The hottest Business Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

La rentrƩe est une bascule ?

L'Atelier Galita ā€¢ 159 implied HN points ā€¢ 07 Oct 24
šŸ’¼ Business Career Change Professional development Work-life balance Job search
  1. Many people are leaving their jobs, and it seems to be a bigger trend after COVID. This time of year often makes people reconsider their career paths.
  2. Pursuing your passion isn't always the best advice. It's important to build expertise and autonomy first, as true passion often comes from those experiences.
  3. Books like 'Business Model You' can help you reflect on your career and what you truly want. Taking time to learn and support a cause can lead to better life choices.

On shovels, Nvidia, and the AI Gold Rush

Marcus on AI ā€¢ 2410 implied HN points ā€¢ 20 Nov 25
šŸ’¼ Business AI Semiconductors Tech Stocks Earnings Investing Market Trends Hardware
  1. Nvidia reported excellent earnings that briefly lifted the stock, but the opening gains evaporated and the share price was down later in the day.
  2. The market reaction was highly volatile and uncertain, and nobody knows whether the stock will head up, down, or stay sideways next.
  3. Even with strong results, lingering concerns about outlook or valuation persist, so investors remain cautious.

This Week in Marketing: Metaā€™s Ad Business Upgrade, AI Copyright, and the Unexpected Economy

The Social Juice ā€¢ 66 implied HN points ā€¢ 08 Mar 26
šŸ’¼ Business Advertising Social media Artificial Intelligence Streaming Media Tech Platforms Creator Economy Privacy
  1. Big platforms are racing to upgrade ad, measurement, and creator tools ā€” from richer targeting and new measurement systems to unskippable TV ads and revamped creator subscriptions.
  2. AI is reshaping rules, privacy, and industry risk: copyright and legal standards are still unsettled, models can unmask users, and firms face lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, and new defense/contracting questions.
  3. The market is volatile ā€” unexpected job losses and large tech layoffs sit alongside big mergers and shifting ad spend, while platform policy changes are moving attention and revenue around the media ecosystem.

How Do You Know If Youā€™re a Good Leader?

Fish Food for Thought ā€¢ 42 implied HN points ā€¢ 11 Mar 26
šŸ’¼ Business Leadership Management Feedback Performance
  1. Doubt and introspection are part of good leadership, not proof you're failing. Managing uncertainty and reflecting privately helps you make clearer public decisions.
  2. You're judged differently by your boss, peers, and team, so evaluate yourself from all those angles. Combine those perspectives to get a more accurate picture of your leadership.
  3. Seek real feedback and take ownership of perceptions by doing a 360-style review and looking for patterns. If feedback is valid, acknowledge it and make a plan; if you disagree, still address the impact rather than arguing intent.

If You Do This, Your Emails Might Be Rude

Granted ā€¢ 16931 implied HN points ā€¢ 26 Mar 23
šŸ’¼ Business Communication Etiquette Networking Collaboration Feedback
  1. Don't require acknowledgment that an email was received. It can come off as needy or paranoid.
  2. Instead of directly asking someone to share your content, explain why it might interest them. They're more likely to share it out of genuine interest.
  3. When seeking feedback, focus on asking for advice on a specific issue rather than expecting a detailed critique.
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How Paul Krugman changed the public face of economics

Noahpinion ā€¢ 25647 implied HN points ā€¢ 11 Dec 24
šŸ’¼ Business Economics Macroeconomics Public Engagement
  1. Paul Krugman changed economics by making it more accessible and engaging. He believed that good ideas come from everyone, not just top experts.
  2. He played a key role in popularizing Keynesian economics, especially during the Great Recession. His work helped explain the importance of government spending to boost the economy.
  3. Krugman critiqued the academic hierarchy and encouraged open discussions. He showed that even big names in economics could be questioned, which opened the door for new ideas.

āš›ļø Why small reactors may be more than nuclear wishcasting

Faster, Please! ā€¢ 913 implied HN points ā€¢ 12 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business Energy Finance Investments Corporate strategy Infrastructure Policy
  1. Big companies signing deals for small reactors show the industry may finally get real customers and reliable capital it has long lacked.
  2. Still, past nuclear "renaissances" have faded, so optimism should be cautious and the burden is on proponents to prove the case.
  3. If corporate demand and steady financing actually translate into built and operated plants, small reactors could move beyond wishful thinking to practical impact on power supply and decarbonization.

