The hottest Business Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

Are kids compatible with running a business?

Kenny’s Sub • 239 implied HN points • 28 Apr 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Work-life balance Parenting Freelancing
  1. Running a business while parenting is tough. It can be hard to find time to focus on work when taking care of kids.
  2. It's important to balance motherhood and work. Many moms need to realize they can't do everything at once, and that's okay.
  3. Challenges will always arise in both motherhood and entrepreneurship. Learning to adapt and stay resilient is key to managing those tough times.

Why I Left Norway

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1553 implied HN points • 10 Dec 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Taxation Investment Startups Innovation
  1. High taxes in Norway, including a new unrealized gains tax, made it hard for entrepreneurs to keep their businesses profitable and maintain ownership. They struggled to balance their income with the need to pay these taxes.
  2. Many successful Norwegian entrepreneurs are leaving the country to escape burdensome taxes, and this trend is affecting the wealth distribution in Norway. A significant number of top taxpayers have relocated to protect their wealth.
  3. The situation in Norway reflects a troubling pattern where government policies may stifle innovation and entrepreneurship. This has created an environment where those who want to build businesses feel they have no choice but to move elsewhere.

The end of the content farms

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 499 implied HN points • 10 Jul 25
💼 Business Media Marketing Technology Content E-commerce
  1. Content farms, which used to thrive on SEO-driven articles, are becoming obsolete due to advancements in AI and changes in how people consume media. This shift can lead to better quality content focused on what readers really want.
  2. Tech companies are buying media outlets to improve their customer engagement and lower marketing costs. It's easier for these companies to acquire established brands than to build their own from scratch.
  3. The landscape of journalism and media is changing, with more emphasis on subscription-based models and unique content creation strategies. Creatives are finding new ways to monetize their work, like selling products directly to their audiences.
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The Profile: The people who brought you Travis Kelce & the orphans of Flight 723

The Profile • 693 implied HN points • 07 Jan 24
💼 Business Profiles
  1. The Profile features Travis Kelce's business managers and other inspiring individuals.
  2. Quotes from various figures highlight the importance of setting high goals and aligning personality with purpose.
  3. Profiles showcase individuals such as Travis Kelce's team, a hotline operator for drug users, and individuals connected to a plane crash, shedding light on their impactful stories.

Corrected Headlines

Human Capitalist • 39 implied HN points • 02 Sep 24
💼 Business Industry News Human Capital Financial Analysis
  1. Headlines often miss important details about news stories. It's crucial to look beyond them for a better understanding.
  2. Recent stories include changes in companies like Crowdstrike and Goldman Sachs. These shifts affect the workforce and the way we view the corporate world.
  3. There is a focus on human stories behind the news, making it relatable. Understanding who is impacted helps in grasping the bigger picture.

Paramount's math doesn't add up

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 449 implied HN points • 23 Jul 25
💼 Business Media Finance Entrepreneurship Technology Marketing
  1. Bari Weiss is seeking over $200 million for her media startup, but it might not be worth that much due to culture clashes with traditional newsrooms.
  2. Independent podcasters can earn significant money, suggesting that larger companies like Paramount need to better monetize their content, especially on social media.
  3. Generative AI may affect production more than screenwriting in Hollywood, as it struggles with creating good long-form stories.

TBM 359: Process Person

The Beautiful Mess • 727 implied HN points • 23 May 25
💼 Business Product Management Team Dynamics Organizational Behavior Leadership
  1. Bad processes often come from a lack of experience or understanding. It's important to be flexible and learn from feedback to improve them.
  2. Not every process works for everyone. What's easy for one team can be too much for another, so finding a balance is key.
  3. Leadership sometimes asks for complicated processes without thinking about what's really needed. It's better to focus on making things simpler and more effective.

