its developments.

A practical breakdown of the AI power situation

Technically • 18 implied HN points • 25 Nov 25
🕹 Technology Infrastructure AI Compute Data Centers Energy
  1. To make AI smarter, we need more computers, especially powerful GPUs. The more compute power we have, the better AI models we can create.
  2. Building more data centers is required for this extra compute power, but our current power grid can't handle the demand. This could lead to problems as AI grows.
  3. Big tech companies are investing in nuclear power plants because renewable energy alone can't keep up with the energy needs of AI data centers.

✅ AI in corporate comms and public relations: The story so far - get our report

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 07 Jun 24
💼 Business Workplace Trends Management Public Relations Corporate Communications AI Technology
  1. AI is being talked about a lot in corporate communications, but it's still not perfect. Many AI tools make mistakes and produce low-quality content.
  2. The impact of AI on jobs in this field is uncertain and could take a while to unfold. It's important to focus on relationships rather than just media perspective.
  3. AI may change how management tasks are done, and it could help with decision-making and research sooner than it will replace simple roles.

[In]Human Resources

Polymathic Being • 61 implied HN points • 27 Jul 25
💼 Business Human Resources Corporate culture Employee Rights Workplace Diversity
  1. Many people believe that HR departments are more about protecting the company than helping employees. This can lead to a lack of trust when employees seek help.
  2. There's often a focus on superficial diversity in companies, rather than embracing real differences in thoughts and backgrounds. This can make workplaces feel less inclusive and more toxic.
  3. Despite the negative experiences some have with HR, there are still individuals who genuinely care and help others grow in their careers. These positive interactions can really make a difference.

Emergent Ventures FAQ

Samstack • 884 implied HN points • 27 Apr 23
💼 Business Grants Entrepreneurship Benefits
  1. Emergent Ventures grant program supports talented individuals with various projects, not just projects to improve society.
  2. To apply, have a low-cost, high-potential idea, be a talented young writer or communicator, and be ambitious.
  3. Grant amounts vary based on project, usually ranging from $5k to $20k; application process involves filling a one-page form with a 1500-word proposal.

Use it or lose it

The Engineering Manager • 13 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Engineering Management Productivity Learning Leadership AI Software
  1. Skills fade when you stop using them, and offloading thinking to AI can speed that decline if you’re not careful.
  2. Stay close to the work with a minimum effective dose of coding, pair programming, and regular dives into PRs and architecture so you keep your technical edge.
  3. Use AI intentionally: experiment with tools yourself, offload only menial tasks, and always do a first-pass of thinking before prompting so AI augments rather than replaces your judgment.

The Average Chinese City

ChinaTalk • 652 implied HN points • 04 Oct 23
🌐 International Small Town Education Culture China Economy
  1. Some of the top headlines from China reveal struggling economic situations post-zero-covid.
  2. Small cities like Baoji reflect challenges in China's economy with falling home prices and limited job prospects.
  3. Education in small-town China can be marketized, with families fighting for opportunities in local high schools.