The hottest Business Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

How to crush AI native startups (as an incumbent): Part 1

Enterprise AI Trends • 21 implied HN points • 07 Dec 25
💼 Business Corporate strategy Competitive Strategy Pricing Strategy M&A Enterprise Software AI Strategy
  1. Big incumbents are building playbooks to defend their enterprise market share from AI-native startups.
  2. Their main play is to force startups into expensive pricing and capital wars, turning competition into a high-stakes fight of resources.
  3. Pricing for enterprise AI (especially token pricing) is becoming a frontline battleground in 2026, with M&A and product moves set to follow.

Introducing The Substack Bulletin

Substack • 701 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
💼 Business News Resources Community
  1. The Substack Bulletin shares news, resources, and opportunities for publishers, offering collaboration tools and customization tips for Substack websites.
  2. Recent updates include direct messaging capabilities for publishers, an upgraded recommendations network leading to increased subscriptions, and advanced layout options for showcasing content.
  3. The community section highlights writer meetups, milestones, and press features, encouraging interaction and sharing within the Substack community.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Figma’s IPO range is a little light

Alex's Personal Blog • 98 implied HN points • 22 Jul 25
💼 Business Finance Investing Startups Economics Markets
  1. Figma has set its IPO price range at $25 to $28 per share, which is lower than expected compared to its past valuation of $20 billion. This pricing may attract mixed reactions from investors.
  2. Anthropic and OpenAI are facing challenges in raising funds and scaling their AI efforts, showing that the competition in AI is intense and requires significant investment.
  3. Ambiq, another company preparing for an IPO, is noted for its low-power AI chips but faces uncertainties due to its exiting the Chinese market. Its pricing may be viewed as risky or promising, depending on future growth.

TBM 314: Using Enabling Constraints for Situational Awareness

The Beautiful Mess • 396 implied HN points • 07 Oct 24
💼 Business Management Growth Efficiency Strategy Leadership
  1. Rapid growth can lead to chaos and mistakes in organizations. It often happens when teams are expanded quickly without proper planning.
  2. Using enabling constraints can help manage the mess during fast changes. They act like simple rules to keep teams focused and aware of potential issues.
  3. It's important to regularly check on how things are going, especially when many people are involved in projects. This helps catch problems before they become serious.

Hidden Trap Of Convertible Note and Liquidation Preference Multiples | Getting First 1000 Customers | Weekend's Reading & More

Venture Curator • 199 implied HN points • 28 Jul 23
💼 Business Venture Capital Startup Financing
  1. Convertible notes can have hidden traps with liquidation preference multiples, impacting founders and investors.
  2. Founders can issue sub-series of preferred stock to protect themselves from inflated liquidation preferences.
  3. Finding the first 1000 customers is challenging, requiring experimentation with different strategies and channels.

How VCs Make High-Quality Investment Decisions? | Why Top 1% Of Founders Quit Their Startup? | Best Traits That Investors Look In Founders | VC Remote Jobs and More

Venture Curator • 199 implied HN points • 11 Sep 23
💼 Business Startups Investment Founders Venture Capital Remote Jobs
  1. Understanding the Venture Capital Method can help founders grasp how investors evaluate startups and make high-quality investment decisions.
  2. Top 1% of founders often quit due to factors like loss of control, pressure for results, and personal finance realities, emphasizing the importance of mental health in entrepreneurship.
  3. Investors look for specific traits in founders, such as resilience, integrity, and adaptability, when deciding to fund startups, underscoring the significance of founder characteristics.

Pleasure

Venture Prose • 199 implied HN points • 10 Sep 23
💼 Business Relationships Communication Conflict resolution Team Dynamics
  1. Friction in relationships often stems from differences and disagreements, rather than one person being solely at fault.
  2. Understanding each other's vulnerabilities and flaws is crucial for building strong relationships.
  3. It's important to find pleasure and enjoyment in your interactions and collaborations with others to maintain healthy relationships.

What Every Founder Should Know About Valuations? | Is The VC Investment Model Broken? | VC Remote Jobs and More

Venture Curator • 199 implied HN points • 29 Sep 23
💼 Business Startups Venture Capital Valuations Remote Jobs
  1. Valuation of a company is determined by factors like the stage of the company, funding competition, leadership team experience, market size, and financial performance.
  2. The VC investment model is facing challenges due to factors like high interest rates, late-stage investments yielding lower returns, and the importance of profitability.
  3. Companies don't always need to calculate their value when fundraising; options like convertible notes and SAFEs allow for postponing valuation to later rounds to avoid potential dilution.

