The hottest Substack posts right now

according to Hacker News
Category

Speak No Evil

Kneeling Bus • 244 implied HN points • 04 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Digital Media SEO Algorithm Internet
  1. Internet platforms are becoming visually chaotic and cluttered with junk, impacting user experience.
  2. The messy aesthetics of the internet reveal a shift towards desperate monetization strategies.
  3. AI may help clean up the internet's clutter by automating processes and reducing visual chaos.

Terry and His Dumb Ideas

The Radar • 19 implied HN points • 13 Jan 24
💼 Business Career development Organizational Behavior Management Workplace culture Leadership
  1. Organizations should avoid adopting policies that seem sensible but are self-defeating in practice, leading to negative outcomes.
  2. Coercing individuals into seeking higher positions when they lack ambition can have detrimental effects on both performance and organizational culture.
  3. Great organizations protect and celebrate those who create value, avoiding the mass rationalization of dumb ideas that can lead to decline.

Goodbye Chatbots, Hello AI Agents

Teaching computers how to talk • 125 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Generative AI Tech industry AI
  1. Chatbots struggled due to their inability to handle human conversation complexity, leading to sub-optimal user experiences.
  2. The emergence of AI agents, powered by generative AI, presents a more flexible and capable generation of assistants that can perform tasks and act on behalf of users.
  3. Transition from chatbots to AI agents marks a significant shift towards a more promising future, distancing from old frustrations and embracing advanced conversational AI.
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📏Tall Dead Trees

Reboot • 16 implied HN points • 15 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Infrastructure Innovation Communication Urbanism Community
  1. Telephone poles are not just for electrical wires; they also help neighbors share information and connect with one another. People use them to post flyers and messages, making them vital for local communication.
  2. Many city laws discourage adding anything to telephone poles, which can limit community creativity. This can make it hard for people to share important local information or express themselves.
  3. Community-driven projects like mesh networks show that people can creatively use telephone poles to improve local connectivity. These grassroots efforts often face challenges but highlight the importance of local engagement in urban spaces.

In praise of small weirdos

Sunday Letters • 139 implied HN points • 05 Jun 22
🕹 Technology AI Product Development Consumer Tech Startups Innovation
  1. New tech often starts out messy and complicated, not neat and finished. Most of the time, we see these products when they are already established.
  2. It's important to look for 'small weirdos', which are early-stage ideas that not many people understand or use yet.
  3. Being aware of these small weirdos can help innovators find new opportunities and stay ahead in technology development.

The different Variable Scopes [Math Mondays]

Technology Made Simple • 39 implied HN points • 20 Feb 23
🕹 Technology Programming Object Oriented Programming Software Engineering
  1. Understanding variable scope is essential for writing efficient and secure code.
  2. Different types of variable scopes include local/block scope, function scope, global scope, and static variables.
  3. Properly setting the scope of variables can help in avoiding conflicts, managing code efficiently, and ensuring security.

Our AI initiative to promote black viewpoint diversity

Journal of Free Black Thought • 13 implied HN points • 08 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Content creation Digital Platforms AI Tools Diversity Initiatives
  1. The FBT Voices Microsites use AI to make the works of black thinkers like Thomas Sowell and Glenn Loury more accessible to everyone.
  2. This platform offers summaries, key insights, and connections between ideas to help users understand complex topics better.
  3. They are seeking support through a GoFundMe to expand this initiative and promote more diverse black viewpoints.

Mara deleverages

Miner Weekly • 59 implied HN points • 07 Jan 23
💰 Finance Debt Regulation Investment Mining Corporate
  1. Marathon Digital adhered to its hodl strategy despite market turbulence in 2022, closing with 12,232 BTC and increased liquidity.
  2. Mara reduced revolving credit and paid off debts in December with capital injection, facing volatile stock prices.
  3. 36% of Mara's bitcoin holdings were restricted as of Dec. 31, secured against loans, with a safety net against a decrease in Bitcoin value.

Quant Letter: June 2025, Week-1

The Parlour • 21 implied HN points • 04 Jun 25
💰 Finance Machine Learning Quantitative Investing Market Analysis Economic Research
  1. New methods are being developed to test asset pricing anomalies, showing that different paths on the same dataset can lead to similar outcomes. This means we need to be cautious about our assumptions in finance.
  2. Deep reinforcement learning is being used to improve risk management in life insurance. This method helps in making better decisions about profits and losses related to different risk factors.
  3. Large language models struggle with accuracy in specialized fields due to lack of specific training data. To improve their performance, fine-tuning techniques are essential.

