The hottest Community Building Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

New read-aloud voices, quote restacks, and Note stats

Substack • 551 implied HN points • 18 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. Substack has introduced new ways to share quotes, making it easier for readers to customize and share their favorite parts of posts. This fresh look helps quotes stand out better.
  2. Publishers can now track how their Notes are performing with stats showing new subscribers, clicks, and shares. This can help creators understand what their audience likes.
  3. There are new text-to-speech voices available to enhance the listening experience for readers. Publishers can pick different voices for their posts, making listening more enjoyable.

High Growth Engineer Update/Break

High Growth Engineer • 586 implied HN points • 01 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. The writer is taking a break for at least four weeks to recharge and think about what they want to focus on moving forward. This time off is important for their mental health.
  2. When they return, there won't be a strict weekly writing schedule. They plan to prioritize quality over quantity and write when they feel inspired.
  3. The writer has ideas for new projects, like building AI tools, writing a book, or starting a community for discussions. They want to use the extra time effectively to provide more value.

Reflections on 2024 and Exciting Plans for 2025

Confessions of a Code Addict • 529 implied HN points • 18 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. The community grew a lot in 2024, from 4,212 to about 9,380 readers. This shows that more people are enjoying the content and getting involved.
  2. There will be new perks for paid subscribers in 2025. This includes early access to articles and a new series sharing resources and interesting materials.
  3. Upcoming live sessions will include interactive discussions on research papers. This will help everyone understand complex topics better together.

Why Kids Need Summer Camp

After Babel • 1147 implied HN points • 12 Mar 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Community Building
  1. Summer camps provide a tech-free environment where children interact face-to-face, fostering strong bonds and a sense of community.
  2. Camp activities are novel and fun, encouraging children to embrace challenges and step out of their comfort zones.
  3. Camp counselors act as positive role models, encouraging campers to try new things and showcasing a life without constant connection to devices.

Growing From Analyst To Data Engineer In 100 Days

SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter • 1165 implied HN points • 02 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. Breaking into data engineering may be easier through lateral moves, like from data analyst to data engineer.
  2. The 100-day plan discussed is not meant to master data engineering but to help commit to learning and identify areas for improvement.
  3. The plan includes reviewing basics, diving deeper, building a mini project, surveying tools, best practices, and committing to a final project.
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It’s High Time We Finally Fund The “In-Betweeners”

America 2.0 (by Gary Sheng) • 275 implied HN points • 16 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. In-Betweeners are essential public servants who connect different organizations and fill gaps in service.
  2. In-Betweeners are undervalued and struggle financially due to their unique and often unrecognized contributions.
  3. Funding In-Betweeners can lead to more efficient allocation of resources, drive innovation, and benefit society as a whole.

Intrusion Truth Methods: How Can They Get It Right Again and Again?

Natto Thoughts • 79 implied HN points • 10 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. Intrusion Truth has a track record of correctly identifying Chinese threat actors tied to APT groups, leading to US DoJ indictments.
  2. Their success stems from starting investigations by leveraging report findings, receiving tips, and exploring science and technology companies in specific regions.
  3. Intrusion Truth's methods showcase the value of outdated research, the importance of community collaboration for threat hunting, and the need for deep understanding of the threat environment.

Interview with Carol Coletta: Why Public Space is Fundamental to Democracy

The New Urban Order • 119 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. Growing up in Memphis, Carol Coletta's love for urban environments and interaction with diverse communities sparked her interest in city development.
  2. Leadership in city initiatives can come from unexpected places, showing the importance of finding and fostering leadership across different sectors.
  3. The impact of public spaces like parks goes beyond recreation, serving as a crucial platform to promote social connection, equity, and community building.

Writing Prompt: What movement does the world need right now?

The Novelleist • 412 implied HN points • 29 Nov 24
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. We are facing a time of change and uncertainty, and we have opportunities to shape the future. It's a chance to creatively think about what the world needs right now.
  2. Writing is important, but taking action is also necessary. We should focus on building movements that align with the changes we want to see.
  3. There are many areas to explore for creating change, like politics, economics, or philosophy. We should brainstorm actionable ideas to make those changes happen.

Create good problems to have

Subconscious • 830 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. Create good problems to have after the flywheel is already spinning, during rapid growth, which motivates the ecosystem to solve problems.
  2. Avoid building perfect technology as it leads to front-loading work, needing an ecosystem flywheel, and inability to anticipate scale problems.
  3. Creating good problems to have encourages co-evolution with the community and provides opportunities for others to contribute.

Thinking About Southeast Asia & Intellectual Work | #303

Boundless by Paul Millerd • 101 implied HN points • 22 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. Community and collaboration can enhance intellectual work. Sometimes, working with others can lead to greater insights than working alone.
  2. Exploring new ideas without a clear goal can spark creativity. Not having a set destination allows for unexpected discoveries and innovative thinking.
  3. Flexible and open-minded exploration, like in Southeast Asia's diverse culture, can inspire new ways of thinking and problem-solving.