āœØ AI agents are a real thing and doing real work

Faster, Please! ā€¢ 1005 implied HN points ā€¢ 08 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business AI Automation Productivity Logistics Enterprise Software
  1. AI agents are already automating routine office work and delivering measurable productivity gains inside companies. They handle tasks like quoting, order creation, and reconciliations at scale, saving time and labor.
  2. Big tech and cloud providers are pouring huge sums into AI infrastructure, so the industry is financially committed to getting returns even if superintelligence is farther off. That massive investment shifts the debate from if AI will matter to how those costs will pay off in practice.
  3. The impact is broad across logistics, finance, and customer service, where agents let firms do more with the same staff and decouple headcount from volume. That means slower hiring and fewer routine clerical roles, with remaining jobs shifting toward oversight and exception handling.

Founders - stop using AI to write your investor emails.

1517 Fund ā€¢ 787 implied HN points ā€¢ 15 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business Startups Fundraising Venture Capital Entrepreneurship Leadership Communication Investor Relations
  1. Investors can tell when emails are AI-generated, and that usually kills trust and makes them skip your message.
  2. How you write reveals how you think and make decisions, and polished AI copy hides those signals so investors can't judge your competence.
  3. Fundraising is about real relationships and your unique story, so outsourcing emails to AI looks lazy and flattens the personal edge that gets investors interested.

It's Still Easier To Imagine The End Of The World Than The End Of Capitalism

Astral Codex Ten ā€¢ 23813 implied HN points ā€¢ 02 Jan 25
šŸ’¼ Business Economics Inequality Capitalism Technology Wealth
  1. After the Singularity, wealth inequality might stay the same because AI will handle all labor. Everyone will earn similar returns on their investments, leading to a static distribution of wealth.
  2. Future wealth distribution could get more complicated with the birth of many descendants from rich individuals. This means those born into wealth might always have the advantage, creating a new kind of inequality over generations.
  3. To prevent extreme inequality, we might need government intervention or new ideas like wealth taxes to ensure that wealth is shared more fairly in a post-Singularity society.

Use the power of storytelling in tech to get promoted faster

High Growth Engineer ā€¢ 735 implied HN points ā€¢ 18 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business Leadership Communication Career Management Presentations Storytelling Soft skills
  1. Storytelling is essential to move into leadership in tech; technical skill alone wonā€™t show your executive presence, but a well-told story shapes how decision-makers feel and helps you get buy-in and promotions.
  2. Use the 4S framework ā€” Substance (focus on the listenerā€™s top priorities), Surplus (cut irrelevant process details), Sequence (start with the answer to create curiosity), and Style (use metaphors, pronouns, tense, and wake words to connect).
  3. Apply storytelling in presentations, interviews, and promotion talks: lead with a clear recommendation (BLUF), trim long setups, create an open loop to hold attention, and use relatable analogies and language to be memorable and likable.

The threat of Google Zero was always overblown

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter ā€¢ 274 implied HN points ā€¢ 06 Feb 26
šŸ’¼ Business Digital Media Streaming Advertising Subscriptions Podcasts Search Platforms
  1. The fear that AI 'Google Zero' would wipe out publisher traffic was exaggerated. AI summaries cut clicks on simple queries, but many searches are exploratory so people still visit multiple sources.
  2. YouTube has become a massive, profitable platform by combining ad and subscription revenue without paywalls, surpassing many streaming rivals in size. That success highlights the value of creator-friendly monetization and pressures other platforms to share revenue.
  3. Strong brands, diversified revenue (subscriptions, bundles, ads), and real audience engagement matter more than raw traffic. Companies that build loyal audiences or smart bundles can thrive even as search and AI change distribution.

What I Learned from Bob Cialdini

Remarkable People ā€¢ 339 implied HN points ā€¢ 28 Aug 24
šŸ’¼ Business Marketing Influence Psychology Entrepreneurship Ethics
  1. Reciprocity is powerful. When you do something nice for someone, they feel compelled to return the favor. This helps build trust and strong relationships.
  2. Cialdini's six principles of influence include social proof, authority, and scarcity. Using these ideas can make your messages more effective and persuasive.
  3. It's important to use persuasion ethically. The goal should be to create a win-win situation, where everyone feels good about the outcome.