Culture: The Arbiter of Technology

The Digital Anthropologist • 19 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Blockchain Digital Technologies Social media AI
  1. Culture plays a crucial role in determining the success or failure of technology and how it is ultimately used.
  2. Societal acceptance and rejection of technology are heavily influenced by culture, impacting advancements and innovation.
  3. Culture has historically driven improvements in technology, making it safer, more beneficial, and ultimately shaping the future of industries.

Accidentally testing NGDP level targeting

Erdmann Housing Tracker • 126 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
💰 Finance Inflation Fiscal policy Monetary Policy
  1. Accidentally testing market monetarism, particularly nominal GDP targeting, yielded successful results during economic shocks.
  2. Nominal GDP targeting can help stabilize the business cycle by allowing for counter-cyclical inflation and smoothing disruptions in nominal incomes.
  3. Adopting nominal GDP level targeting could lead to improved productivity and reduced reliance on interest rates in monetary policy discussions.

Deep Research: First Impressions

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 40 implied HN points • 08 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Productivity Design Research User Experience
  1. AI tools like OpenAI's Deep Research can make research tasks much faster and easier. This lets users get valuable insights quickly, which is great for decision making.
  2. Having AI ask follow-up questions before starting research helps users clarify their needs. This means the final output is more likely to match what they were actually looking for.
  3. Investing in AI tools for design teams can save money and improve work efficiency. It's cheaper than hiring extra help and helps teams stay updated with the best technology.

Proof of Work: the choice between centralizing over time or insecure.

Senatus’s Newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
🔮 Crypto Security Mining Decentralization Economics Market cap
  1. Every Proof of Work coin must choose between specialized hashing, leading to centralization over time, or generalized hashing, resulting in a constantly insecure chain.
  2. Specialized hashing algorithms for Proof of Work require specific hardware, electricity, space, maintenance, and capital, leading to centralization over time.
  3. Generalized hashing algorithms allow more participation but can make the chain insecure due to the vast latent hashrate available for potential attacks.

DAOs with Humans

Crypto Good • 3 implied HN points • 20 Dec 25
🔮 Crypto AI agents Smart Contracts Governance DAOs Treasury NFTs Tokenomics Web3
  1. Modern DAOs have become bloated human-driven bureaucracies where endless votes, politics, and unreliable contributors stall progress.
  2. Specialized AI agents can autonomously handle fundraising, research, vetting, and treasury tasks at scale, executing decisions faster and more efficiently than human committees.
  3. Humans should set the mission and ethical guardrails and then focus on community-building and on-the-ground work, while AI handles day-to-day execution; the real choice is to adopt AI agents or stay stuck in governance theater.

Understanding Google's GPT-Killer- The Revolutionary Pathways Architecture [Storytime Saturdays]

Technology Made Simple • 39 implied HN points • 19 Feb 23
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Models Training
  1. Google's Bard is designed to be more versatile than ChatGPT, with a unique model architecture called Pathways.
  2. Google's approach includes training a single model for multiple tasks, working with different modalities like images and text, and using sparse activation to specialize network parts.
  3. The Pathways architecture sets Google apart by enabling their AI models to handle a wide range of tasks, making them cost-effective and versatile.

Communal Leadership

Midwest Humble • 16 implied HN points • 21 Jul 25
💼 Business Ecosystem Entrepreneurship Innovation Community Leadership
  1. Communal leadership focuses on collaboration and helping each other. It creates a sense of belonging in communities.
  2. In a strong ecosystem, everyone—founders, investors, and service providers—works together for the common good. Supporting one another leads to greater success.
  3. New voices will be featured to share insights on communal leadership. This helps everyone learn and grow together in their communities.

The Point of No Return? A New Model for Reverse Logistics

Equal Ventures • 59 implied HN points • 11 Oct 22
💼 Business Returns Logistics Ecommerce Retail Inventory
  1. Ecommerce returns have surged, leading to unsustainable cycles of returns. Covid-19 exacerbated this trend, with around 40% of retailers easing return policies, resulting in return rates of 20% for ecommerce.
  2. Returns are costly for retailers due to logistics expenses. Online returns can cost retailers approximately 21% of the order value, and long returns processes lock up inventory, impacting retail profitability.
  3. Major retailers like Amazon have mastered optimizing returns through dedicated processing centers. Democratizing this capability to all brands is essential for efficient returns management.

