The hottest Business Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Spotlight: Jonathan Lacoste - General Partner @ Space.VC

Space Ambition • 179 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
💼 Business Venture Capital Startups Investment Strategies Technology Innovation Space Industry
  1. Investing in space tech has huge potential. It's becoming a key part of important industries like defense, agriculture, and communication.
  2. When looking to invest early, focus on the founding team and the size of the customer market. Successful relationships can be built before a product even exists.
  3. Finding big problems to solve is better than starting with a tech idea. Look for large markets that could benefit from smart space applications.

The best automated GTM plays you’re not running

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 410 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
💼 Business Sales Marketing Automation Technology
  1. Automation in marketing doesn't mean sending many random messages. It can be effective by targeting the right audience in a smart way.
  2. Using advanced tools, businesses can reach out to potential clients based on specific signals, like job changes or website visits, making outreach more relevant.
  3. By focusing on quality over quantity, automated strategies can significantly improve response rates and lead conversion, creating a more successful approach to sales.
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Letter #84: Sam Zell (1976)

A Letter a Day • 334 implied HN points • 20 May 23
💼 Business Real Estate Investing Finance Economics Entrepreneurship
  1. Sam Zell was a successful real estate mogul, starting his career in property management before building a massive real estate empire.
  2. In his 1976 essay, Zell discussed the opportunities in distressed properties, emphasizing the importance of initial investment analysis and financial restructuring.
  3. Investors in distressed properties are motivated by the potential for equity value appreciation and long-term asset value growth, despite initial cash-flow challenges.

Alphabet

Business Breakdowns • 334 implied HN points • 25 Apr 23
💼 Business Technology Finance AI Revenue Investment
  1. Alphabet, parent company of Google, mainly focuses on search advertising revenue.
  2. Google's search business maintains high margins despite paying a significant amount to ensure default search engine status.
  3. AI advancements, like Microsoft's ChatGPT, pose a potential threat to Google's dominance in search.

Is this guy the British Michael Jordan?

Net Income • 334 implied HN points • 29 Jun 23
💼 Business Sports Investing Entrepreneurship Marketing Finance
  1. Understanding the business deals of famous athletes like Michael Jordan can be fascinating and inspiring.
  2. Athlete-entrepreneur stories, like Junior Bridgeman and Shaquille O'Neal, highlight the potential for wealth beyond their sports careers.
  3. Analyzing the business ventures of athlete-entrepreneurs like Gary Neville reveals complex financial strategies and potential reasons for varying net worth.

Launching Something New

New World Same Humans • 40 implied HN points • 30 Nov 25
💼 Business Strategy Innovation Marketing Branding Product Entrepreneurship
  1. A new paid project launches on Thursday, December 4 — tied to the full moon — to create a fresh space for thoughtful analysis.
  2. It will explore the intersection of technology, business, culture and creativity, focusing on how emerging technologies and shifting norms are reshaping work and society.
  3. It's aimed at designers, marketers, strategists, consultants, founders and other practitioners who need to keep pace with fast-changing consumers and build impactful products, services, or campaigns.

Product Delivery Guide

Untrapping Product Teams • 334 implied HN points • 19 Jul 23
💼 Business Product Management Value Creation Team Collaboration
  1. Product delivery is about creating value steadily, not just following a plan.
  2. Key aspects of product delivery include organizing the product backlog, refining tasks, aligning goals, and delivering value consistently.
  3. Be mindful of common traps like treating the product backlog as a wishlist, separating discovery from delivery, and focusing only on output instead of outcomes.

The New Startup Scene in China - and What it Means

Christopher’s Newsletter • 334 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
💼 Business Startups Technology Innovation Entrepreneurship Global Market
  1. Chinese startups focus on AI innovation like in the US, with unique strengths and challenges.
  2. Entrepreneurs in China are shifting focus to address big societal issues with government support.
  3. China's tech talent and companies are advancing rapidly, but face uncertainties with regulations and global competition.

YC Partner: Avoid These Tempting Startup Ideas - Tarpit Ideas | VC Remote Jobs & More

Venture Curator • 179 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
💼 Business Startups Venture Capital Entrepreneurship Investing Jobs
  1. Avoid 'Tarpit Ideas' in startups, which have an oversupply of founders but low market demand.
  2. Consumer startups are risky due to high competition, user demands, and timing challenges.
  3. Identify Tarpit Ideas by spotting survivor bias, seeking second-order innovations or difficult-to-scale ideas, and pivot by understanding supply-demand dynamics.

How To Build A Brand On WhatsApp and Make A Lot Of Money From It.