How AI Disrupts Tech InvestingšŸ¤–, Five Steps to Nail Your Pitch DeckšŸŽÆ, SaaS RetentionšŸ“Š

The VC Corner ā€¢ 199 implied HN points ā€¢ 08 Sep 24
šŸ’¼ Business Venture Capital Startups Investment Strategies Pitch Decks Customer Retention
  1. AI is changing how investors look at tech. It creates new chances for startups and shifts investment strategies.
  2. For a successful pitch deck, focus on grabbing attention with key elements like your mission and unique value.
  3. SaaS companies are finding new ways to keep customers from leaving, as retention strategies are becoming more important in 2024.

What makes for a 'great place to work'?

Make Work Better ā€¢ 359 implied HN points ā€¢ 29 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business Leadership Culture Employee engagement Human Resources Talent development Organizational Behavior
  1. A great place to work has a healthy culture, clear career progression, autonomy, and genuine flexibility. People often join for pay but stay (or quit) because of culture.
  2. Corporate values and purpose statements can do more harm than good when theyā€™re treated as branding instead of behavior; employees distrust symbolic rollouts and want leaders to change systems and actions first. Leaders who embody values through visible behavior boost trust and engagement.
  3. Small, sincere acts that show people they matter (like focused attention) really change behavior, and leaders should prioritize impact over intent by listening, accepting challenge, and modeling the culture they claim to want.

Who's spending $80 a month on microdramas?

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter ā€¢ 349 implied HN points ā€¢ 30 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business Media Streaming Social media Creator Economy Subscriptions Advertising Publishing
  1. TikTok-like microdramas are making lots of money by using game-like, addictive monetization where viewers buy tokens or pay monthly to unlock short, low-budget episodes.
  2. The Washington Postā€™s relevance dropped sharply after its current publisher took control, and the data suggest much of that decline is self-inflicted.
  3. Paramount+ plans to add short-form video and user-generated content to its platform, but itā€™s unclear if it will share revenue with creators or rely on exposure to attract them.

GTM BenchmarksšŸ“Š, Age of Unicorn FoundersšŸ’°, Future of Sales with AIšŸ¤–

The VC Corner ā€¢ 359 implied HN points ā€¢ 25 Aug 24
šŸ’¼ Business Venture Capital Startups Sales Strategies Market Analysis
  1. GTM benchmarks are important for understanding how companies perform in the market. They help businesses know where they stand in comparison to others.
  2. The age of unicorn founders can influence the startup world. Younger founders might bring fresh ideas but can also face unique challenges.
  3. AI is shaping the future of sales. Businesses need to adapt and leverage AI tools to stay competitive and improve their sales strategies.

No one else will manage your career for you.

Tech and Tea ā€¢ 98 implied HN points ā€¢ 27 Feb 26
šŸ’¼ Business Leadership Management Training Professional development Talent development
  1. You are responsible for your own growth and career; you canā€™t outsource that responsibility to a manager or wait for someone else to steer you.
  2. A managerā€™s real job is the teamā€™s output over time ā€” to be a force multiplier, not just run meetings; that means being deliberate about when to unblock, coach, advocate, or step back and creating space to think strategically.
  3. There are practical courses and previews that teach these skills in audio-only, asynchronous formats to fit busy schedules, and early-bird pricing ends tomorrow.

#53 - Forward Deployed AI Engineers: Great Expectations?

OSS.fund Newsletter ā€¢ 18 implied HN points ā€¢ 19 Mar 26
šŸ’¼ Business AI Strategy Organizational Design Change Management Governance
  1. Forward Deployed Engineers can build and embed AI tools, but they alone canā€™t rewire how a company actually works; enterprise AI is mainly an organizational change problem, not just a deployment problem.
  2. Companies need an internal, load-bearing layerā€”functional leaders, process owners, risk, HR, finance and exec sponsorsā€”to redesign workflows, decision rights, incentives and vendor boundaries for AI to stick.
  3. The real talent gap will be people who can translate AI capability into operating-model change under real constraints, and the biggest advantage will come from making governance and the organization ready for AI, not just adding models to workflows.