Understand All About SAFE | AI’s $200B Question: Long Term’s Good, Short Team Messy! | VC Remote Jobs and More

Venture Curator • 199 implied HN points • 02 Oct 23
💼 Business Startups Venture Capital Investments Entrepreneurship Job Opportunities
  1. Understanding SAFE Agreement - No Debt and No Equity. A different funding option for startups that doesn't fit traditional categories.
  2. 5 Types of SAFE Notes explained with examples. Different scenarios of how a SAFE investment can convert and affect valuation.
  3. Considerations about AI and GPU investments. Long-term benefits versus short-term challenges in the AI industry, highlighting the need for innovative startups to create real value.

China Replaces Japan As Top Auto Exporter in Jan-June 2023

Japan Economy Watch • 199 implied HN points • 03 Aug 23
💼 Business Automotive Exports Manufacturing Market Share Electric Vehicles
  1. China has replaced Japan as the top auto exporter in the first half of 2023, showcasing an increase in auto exports and a decline in Japanese global auto production share.
  2. The importance of auto exports for the Japanese economy is significant, with implications for manufacturing shipments, capital investment, and employment.
  3. The rise of Chinese automakers and their shift towards upscale markets like Europe and Southeast Asia pose challenges to Japanese automakers, especially in markets where Japanese brands traditionally dominated.

How to Earn Extra $15000 from GenAI

Sector 6 | The Newsletter of AIM • 19 implied HN points • 03 Jul 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Finance AI Applications
  1. You can use tools like ChatGPT and Canva to potentially earn extra money each month. These tools help with tasks such as designing products and creating advertisements.
  2. Some people promote courses or guides that claim you can get rich quickly with AI. But many times, these are just advertisements and not very helpful.
  3. There are practical ways to use AI tools for small jobs, like making designs for social media or videos, which can lead to extra income.

The VC Corner 📰 #4

The VC Corner • 139 implied HN points • 15 Dec 23
💼 Business Venture Capital Startups Investing Entrepreneurship Market Trends
  1. Venture capital news is important for anyone involved in startups. Staying updated helps investors and teams make better decisions.
  2. The newsletter offers resources and insights that can guide new and experienced investors alike. It’s a useful tool for the venture capital community.
  3. A free trial is available to explore past posts. This makes it easy for readers to see if the content fits their needs.

WILL's 2025 Year End Recap

The Carousel • 16 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
💼 Business Branding Advertising Marketing Creative Agencies Partnerships Events
  1. WILL capped 2025 with a bold new website and a string of creative client projects across defense, cybersecurity, healthcare, conservation, and publishing.
  2. They pushed beyond digital work into real-world events and collaborations to build relationships and cultural influence, including workshops and partnerships with groups like the Delphica Society.
  3. The agency is focused on scaling in 2026 and is actively seeking new clients, partners, and ambitious projects at any stage of development.

Why Parker Conrad’s Contrarian Playbook on SaaS & AI Is a Blueprint for Repeat Founder Success

Day Zero: Always Learning • 85 implied HN points • 30 Jul 25
💼 Business Startups Entrepreneurship AI Technology SaaS Market Trends
  1. Replacing operations with AI isn't easy. It's better to automate from the start than try to fix things later when they get messy.
  2. Successful software should be a suite of apps that work well together, not just a bunch of individual tools. This approach builds more power in enterprise software.
  3. AI isn't making engineering work faster yet. Companies still need many engineers because the actual improvements haven't been seen.

Should regulated utilities be prevented from owning EV charging assets?

Knowledge Problem • 196 implied HN points • 23 Feb 23
💼 Business Regulation Competition Utilities Infrastructure Innovation
  1. The default presumption should be to quarantine the monopoly in regulated utilities owning EV charging assets to prevent anti-competitive practices.
  2. Regulated utilities entering competitive EV charging markets may have unfair advantages by leveraging their regulated status.
  3. Allowing regulated utilities to own EV charging assets could stifle innovation and competition in the market compared to independent firms.