Thank You for 100k: A Journey Through 2024 and Beyond

SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter • 294 implied HN points • 31 Dec 24
💼 Business Community Building
  1. In 2024, I gained over 100,000 subscribers on both YouTube and Substack. I really appreciate the support and plan to create even better content next year.
  2. This year showed trends like cloud data migrations and smaller, fractional data teams, which are changing how companies handle data. It's important to keep an eye on these shifts in the data world.
  3. Looking ahead to 2025, I want to finish my book on data leadership and offer more webinars and mini-courses. I'm excited to engage even more with my readers and build a community.

Seattle Data Guy In 2024

SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter • 871 implied HN points • 26 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. Seattle Data Guy's work in 2023 involved filming videos, virtual conferences, and writing articles and newsletters.
  2. Client trends in 2023 showed shifts towards greenfield projects, solution design, marketing, and education.
  3. Popular articles in 2023 covered topics like data modeling, breaking out of tutorial hell, and essential templates for data analytics.

Free Sociology

Bet On It • 246 implied HN points • 07 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. Sociology often seems aligned with progressive views, making it seem like sociology and libertarianism are opposites. However, there are ways for them to connect and have important discussions.
  2. Many classical liberal ideas can lead to important research questions in sociology, especially about how free markets can help reduce poverty. This perspective is different from the common focus on the inevitability of poverty in capitalism.
  3. There is a need for a different approach within sociology that appreciates freedoms like free speech and limited government, rather than just focusing on government regulation or anti-capitalist views.

💐 Introducing our Community Stewards Guild.

New_ Public • 196 implied HN points • 23 Jul 23
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. The Community Stewards Guild aims to build healthy digital public spaces with the help of community leaders.
  2. The Guild is focused on equitable design, historic expertise, resource-building, and creating a network of community stewards.
  3. Meet the inaugural class of Community Stewards and learn about their commitment to community building.

A Year of Ordinary Time

Justin E. H. Smith's Hinternet • 794 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Community Building
  1. The author will be moving to a paid subscription model in 2024 to maintain quality content.
  2. The author expresses concerns about the direction Substack is taking, especially with a focus on non-fiction over fiction.
  3. 2023 was a year of significant personal developments for the author, including finding faith, appreciating art, and changing his name.

Ruby Thelot: A Eulogy for Checkpoints

Do Not Research • 179 implied HN points • 11 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. Checkpoints on YouTube started as a digital behavior in the comment section, reflecting user openness and vulnerability.
  2. YouTube comments section acts as a digital 'third place,' where users share semi-anonymously, similar to ancient city walls used for writing.
  3. Checkpoint stories highlight the importance of considering the fragility of digital infrastructures and the need for community memory preservation.

EchoShadow

Nonlinear • 176 implied HN points • 24 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. Immigrant parents faced significant hardships and challenges to establish their lives in a new country.
  2. EchoShadow was an online community that provided support and connection for parents, fostering deep relationships and meaningful projects.
  3. The impact of EchoShadow extended to the next generation, shaping the lives and connections of Echo babies who grew up within the community.

Continuing the Club for the Glue People

Lessons • 157 implied HN points • 19 Mar 23
💼 Business Community Building
  1. The Club for the Glue People is a community that brings joy and learning through experiments and discussions.
  2. Key topics discussed include alignment, org design, letting go, and culture.
  3. The community is launching its second cohort and an annual membership, inviting like-minded individuals to join.

Pratik's Year in Review: 2025

Pratik’s Pakodas 🍿 • 8 implied HN points • 02 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. AI agents and skill-based subagents let you run many tasks in parallel and move work forward continuously. This shifts the role from single-threaded coder to an orchestrator who delegates, evaluates, and scales output.
  2. Building a community depends on habits and critical mass more than platform features; migrating people to a new platform requires heavy outreach, patience, and active admins. Tools help, but sustained engagement is earned through social habits, not just better functionality.
  3. Measure and design life around 'great days' by engineering conditions that produce them — prioritize sleep, consistent healthy habits, slack time, and small experiments. Small rituals and intentional choices matter more for long-term happiness than chasing big achievements.

Post stats in the app, video clipping, and a new masterclass for creators

Substack • 360 implied HN points • 04 Jul 24
💼 Business Community Building
  1. The Substack app now has a feature to show important stats for posts, helping creators see where their new subscribers come from.
  2. There's a new video clipper tool to help users create short video clips easily from their content.
  3. Substack is offering a masterclass specifically for video creators, providing them with valuable insights and skills.

How writers, podcasters, and creators are building real communities on Substack

Substack • 409 implied HN points • 02 May 24
💼 Business Community Building
  1. Using chat features on Substack helps writers attract more subscribers. When creators use chat, they often see 10% more subscribers at launch.
  2. Paywalled chat conversations can significantly boost paid subscriptions. Writers who have these chats are growing their revenue twice as fast as those without.
  3. Regular chat participation keeps subscribers engaged. Creators with ongoing chats are 12% more likely to retain their paid readers.