Why Streaming Subscription Prices Will Continue to Rise

The Honest Broker ā€¢ 25300 implied HN points ā€¢ 02 Nov 24
šŸ’¼ Business Media Entertainment Pricing Strategy Consumer behavior
  1. Streaming subscription prices are increasing because companies are focusing on making more profit from fewer customers. They believe it's better to charge loyal users more instead of trying to attract new ones.
  2. The entertainment industry is cutting back on creating new content, which means we might see fewer movies and shows. This reduction is part of a strategy to maintain profits even as customer numbers decline.
  3. While big companies may struggle, this situation could open doors for indie creators. As larger companies shrink, new opportunities for creativity and innovation might arise for others.

OpenAI Frontier: The Implications

Enterprise AI Trends ā€¢ 295 implied HN points ā€¢ 07 Feb 26
šŸ’¼ Business Enterprise Strategy Startups Sales Consulting AI
  1. Incumbent vendors are aggressively bundling field engineering and whiteā€‘glove services to own the "last mile," which shrinks startups' ability to compete on goā€‘toā€‘market.
  2. New enterprise AI platforms that cut integration painā€”like bundled agent solutionsā€”make adoption much easier and can quickly displace niche vertical startups.
  3. Client demand for AI-driven cost savings is compressing consulting and services margins, threatening to commoditize the FDE/service model.

Cadeau : une formation gratuite

L'Atelier Galita ā€¢ 79 implied HN points ā€¢ 13 Oct 24
šŸ’¼ Business Marketing Sales Training Entrepreneurship Online Courses
  1. There's a free training available on how to sell if you don't like selling. It's a chance to learn useful skills without any cost.
  2. This training is available for a limited time of 24 hours, specifically for premium members. It's a special offer to appreciate loyal subscribers.
  3. The training focuses on the basics of copywriting, which can help improve selling techniques. Even if you're not a fan of sales, these tips can be valuable.

Ronald Coase, Abba Lerner, and the Calculation Controversy

David Friedmanā€™s Substack ā€¢ 359 implied HN points ā€¢ 06 Feb 26
šŸ’¼ Business Economic Theory Political Economy Organizational Theory Market design Public Choice
  1. The Lernerā€“Lange model tries to mimic market outcomes by having a central board set prices and firms produce where price equals marginal cost, but it runs into incentive problems because state-owned firms and workers can inflate costs when they arenā€™t residual claimants.
  2. Firms exist because using market prices has transaction costs like searching and bargaining, so organizing activities inside a firm can be cheaper; firms grow until rising managerial and coordination costs outweigh those transaction-cost savings.
  3. The practical implication is that neither pure planning nor pure markets are always best: mixed systems can combine the advantages of both, and centralized planning is more workable at small scales (families or communes) than across large societies.

Clouded Judgement 3.20.26 - Digital Twins

Clouded Judgement ā€¢ 14 implied HN points ā€¢ 20 Mar 26
šŸ’¼ Business SaaS AI Cloud Startups Valuation Knowledge Management
  1. Digital twins digitally capture human and institutional knowledge so AI agents can access and act on it, making knowledge representation the main bottleneck for scaling AI rather than model intelligence.
  2. They come in practical flavorsā€”workflow capture, institutional memory, expert twins, customer twins, and knowledge multiplicationā€”that help preserve knowā€‘how, raise the floor of performance, and enable continuous research without repeated manual effort.
  3. Building a personal or company digital twin lets you scale and even monetize expertise that used to be limited by time, so early adopters who package their knowledge will gain a big advantage.

TBM 403: The Seduction (And Folly) Of Rollups, Points, and (Most) Time Tracking

The Beautiful Mess ā€¢ 542 implied HN points ā€¢ 27 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business Product Management Team Management Organizational Design Metrics Project management Agile practices
  1. Rollups, story points, and detailed time tracking feel like neat accounting but are really proxies and guesses, and over-relying on them leads teams to game metrics or manage the proxy instead of the real work.
  2. Time allocation is not the same as capacity ā€” capacity is emergent and built over time ā€” so measurement approaches must match the nature of the system rather than forcing every team into a single rollup model.
  3. Focus on outcome-oriented, low-cost signals that support decisions (like releases, customer impact, dependencies, and flow metrics), connect work to goals when it makes sense, and use rough estimates instead of chasing false precision.

