The hottest Growth Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Level Up Your RevOps Career

beyondrevenueoperations • 0 implied HN points • 19 Oct 24
💼 Business Growth
  1. RevOps is key to business success, bringing sales, marketing, and customer success teams together to grow revenue. Choosing the right career path in RevOps can greatly influence your impact.
  2. There are two main paths in RevOps: the technical path, which focuses on data analysis and tools, and the strategic path, which emphasizes revenue strategy and leadership. Each path offers unique opportunities and challenges.
  3. Combining technical and strategic skills can create a powerful professional. This 'T-shaped' skillset helps you make better decisions and improve business outcomes.

#36 Navattic's PLG funnel with Natalie Marcotullio

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 12 Nov 24
💼 Business Growth
  1. Navattic creates interactive product demos that help marketing and sales teams showcase their products. This gives potential customers a hands-on experience before they decide to buy.
  2. Word of mouth is their best-performing channel. People love sharing tools that are free to try, and this has helped increase their referrals since launching a freemium plan.
  3. When hiring a marketer, it's crucial to know what role you really need. Understanding your specific marketing goals can help you find the right person for your team.

SaaS Funnels - What's holding you back?

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 29 Oct 24
💼 Business Growth
  1. Many SaaS funnels are underperforming, which is a common issue that needs attention.
  2. There's a need for guides that focus on practical and actionable steps to improve SaaS funnels.
  3. Understanding specific challenges and questions around funnel optimization can help create better resources.

A Founder's Guide to Exit Readiness: Pivotal Questions

Meliora by Ana Stoica • 0 implied HN points • 22 Nov 24
💼 Business Growth
  1. Think about why you want to exit your business. It's important to consider what your personal goals are beyond just money, like retirement or starting something new.
  2. Be realistic about your business's value. Sometimes it's hard to see your business clearly, so getting an unbiased opinion on what it's worth can help when negotiating.
  3. Prepare for life after exiting. You should have a plan for what you'll do next and understand that leaving a business can feel really different, so it's good to know what comes next.

Databricks’ gigantic funding round

philsiarri • 0 implied HN points • 17 Dec 24
💼 Business Growth
  1. Databricks just raised $10 billion, boosting its value to $62 billion. This money will help them pay employees, buy other companies, and grow internationally.
  2. The company provides data analytics and AI tools on big cloud platforms like Amazon and Google. They expect to generate $3 billion in revenue by early 2025.
  3. Several big investors are backing Databricks, and while they haven't said for sure, they might go public with an IPO sometime in 2025.
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#19 The Fresh Outlook: Articles and insights for founders and teams

Meliora by Ana Stoica • 0 implied HN points • 29 Dec 24
💼 Business Growth
  1. Founders should focus on their mindset when planning for a business exit. This can help them have a better experience during the transition.
  2. Emotional detachment and building a support network are important when leaving a company. It’s good to have people around you who understand what you’re going through.
  3. Taking care of yourself during this time is crucial. Prioritizing self-care will help you navigate changes and plan for the future successfully.

Next Tuesday will be amazing

Respectful Leadership • 0 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. The main event next Tuesday will feature great speakers on starting and growing successful businesses.
  2. There are still tickets available for the Happy Hour event at 4:30 PM, so people can join for drinks.
  3. If you can't attend this Tuesday, there will be another event on February 27th with more speakers and networking opportunities.

To grow you must build a beautiful, pragmatic, innovative and agile bureaucracy

Respectful Leadership • 0 implied HN points • 12 Jan 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Bureaucracy can be helpful for businesses. It helps manage money and keeps things organized so the company can grow smoothly.
  2. Having a flat organization can be risky. As a company gets bigger, it's important to add controls and processes to avoid chaos and potential financial issues.
  3. Deciding how to organize a company isn't easy. Leaders need to balance centralization and decentralization carefully to ensure everything runs well.

#20 The Fresh Outlook: Articles and insights for founders and teams

Meliora by Ana Stoica • 0 implied HN points • 29 Jan 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Thinking about money over time is really important for business owners when they plan to sell their company. It helps them understand how to maximize what they get from the sale.
  2. Navigating an exit can be emotional and complicated. Founders should prepare for both the personal and financial aspects to ensure a smoother transition.
  3. Staying informed and learning from resources like articles and insights can really help founders with their growth strategies and better decision-making.