Former Facebook Research Scientists Raise $20 Million Seed Round for Enterprise Foundation Model Startup

Newcomer • 982 implied HN points • 07 Jun 23
💼 Business Technology Startups Venture Capital Competition Enterprise
  1. Former Facebook research scientists raise $20 million for a foundation model startup called Contextual AI
  2. Contextual AI's foundation model for enterprises aims to address existing model challenges like hallucination and data privacy
  3. Competition in the foundation model space is intense, with companies like Cohere and Vectara already in the game

The Ultimate Founder & Team LinkedIn Playbook (+ Free Templates)

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 86 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
💼 Business Marketing Social media Branding Content Growth Sales Leadership
  1. Treat your LinkedIn profile like a landing page: be crystal clear who you help, what value you deliver, and what action you want people to take by using your banner, headline, and featured section as your CTA real estate.
  2. Turn employees into a distribution engine by leading from the top and removing friction — find internal thought leaders and give them ready-to-post templates, visuals, content calendars, incentives, and challenges so posting becomes easy and rewarding.
  3. Run a content engine that covers TOFU/MOFU/BOFU and focus on the fundamentals: add real value, engage with others, be authentic, and show up consistently to turn attention into pipeline.

Amorphous consulting

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 319 implied HN points • 27 Mar 24
💼 Business Consulting Management Strategy Organization Ethnography
  1. There are two types of consulting: concrete and amorphous. Concrete consulting is clear and focused on known problems, while amorphous consulting deals with unclear and complex issues.
  2. Amorphous consulting involves starting with open conversations to uncover hidden problems. The consultant learns about the organization’s inner workings that insiders often overlook.
  3. The true value of an amorphous consultant comes from asking the right questions and understanding what clients initially can't see. This helps clarify the scope of the work over time.

Marc Andreessen's Guide to Finding Product-Market Fit! | VC Remote Jobs

Venture Curator • 399 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
💼 Business Startups Venture Capital Entrepreneurship Funding Job Opportunities
  1. Product-market fit means creating a valuable product that customers love and recommend.
  2. Experts emphasize the importance of finding product-market fit before focusing on scaling or fundraising.
  3. Metrics like retention rates, net promoter score, and customer feedback are key indicators of product-market fit.

$650 Million for Casetext & $1.3 Billion for MosaicML + Massive New AI Funding Rounds Mean Great Week for Generative AI

Newcomer • 963 implied HN points • 30 Jun 23
💼 Business AI Startups Acquisitions Funding Rounds Investors
  1. Significant AI startup acquisitions and funding rounds indicate a strong interest in generative AI technology.
  2. Acquisitions like Thomson Reuter's $650 million purchase of Casetext show genuine value placed on generative AI by established companies.
  3. MosaicML, with a $1.3 billion acquisition by Databricks, is contributing to the hype around AI startups, despite some skepticism over valuation.

New year, new templates

The faintest idea • 599 implied HN points • 03 Jan 24
💼 Business Management Strategy Design Templates Leadership
  1. Using visual tools like FigJam can help connect ideas better in meetings and projects. It's a fun way to share updates and collaborate.
  2. Templates for strategy, decision-making, and team management can make work processes smoother and more organized. They help you tackle big problems effectively.
  3. Regular 1:1 meetings are important for team development. They allow for thoughtful discussions and reflections on projects and career growth.

Top Links 820 YKK the global zipper company. Hit over the head by scale. The global history of the Tortilla.

Chartbook • 400 implied HN points • 05 Aug 25
💼 Business Supply Chain Global Trade Manufacturing Economics Industry
  1. YKK is a global leader in zippers and has perfected its supply chain over many years. This shows how important logistics is for big companies.
  2. The history of the tortilla highlights its cultural significance and how food shapes societies. It's interesting to see how something so simple has deep roots.
  3. The importance of scale is clear in business; larger companies often have advantages, but they also face unique challenges. Understanding this can help smaller businesses compete.