Tech Talks Weekly #9 ☀️ ☀️ ☀️

Tech Talks Weekly • 39 implied HN points • 04 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. Recent tech talks from big conferences like GOTO and KubeCon are highlighted. It's a great opportunity to learn from industry experts.
  2. There's a new section showcasing popular talks from past issues. This helps viewers discover content that others found useful.
  3. The newsletter encourages sharing it with friends and coworkers to build a community around tech talks. More recommendations mean more engagement and learning together.

Put on your beginner hat!

box. • 159 implied HN points • 24 Apr 23
🚌 Education Community Building
  1. It's important to not limit yourself to one label, like 'engineer' or 'leadership kid.' Embrace all your skills and interests to grow as a person.
  2. Breaking down barriers between different groups, like tech and leadership, can lead to personal growth and better teamwork. Everyone has something valuable to share.
  3. Community support is key in learning new things. When we help each other, we all grow together and create a better environment for everyone.

Being an idiot and writing your newsletter - an interview I did for Creator Spotlight

Both Are True • 139 implied HN points • 19 Nov 24
😂 Humor Community Building
  1. Building a newsletter can be a journey of personal expression and growth. Being honest in your writing helps connect with your audience.
  2. Working with other creators and communities can really help you grow your audience and improve your content. Collaboration makes things more fun and effective.
  3. It's okay to not have everything figured out. Embrace mistakes and keep learning as you go. Just talk to people about your work and take it seriously, but also keep it light.

Food is a Battleground

Vittles • 310 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🍲 Food & Drink Community Building
  1. Food is often used as a tool of control by employers of live-in nannies and domestic workers.
  2. The family worker exemption policy excludes live-in childcare workers from UK employment rights, leading to exploitative conditions.
  3. Eating restrictions and limitations imposed on nannies and au pairs in their workplace can lead to feelings of shame, isolation, and mistreatment.

Introducing At The Door

At The Door • 78 implied HN points • 01 Jun 23
🎶 Music Community Building
  1. In the competitive music industry, telling a unique story is crucial for standing out.
  2. Embracing ordinary aspects of creation can hold value and interest.
  3. Celebrate the small victories and connections rather than focusing solely on broad success.

Introducing QF Cities

Quantum Formalism • 39 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
🚌 Education Community Building
  1. QF Cities is an initiative by Quantum Formalism to create local hubs for learning math and quantum information science.
  2. They are looking for volunteers to run QF programs in their cities and require proof of at least ten participants to request sponsorship.
  3. The timelines for the QF Cities program include an application deadline of March 22 and a kickstart date of June 21.

The Covid Underground

Activist Futurism • 79 implied HN points • 03 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture Community Building
  1. Counter-cultures can have a significant historical impact despite being a minority.
  2. Covid Zeros prioritize scientifically proven methods to reduce the risk of Covid transmission.
  3. Covid Zero communities are forming in response to concerns about mainstream society's approach to Covid.

2022 Introspective

Technology Made Simple • 99 implied HN points • 27 Dec 22
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. The newsletter is going on break till January 5th to recharge and will have a 'start here' section for newcomers.
  2. More AI/Machine Learning content will be integrated into the newsletter on specific days to cater to a general audience.
  3. The growth of the newsletter was mainly influenced by partnerships, Substack recommendations, and content on other platforms including LinkedIn and Medium.

Space Ambition: the best of 2022

Space Ambition • 139 implied HN points • 30 Dec 22
🔬 Science Community Building
  1. The Space Ambition community has grown significantly, reaching over 2,000 readers from around the world and including deep tech investors and space agencies. This shows a growing interest in space technology and entrepreneurship.
  2. The team is excited about upcoming events in 2023 and is planning to host more offline meetups in various countries. They encourage readers to get involved and reach out if interested.
  3. The best-read articles from 2022 cover important topics like challenges of living on Mars, the history and future of space stations, and how food supplies are managed on space missions.

Join me on Notes

Knowledge Problem • 58 implied HN points • 11 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Community Building
  1. There's a new space called Notes on Substack for sharing various content like links, short posts, and more.
  2. As a subscriber to Knowledge Problem, you can automatically see the author's notes where you can like, reply, or share them around.
  3. Readers can also share their own notes on this platform and it's envisioned as a space for sharing thoughts and ideas.

“Off” the newsletter break

Bold & Open • 39 implied HN points • 10 Dec 23
💼 Business Community Building
  1. The author is returning to writing newsletters after a two-year break and is excited to share new content with subscribers.
  2. During the break, they explored various projects, like coaching and writing, to find out what they were passionate about and what would benefit their audience.
  3. The focus for the new newsletter phase will be on open organizations and communities, showcasing success stories and providing insights for readers.