Day One • 3933 implied HN points • 01 May 20
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Income Generation Personal Branding Social media
  1. WhatsApp has a massive reach with over 5 billion downloads, making it a platform with a vast pool of users to tap into for creating income.
  2. Building a brand and making money on WhatsApp requires providing value to your audience consistently, which can lead to growth and engagement.
  3. Sustainable ways to make money on social media, like WhatsApp, involve processes that require patience and dedication to build a successful and trusted brand.

Chronicle Your Quest

Eliot Peper • 157 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Writing
  1. Chronicle your journey to create a narrative explaining what you do and why it matters, help others understand you better, faster.
  2. Having a prose narrative about your quest is high-leverage, valuable for recruiting, fundraising, team alignment, and more.
  3. Telling your story through essays or narratives is a parallel art form to writing novels, providing a powerful way to document your company's journey.

Six Startups to Watch

The Generalist • 400 implied HN points • 10 Feb 25
💼 Business Startups Investing Finance Technology Entrepreneurship
  1. There are six startups that are worth paying attention to right now. They offer fresh ideas in areas like DNA sequencing and AI.
  2. These startups include a competitor to 23&Me and an AI accounting tool, which could change their industries.
  3. Joining a subscription service can give you exclusive insights into these startups and keep you updated on new trends.

Vitamin C for Engineering Teams: Building Resiliency through Compassion

The Healthy Engineering Leader • 39 implied HN points • 20 Jun 24
💼 Business Leadership Teamwork Communication Emotional Intelligence Workplace culture
  1. Compassion helps build strong and resilient teams, especially during tough times. Just like Vitamin C boosts our health, compassion boosts team spirit.
  2. Good communication is crucial for leaders. By talking openly and listening to team members, leaders can create a safe space where everyone feels valued.
  3. Giving teams time and freedom to recharge can make a big difference. Leaders should encourage breaks or fun activities to help everyone cope with stress better.

Why news publishers will probably never solve their keyword blocking problem

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 449 implied HN points • 03 Jan 25
💼 Business Media Advertising Marketing Content creation Technology
  1. News publishers struggle with keyword blocking, which prevents ads from appearing next to even safe content. This leads to a loss of potential revenue, as brands avoid placing ads near any political content.
  2. Affiliate links can be affected by browser extensions like Honey, which may replace original links with their own. This means creators might miss out on commissions they rightly earned.
  3. Sports team social media managers are often underpaid compared to other industries, despite the high demands of the job and the expectation of constant engagement.

The week that changed luxury fashion: a final call for the best and worst of marketing.

The Social Juice • 29 implied HN points • 19 Dec 25
💼 Business Marketing Advertising Branding Retail Agencies Media Campaigns
  1. Luxury labels rushed into generative AI and ended up with shallow, low-quality work that sparked backlash because many uses lacked a clear creative purpose.
  2. The most effective campaigns leaned into human craft, emotion and local storytelling—holiday ads that used real artisans, nostalgia and thoughtful activations stood out.
  3. Brands are retooling for 2026 by investing in always-on brand tracking, cutting prices or SKUs, striking new partnerships and reshuffling agencies as consumers prioritise affordability.

Are you recently promoted to a Product Manager position? - Here are a few pitfalls to avoid

Ageling on Agile • 219 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
💼 Business Management Skills Learning Hierarchy Challenges
  1. The role of a product manager is different from roles like project manager, engineer, or business analyst.
  2. Newly promoted product managers should avoid the Dunning-Kruger effect by continuously learning and challenging themselves.
  3. Recognizing the Peter Principle is essential - not everyone is suited to be a product manager, and self-awareness is key.

Deal of the Week: Flutterwave acquires Mono in Africa's first YC-to-YC exit

Afridigest • 19 implied HN points • 05 Jan 26
💼 Business M&A Fintech Payments Startups Venture Capital Regulation
  1. Flutterwave has acquired Mono in an all-stock deal reported around $25–40M (insiders say $30M), and Mono will continue operating independently while the transaction awaits approvals.
  2. The deal combines Flutterwave’s payments platform with Mono’s open banking APIs, letting the combined business offer account-to-account payments, KYC, bank verification, and data-driven risk tools in one stack.
  3. This move signals growing consolidation and pragmatism in African fintech as open banking pioneers face regulatory and market challenges, and while some investors show paper gains, actual liquidity from the swap remains uncertain.

Top Links 643 Office vacancies. Peak McDonald's. The case of Ireland and the legend of Ferdinand Piëch.