The Bear Cave #280

The Bear Cave • 513 implied HN points • 29 Jun 25
💼 Business Finance Investing Markets Economics Corporate Governance
  1. New reports suggest issues at several companies, including financial mismanagement and misleading statements. It's a reminder to research thoroughly before investing.
  2. There have been significant executive resignations at companies like Trex and Lanvin Group. Frequent leadership changes can signal instability in a company.
  3. The SEC is looking into various companies, hinting at potential undisclosed investigations. Keeping an eye on SEC updates could help investors make better decisions.

Customers don't care about your AI feature

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 1246 implied HN points • 29 Jan 25
💼 Business Marketing Consumer behavior Product Development Technology Trends
  1. Most customers don't really care if a product is AI-powered. They want to know how it will solve their problems, not get lost in technical jargon.
  2. Highlighting the benefits and real outcomes of a product works better than focusing on the AI label. Show customers how your product can make their lives easier.
  3. Using 'AI' in marketing can sometimes backfire. It can lower customer expectations and doesn't always justify a higher price. It's better to focus on value rather than buzzwords.

Top Links 815 Is the US housing market on the brink? How the Houthis import oil. Beating cancer & Chris Clark on the end of modernity.

Chartbook • 414 implied HN points • 31 Jul 25
💼 Business Finance Real Estate Investments Economics Market Trends
  1. The US housing market may be facing serious issues. People are curious about whether it could be on the brink of a major change.
  2. There's information on how the Houthis, a group from Yemen, import oil. This sheds light on their operations and impacts on the global oil market.
  3. The topic of beating cancer and discussions on modernity suggest a broader look at health and societal changes. These discussions can help us understand current challenges.

Top Links 807 Vietnam's manufacturing boom. Chongqing: China's motorcycle capita. The Walls Do Not Fall.

Chartbook • 443 implied HN points • 22 Jul 25
💼 Business Economics Manufacturing International Trade Market Trends Investment
  1. Vietnam's manufacturing sector is growing rapidly, making it an important player in global production. This boom shows how the country is developing its economy.
  2. Chongqing is known as the motorcycle capital of China, highlighting its significance in the motorcycle industry. This is a fun fact about a major city in China.
  3. The mention of myths and art from figures like Mark Rothko suggests that art can represent deep, universal ideas rather than just specific stories. It's about connecting with broader themes in humanity.

Why Tesla Won't Grant Musk More Stock Options

lawrence’s Substack • 279 implied HN points • 09 Apr 24
💼 Business Corporate Governance Stock Options Tesla Elon Musk Automotive Industry
  1. Restoring Musk's 2018 compensation package could lead to lawsuits for breach of fiduciary duty and corporate waste
  2. Tesla's current business environment in 2024 is different, with increased competition and decreased public interest in electric vehicles
  3. Musk's tactics to boost Tesla's share price were unsustainable, leading to a declining market cap and questionable promises that were left unfulfilled

Apple Computer's Different-Drummer "AI" Path Considered

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 399 implied HN points • 05 Aug 25
💼 Business Tech Strategy AI Development Market Analysis
  1. Apple is focusing on AI that works directly on devices instead of relying on cloud-based systems. This helps them maintain user privacy and keep costs down.
  2. By not competing in the ChatBot market, Apple avoids high expenses and risks associated with developing large language models, which many other tech companies are currently pursuing.
  3. The main challenge for Apple is to improve the execution of their AI features. They need to treat AI as a core part of their strategy and ensure these features work seamlessly for users.

AI is everyone's favorite excuse to raise software prices

Enterprise AI Trends • 84 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
💼 Business SaaS Pricing Strategy Startups Enterprise AI Product
  1. AI is making software more expensive right now. Many SaaS vendors raised prices in 2024–25 and are likely to keep raising them through 2026–27.
  2. Companies are bundling AI features into existing plans and hiking fees, effectively converting subscription revenue into “AI” revenue and limiting opt-outs.
  3. Structural forces beyond direct product value — like customers tolerating higher prices for high-value AI improvements and halo effects from better foundational models — are giving vendors sustained pricing power and a temporary “AI windfall.”