Economics Links, 2/10/2025

In My Tribe • 227 implied HN points • 10 Feb 25
💼 Business Economics Trade AI Entrepreneurship Policy
  1. Phil Gramm and Larry Summers believe that tariffs harm economic growth and could lead to trade wars. They recommend against implementing broad tariffs.
  2. Aswath Damodaran discusses how the entry of DeepSeek could change the AI landscape, creating both low-cost alternatives and maintaining a premium market for AI.
  3. Magatte Wade argues that Africa's poverty is largely due to over-regulation and difficult business conditions, making it hard to trade and grow economically.

Can Vingroup Upgrade Vietnam’s Auto Industry?

The Asianometry Newsletter • 1269 implied HN points • 17 May 23
💼 Business Automotive Real Estate Diversification Challenges Global expansion
  1. Vingroup started as an instant noodle company and quickly diversified into real estate, healthcare, education, and more.
  2. Vingroup's venture into electric vehicles with VinFast faces big challenges in the global EV market and technical expertise.
  3. Vingroup's diversification strategy into multiple industries like electronics mirrors other successful conglomerates but comes with risks and challenges.

CD PROJEKT RED - The AMEX of the Big Gaming Industry? (1Q23 Update)

Value Investing Substack • 196 implied HN points • 04 Jun 23
💼 Business Gaming Industry Financial Performance Earnings Calls
  1. CD PROJEKT RED's Witcher 3 has sold over 50 million units, a significant milestone in the gaming industry.
  2. CD PROJEKT RED is highly anticipated for its upcoming expansion pack Phantom Liberty for Cyberpunk 2077, expected to be as large as the original game.
  3. The company is strategically focusing on projects like Project Polaris and Sirius within The Witcher franchise and shifting resources accordingly.

Letter #86: Jensen Huang (2004)

A Letter a Day • 196 implied HN points • 27 May 23
💼 Business Technology Investments Innovation Financial results
  1. Jensen Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 and helped revolutionize computer graphics with GPU technology.
  2. In 2004, Nvidia reached milestones like being first to market with programmable shaders and significant revenue growth in media and communication processors.
  3. Nvidia positioned itself as a leader in the Networked Digital Media Era, emphasizing on growth opportunities in GPU technology, media centers, mobile computing, and wireless handsets.

✨ Building a Modern Constellation Software

Overlooked by Alexandre Dewez • 196 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
💼 Business Venture Capital Software Acquisitions Entrepreneurship
  1. The world has changed since the inception of Constellation Software in 1995.
  2. A new player cannot directly compete with Constellation Software's acquisition strategies and existing relationships.
  3. Building a modern software conglomerate would require focusing on growth, quality, and building synergies rather than mimicking Constellation Software's exact model.

Avio under the microscope

Europe in Space • 196 implied HN points • 20 Mar 23
💼 Business Space Finance Quality control Ownership Executive Compensation
  1. Avio received a significant funding from European Union for space programs, raising questions on allocation of funds.
  2. Avio faced quality control issues in rocket launches, leading to failures and significant financial losses.
  3. Avio's financial activities, CEO remuneration, and conflicts of interest are under scrutiny amidst stock buybacks and public funding support.

How to Find Founder-Market Fit

Startup Pirate by Alex Alexakis • 196 implied HN points • 24 Mar 23
💼 Business Startups Entrepreneurship Acquisitions Investments Jobs
  1. Founder-Market Fit is crucial for startup success - ensure you are well-suited for the market you are targeting.
  2. Assess market dynamics, business model, key activities, and industry culture to determine your fit in a specific market.
  3. If you face Founder-Market (un)Fit, consider solutions like finding a co-founder, getting social proof, building a strong executive team, or exploring new opportunities.

Joe's Nerdy Rants #8

Joe Reis • 196 implied HN points • 08 Jul 23
💼 Business Tech AI Data Startups Journalism
  1. People skills are becoming increasingly important in the tech industry.
  2. Technical skills are essential, but communication and empathy separate individuals for career success.
  3. Businesses are shifting towards paying tech vendors based on outcomes, emphasizing accountability.

China’s evolving global tech expansion – a lens from the Middle East

Christopher’s Newsletter • 196 implied HN points • 28 Sep 23
💼 Business Global expansion Tech startups Venture Capital Innovation
  1. Conversations in the world of tech startups are often bottom-up, driven by new generations and their enterprises.
  2. Chinese tech companies serve as models for innovation globally, navigating challenges not typically seen in the West.
  3. Global expansion of tech will be driven by opportunity costs, market accessibility, and localization efforts in different regions.