AI and Knowledge Work

Tanay’s Newsletter • 119 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Consulting Productivity AI Customer Support
  1. AI is enhancing productivity and quality in knowledge work like software engineering and customer support.
  2. AI benefits are not uniform; it tends to help lower performers more, but can also assist top performers by reducing menial tasks.
  3. AI is not a cure-all; it has limitations and understanding when to use it is crucial for optimal results.

House hacking a $675k duplex in Dallas

The Leonard Letter • 19 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
💰 Finance Investment Real Estate Property Management
  1. Analyzing a real estate deal requires considering various financial aspects like mortgage, expenses, and rental income
  2. It's crucial to calculate potential expenses for maintenance, repairs, and vacancies to assess the overall profitability
  3. Before investing in a property, evaluate if the financial investment aligns with the income generated to avoid significant losses

Weight Loss Drugs Continue to Power Denmark's Economy

Apricitas Economics • 52 implied HN points • 01 Dec 24
💼 Business Exports Economics Pharmaceuticals Trade Manufacturing
  1. Denmark's economy is growing mainly because of weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. These drugs help people lose weight and improve health, leading to increased demand and exports.
  2. The pharmaceutical boom has made Denmark one of the fastest-growing economies in the EU, with a significant rise in drug exports to the United States. This growth has greatly benefitted Denmark's GDP.
  3. Despite the economic growth, many people in Denmark aren't feeling the benefits yet. Personal spending and investment have been stagnant, even though pharmaceutical manufacturers are earning more money.

Jiang Xiaojuan on further deepening economic reforms

Pekingnology • 60 implied HN points • 26 Oct 24
💼 Business Policy Economics Trade Reform Market
  1. Economic reforms in China focus on creating a level playing field. This means all types of businesses should have equal chances to compete and get resources without favoritism.
  2. There is an emphasis on letting the market decide which businesses succeed or fail. This encourages efficiency and helps the best companies thrive while weaker ones are phased out.
  3. Aligning China's economic rules with international standards is important. This helps local companies compete better globally and supports further opening up the economy.

Here's Some Bad Advice

The Radar • 19 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
💼 Business Management Workplace culture Leadership Professional development Organizational Change
  1. Cutting-edge research advice for leaders may not always be practical or helpful. It's important to evaluate the source of the advice and its applicability to real-world situations.
  2. Individual managers should be cautious about unilaterally trying to change organizational norms regarding work-life balance. The impact on performance, reputation, and career progression should be considered.
  3. To achieve a better work-life balance, leaders should focus on influencing organizational practices, setting examples, and supporting their teams in maintaining healthy boundaries.

The Trillion Dollar Question

Venture Prose • 259 implied HN points • 04 Feb 21
💼 Business Revenue Generation Venture Capital Technology Companies Market Analysis Value Creation
  1. Demand can only be served if there is supply. Market issues arise when the supply can't meet the artificial demand.
  2. Venture capital-backed companies in the US needed around $3 trillion in capital to sustain growth, questioning the sustainability of valuations and cash requirements in the tech industry.
  3. The rapid growth of non-profitable tech companies raises concerns about whether the market can support the increasing cash requirements, potentially indicating an unsustainable pace.

I don’t know anyone using InVision Studio, and that’s too bad

Better After a Nap • 19 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Product Design Competition Product Strategy Software Tools User Experience
  1. An MVP needs to offer a key differentiator or a promise of one soon to make an impact in a competitive market.
  2. Meet the specific needs of your core user base swiftly and effectively to stay ahead of the competition.
  3. Maintain a laser focus on your core business, listen to user feedback, and avoid overhyping your product to build trust and loyalty.

📐 How to format a marketing message to achieve the desired goals

Business & Marketing with Nika • 1 HN point • 18 Aug 24
💼 Business Design Communication Advertising Marketing Strategy
  1. Put the most important information first. People remember the first things they read really well.
  2. Keep your message simple by focusing on one main element. This helps it stand out more.
  3. Make your content easy to scan. People usually look from the top left to the bottom right, so arrange your information in that order.

Sometimes complicated is clearer

CodeFaster • 36 implied HN points • 19 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Programming Development Open Source Automation Software
  1. Complicated things can sometimes be clearer than simple ones. It can help to look at details closely. It's okay to dive deeper to understand better.
  2. Taking screenshots at different intervals can help document changes over time. This can be useful for tracking progress or capturing important moments.
  3. Support from readers can help content creators keep producing work. Subscribing, whether free or paid, can make a difference.