Career Architecting.

The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past • 68 implied HN points • 21 Dec 25
💼 Business Careers Leadership Talent Change Management Personal Branding Networking
  1. Use the nine-word exercise (three words for niche, three for voice, three for story) to clarify who you are and uncover a core expertise to build your career around.
  2. Reframe that expertise into specific solutions customers need and build credibility by continuously learning and sharing proof through content, speaking, and advisory work so those activities create a reinforcing flywheel.
  3. Be generous in partnering to grow a strong network, and shore up financial resilience by cutting costs and adding income streams so you can take risks and reinvent gradually over a long career.

Headway

First 1000 • 943 implied HN points • 05 Oct 23
💼 Business Marketing
  1. Testing simple things can be valuable.
  2. Utilizing social proof on landing pages can be effective.
  3. It's not always necessary to go against the grain.

How to Build a Company that OpenAI/Google Can't Eat

FutureIQ • 3 implied HN points • 13 Mar 26
💼 Business Strategy Startups Healthcare AI Data Partnerships
  1. Trust wins in high-stakes fields: using credentialed sources and training models only on vetted, domain‑specific literature (not the open internet) makes professionals trust the system and cuts hallucinations.
  2. Own exclusive data and build a flywheel: getting top practitioners and journals to use and partner creates unique, high‑quality signals that improve the product and attract more users and partners.
  3. Capture tacit, time‑sensitive context to monetize defensibly: real‑time usage data and tight integrations let you offer services big generalist models can’t replicate, creating a deep, hard‑to‑clone moat.

Uber’s 2025 Reorg: Platform Strategy Meets Conway’s Law

Gad’s Newsletter • 70 implied HN points • 29 Dec 25
💼 Business Strategy Org Design Product Platform Technology Leadership Architecture
  1. Uber put Mobility, Delivery, and Autonomous units under one COO to build a single platform that shares data and cross-sells services, aiming to get customers to use both apps more often.
  2. The org change follows Conway’s Law: by redesigning reporting lines they’re steering the software toward shared identity, pooled supply, and unified data so cross-platform features like Uber One and contextual offers can work.
  3. Centralizing integration can speed cooperation but risks a slow monolith and lost local excellence, so Uber needs a strong shared platform with clear delegation and should watch cross-platform adoption, Uber One penetration, and contextual attach rates.

FUNDRAISING APPEAL

The J. Burden Show • 439 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
💼 Business Fundraising
  1. The author is seeking donations to upgrade parts of their show despite its recent success.
  2. The author reinvests most of the money earned back into their business.
  3. Donations are not expected but would greatly improve the quality of the content.

Watching From Afar

Points And Figures • 479 implied HN points • 16 Jul 25
💼 Business Finance Markets Networking Corporate Governance Trading
  1. The CME trial highlights how traders and members suffered financially and emotionally when trading shifted to electronic platforms. Many had to sell their memberships and stocks to survive during tough times.
  2. Understanding different types of networks, like open and closed ones, is crucial in business. Closed networks can provide trust and stability, while open networks encourage competition and innovation.
  3. The way exchange boards operate can impact trust and progress. Members may lose confidence if the board lacks expertise or innovation, leading to a disconnect between the exchange's history and its current direction.

Data Update 5 for 2025: Profitability - The End Game for Business?

Musings on Markets • 479 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
💼 Business Corporate Finance Profitability Investment strategy Market Analysis
  1. Businesses should focus on profitability as their main goal, not just growth. It's important to make money to cover expenses and create value for the future.
  2. Measuring profitability can be tricky because different measures tell different stories about a company's health. Companies need to be compared properly to understand their true performance.
  3. Most companies struggle to earn profits that exceed their costs of capital, showing it can be tough to succeed in the business world today. Even in a competitive market, many companies fall short.