Chartbook • 386 implied HN points • 08 Feb 25
💼 Business Real Estate Economics Workplace Market Analysis
  1. Office vacancies are at a record high, with about 20.4% of office space in major US cities empty. This shows a big change in how people work now.
  2. The idea of 'Peak McDonald's' suggests that the fast-food giant may have reached its highest point in growth and popularity. It's interesting to think about how even big brands can change over time.
  3. The story of Ferdinand Piëch and the case of Ireland may provide lessons on leadership and innovation in business. These narratives help us understand how organizations can evolve or face challenges.

The Four-Day Work Week

Diane Francis • 539 implied HN points • 27 Apr 23
💼 Business Workplace Trends Labor Market Remote work Employee Wellbeing
  1. Many workers now prefer a four-day work week due to changes in work attitudes and the rise of remote jobs. This shift has been supported by research showing that shorter weeks can boost productivity.
  2. With younger generations valuing flexibility and work-life balance, there's a demand for part-time work and more vacation time. Many young people would rather have multiple jobs than just one full-time position.
  3. This movement isn’t just about shorter work weeks; employees also want benefits like better maternity leave, remote work options, and geographic flexibility. The pandemic has greatly influenced these changes in worker expectations.

How Eric Newcomer scaled his startups newsletter into a $2 million business

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 499 implied HN points • 06 Dec 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Startups Tech Media Revenue Models
  1. Eric Newcomer started a newsletter focused on startups and venture capital, which has become very successful. He went from traditional journalism to creating his own business.
  2. His newsletter is projected to earn $2 million a year, mostly from events he hosts. This shows that live events can be great for generating income.
  3. Working closely with a wealthy audience helped him grow his business. Being focused on a specific, affluent group made his newsletter more appealing and profitable.

Founders, you’re being quietly screwed by VCs

Five Links (and three graphs) by Auren Hoffman • 129 implied HN points • 11 Aug 25
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Venture Capital Startups Investing Ownership
  1. Many founders don’t realize that a clause in their term sheet can take away their voting rights if they stop working at the company. This is often overlooked and can lead to significant power loss for founders.
  2. This clause is meant to protect against rogue founders who might cause trouble after leaving, but it often ends up hurting the good founders instead.
  3. Founders should carefully check their term sheets for voting rights related to employment. Understanding these terms can help them avoid losing influence in their own companies.

The Bear Cave #246

The Bear Cave • 559 implied HN points • 03 Nov 24
💼 Business Finance Management Investing Corporate Governance Market Analysis
  1. Blue Orca Capital reported that Baldwin Insurance Group has been using some tricky financial practices to make their profits look better than they actually are. They claim the company has serious profitability issues.
  2. Recent leadership changes show a lot of turnover among company executives, with several CFOs and CEOs resigning or being let go. This could indicate bigger problems within those companies.
  3. There are also activist reports about Byrna Technologies, suggesting they might be exaggerating their business success. The reports claim many of their dealers don’t really exist or aren't effective.

Endorsements for My Book From Heizo Takenaka and Other Notables

Japan Economy Watch • 219 implied HN points • 20 Dec 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Publications
  1. The author's book on reviving entrepreneurship in Japan has received noteworthy endorsements from Heizo Takenaka, Gerald Curtis, Bill Emmott, Zoltan Acs, and David Audretsch, all experts in economics and politics.
  2. The endorsements highlight the potential for Japan to experience an entrepreneurial renaissance fueled by factors like digital technology, demographic changes, and government support.
  3. The book challenges the traditional belief that Japan lacks entrepreneurship, providing a fresh analysis that argues for the importance of fostering new companies.

The Making of a Senior Engineer 💡: Guest Post by Addy Osmani

High Growth Engineer • 1238 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💼 Business Leadership Engineering Career development Management Skills Development
  1. To transition into senior engineering roles, you need to shift from hands-on work to systems thinking, focusing on strategic leadership and fostering team autonomy.
  2. Senior engineers lead through influence rather than pure authority, emphasizing building trusted relationships, setting vision, and empowering teams.
  3. Developing critical leadership skills as a senior engineer involves improving empathy, communication, collaboration, systems thinking, and execution orchestration, while overcoming common pitfalls like losing sight of the big picture and excessive control.

Job-to-be-done Theory and Comparison Table

André Casal's Substack • 19 implied HN points • 26 Jul 24
💼 Business Market Analysis Customer Needs Product Development Innovation Strategies
  1. Job-to-be-done theory helps define your market by focusing on customer needs and their desired outcomes. Understanding what users want makes it easier to tailor your product.
  2. Creating a survey can help you collect valuable feedback from customers about their unmet needs. This insight can guide you in improving your product and identifying opportunities.
  3. Improving your landing page with comparison criteria and customer testimonials can make it more appealing. It’s important to keep iterating based on customer feedback to better serve their needs.