Are oil price spikes good for the U.S.?

Economic Forces ā€¢ 10 implied HN points ā€¢ 19 Mar 26
šŸ’¼ Business Energy Trade Macroeconomics Inflation Commodities Geopolitics
  1. The US is now a net exporter of oil and gas because of shale, so big oil price spikes produce a modest net gain for the country instead of a large national loss. That gain is small relative to GDP ā€” on the order of tens of billions a year.
  2. To first order the national effect is just net traded barrels times the price change (a simple rectangle), while quantity responses (elasticities) are a smaller triangle that trims importer losses but enlarges exporter gains.
  3. Gains are uneven: energy producers and owners capture most of the upside while workers and consumers face real-wage losses, and higher energy prices act as both a cost-push shock and a demand shift at home, raising inflation and complicating monetary policy.

Final Look at Local Housing Markets in January

CalculatedRisk Newsletter ā€¢ 86 implied HN points ā€¢ 02 Mar 26
šŸ’¼ Business Real Estate Housing Market Market Data Home Sales Home Prices Inventory Levels Mortgage Rates Regional Markets
  1. Existing home sales remain weak ā€” about 3.9 million SAAR and roughly 27% below preā€‘pandemic levels, and sales have been unusually low for more than three years.
  2. Housing inventory is rising yearā€‘overā€‘year and monthsā€‘ofā€‘supply are nearing preā€‘pandemic norms, which increases the chance that national prices could start to decline sometime in 2026.
  3. Prices are mixed: the national median is only slightly up yearā€‘overā€‘year, but some local markets (notably California) have seen significant price drops, so conditions vary a lot by region.

December 2025 Residential Construction

Erdmann Housing Tracker ā€¢ 189 implied HN points ā€¢ 20 Feb 26
šŸ’¼ Business Real Estate Construction Housing Market Housing supply Market Trends Economic data
  1. Recent Census estimates show residential construction is recovering very slowly, characterized as a "slow, boring" recovery. The recovery is modest rather than a strong rebound.
  2. A persistent housing supply shortage is the dominant factor for near-term construction trends and matters more than mortgage rates. That shortage largely determines how much new building occurs even as interest rates move.
  3. Understanding the current situation requires a long view of about thirty years of housing activity; the analysis connects past policies and market shifts to todayā€™s supply constraints. The narrative explains how historical trends helped create the present housing dynamics.

Stop Monitoring The Situation

Indian Bronson ā€¢ 12 implied HN points ā€¢ 09 Mar 26
šŸ’¼ Business Entrepreneurship Startups Productivity Technology Strategy Markets Careers
  1. Stop obsessively monitoring crises and let events unfold; doing so lowers stress and frees your attention for productive work.
  2. AI models and cheap infrastructure create rare, low-cost opportunities to build useful, monetizable services or automations.
  3. While many people are distracted by politics and war, focus this week on creating or automating something useful to gain an edge.

A Season of Creative Partnerships

Tech and Tea ā€¢ 164 implied HN points ā€¢ 18 Feb 26
šŸ’¼ Business Career Entrepreneurship Education Leadership Consulting Community
  1. Leaving full-time work opened up creative energy thatā€™s now being poured into collaborative projects with friends, and building together feels energizing and leverages complementary strengths.
  2. Practical offerings have been launchedā€”courses like DRI Your Career and EM Survival Guide plus a fractional leadership firm (Noodle Labs)ā€”all designed to be accessible, hands-on support for early-stage teams and managers.
  3. Making space for creativity is still a priority through a journaling course and small local projects like a neighborhood trinket trade box, emphasizing meaningful, joyful work over things that must scale.

Open Thread 408

Astral Codex Ten ā€¢ 2133 implied HN points ā€¢ 17 Nov 25
šŸ’¼ Business Economic Growth Development AI safety Work Culture
  1. There's a weekly open thread where anyone can post questions or share thoughts. It's a good space to connect with others.
  2. Open Philanthropy is seeking experienced grantmakers to help fund AI safety research with a budget of $100 million. It's a great opportunity for those with the right skills.
  3. A project called Growth Teams is looking into how countries can boost their economies through exports. They even made a resource called the Export Boom Atlas to share success stories.

What Makes a Good Product-Market Fit?šŸŽÆ, Global Markets SnapshotšŸ“Š, GDP Growth ProjectionsšŸ“ˆ

The VC Corner ā€¢ 419 implied HN points ā€¢ 18 Aug 24
šŸ’¼ Business Venture Capital Startups Market Trends Economic Growth Product Development
  1. A good product-market fit means the product meets the needs of its target audience. This ensures customers find value and want to buy it.
  2. Global market snapshots help investors understand economic trends and make informed decisions. Keeping an eye on these trends can lead to better investment choices.
  3. GDP growth projections are important indicators of a country's economic health. They can show how well an economy is doing and influence business strategies.

The Insufferable Bros Who Run Corporate America

BIG by Matt Stoller ā€¢ 56953 implied HN points ā€¢ 26 Dec 23
šŸ’¼ Business Monopolies Corporate culture Antitrust enforcement Pharmaceutical industry Marketing
  1. The pharmaceutical industry is heavily influenced by aggressive marketing campaigns targeted at doctors, controlled by corporations like IQVIA.
  2. IQVIA, a major player in the healthcare industry, is involved in a trial over a merger that could impact the future of advertising to healthcare professionals.
  3. The FTC alleges that IQVIA's acquisition of advertising firms like DeepIntent could lead to a monopolization of the healthcare provider advertising platform market.

Don't Snooze on Substack Notes. The Opportunities for Writers Are Stupid Crazy | Interview with David Mcllroy

Kristina God's Online Writing Club ā€¢ 3037 implied HN points ā€¢ 02 May 24
šŸ’¼ Business Writing Social media Content creation Marketing Entrepreneurship
  1. Substack Notes is a great place for writers to grow their audience without the hassle of traditional social media. It allows you to own your following and make real connections.
  2. Many writers are not using Substack Notes effectively, missing out on its community benefits. Engaging with this feature can lead to rapid growth in subscribers.
  3. Substack Notes is ad-free and helps writers discover one another, creating a refreshing social media experience focused on writing and community.

five links for February 2026

Five Links (and three graphs) by Auren Hoffman ā€¢ 348 implied HN points ā€¢ 29 Jan 26
šŸ’¼ Business Venture Capital Technology Economics Entrepreneurship Personal Development Networking
  1. High taxes on unrealized gains can push top taxpayers and huge sums of wealth out of a country. Tax policy can therefore quickly change where money and people choose to locate.
  2. In AI, giving systems more compute and letting them learn often beats trying to program human-like intelligence. Scale and general methods have repeatedly outperformed hand-designed, specialized tricks.
  3. Living closer to friends and practicing better conversation habits massively improves happiness and relationships. Don't hijack topics; keep turns short and ask follow-ups to build rapport.

Apply For An ACX Grant (2025)

Astral Codex Ten ā€¢ 6469 implied HN points ā€¢ 24 Jul 25
šŸ’¼ Business Grants Funding Nonprofits Startups Philanthropy
  1. ACX Grants is a program that gives small amounts of money to support charitable or scientific projects. This year, they aim to distribute around $1 million in grants.
  2. Applicants can expect grants to range from $5,000 to $50,000, with a few potentially hitting $100,000. The application process is quick, taking about 15 to 30 minutes.
  3. Grantees will not only receive financial support but also potential networking opportunities and help from the program's leaders to promote their projects.

How much software budget do you need for an early stage fund?

The VC Corner ā€¢ 459 implied HN points ā€¢ 14 Aug 24
šŸ’¼ Business Venture Capital Startup funding Technology Tools Financial planning
  1. You need a solid tech stack to improve efficiency in early-stage funds. This helps you manage tasks better and focus on high-impact work.
  2. A basic software budget for productivity can be around $1.2K per year per person, with additional costs for add-ons and data sources.
  3. Understanding your goals and resource needs is essential when choosing tools. Investing in the right data sources and proper tech can really boost your fund's performance.