The Value of Money in Time: A Critical Factor in Your Exit Strategy

Meliora by Ana Stoica • 0 implied HN points • 22 Jan 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Money has a time value, meaning getting cash now is better than getting the same amount later. This is important to remember when planning your exit.
  2. Consider not just the total payout but also how and when you'll get the money. Upfront payments or quicker payouts are usually better than delayed big sums.
  3. Negotiating the right deal structure can help reduce risks and uncertainties. Think about your personal needs and make sure the deal aligns with your financial goals.

The Role of Firm Mergers in Innovation and Economic Growth

Rafael’s Commentary • 0 implied HN points • 02 Feb 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Mergers can impact innovation and economic growth in both positive and negative ways. A balanced approach to merger policy is needed to encourage growth while keeping competition healthy.
  2. It's more important for merger policies to focus on making it easy for new companies to enter markets rather than just preventing big companies from merging. Low entry barriers help maintain competition over time.
  3. Using price-based rules for approving mergers can lead to better outcomes than just focusing on market concentration. Keeping an eye on price changes allows for more flexibility in allowing mergers without harming consumers.

#39 Free Tiers: A Backward Strategy

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 20 Feb 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Free tiers can be more harmful than helpful for many SaaS companies. They often attract users who don’t convert to paying customers, which can drain resources.
  2. Instead of launching with a free tier, focus on getting a small group of paying users early on. This allows for valuable feedback and steady income.
  3. Only consider adding a free tier after establishing a solid product and user base. At that point, it can help expand your market without overwhelming your resources.

#24 The Fresh Outlook: Articles and insights for founders and teams

Meliora by Ana Stoica • 0 implied HN points • 29 May 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Navigating a business exit means thinking about negotiation carefully. It's not just about the price, but how to structure the deal for long-term success.
  2. Preparation is key for founders looking to make a successful transition. They need to engage strategically and consider expert advice to get favorable terms.
  3. Asking the right questions about the deal can help in making better strategic decisions. It's important to think deeply about the options available during this phase.

Template: Exercise to balance Fuel & Engine

MKT1 Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 31 Jul 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Finding the right mix of 'Fuel' and 'Engine' is key for startup growth. If these two are not balanced, it can hinder progress.
  2. Evaluating your startup's Fuel and Engine helps you identify what's holding you back. This can accelerate your brand development.
  3. You can access resources and templates that provide tools to help balance your startup's Fuel and Engine effectively.

#44 Reviving a dead YouTube channel from 30 to 1000 subscribers

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 22 Aug 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. If a YouTube channel isn't growing, it might just need a fresh strategy. Sometimes slow progress gives valuable insights for improvement.
  2. Using short, engaging videos can really help attract viewers and subscribers. It's about creating content that people find easy to watch and share.
  3. Balancing reach and resonance is key to success. You want your videos to reach lots of people while also connecting with your target audience.

The Growth Desert (and how to cross it)

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 02 Dec 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Many early-stage SaaS founders hit a "growth desert" around $1k–$15k MRR where early hacks stop working, churn rises, and revenue stalls.
  2. Fixing it requires a repeatable system instead of random marketing — focus on three engines: retention (a Shadow Concierge protocol), pricing that targets a "Level 3 Niche", and building one scalable acquisition channel.
  3. There’s a limited founding-member option offering a discounted price and 1-on-1 email support for a small cohort in exchange for honest feedback.

I’m not doing a Black Friday sale

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 28 Nov 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. Black Friday-style discounts are being avoided because they turn serious products into cheap commodities.
  2. A hands-on SaaS Growth OS is being offered for founders stuck at $1k–$15k MRR to diagnose bottlenecks, plug retention leaks, and build one scalable acquisition channel — it’s not a video course or a swipe file.
  3. A Founding Member cohort opens Tuesday, December 2 at 10 AM EST with only 15 spots, lower pricing, and personal email support; reply "Interested" for first access.

ARR is dead. Long live VRR

Experiments with NLP and GPT-3 • 0 implied HN points • 27 Dec 25
💼 Business Growth
  1. ARR can overstate the value of AI products because it counts one-off or novelty-driven payments; VRR measures sustainable revenue by applying a Utility Decay Coefficient based on workflow integration, model independence, and churn.
  2. Investors should run cohort utility audits and calculate a VRR gap using metrics like boring-day ratio, month-5 retention, integration depth, and model independence to separate ‘vibe’ revenue from durable revenue.
  3. VRR changes valuation logic by penalizing short-lived, novelty revenue to avoid inflated paper valuations and focus on products that create real habits and deep integrations.

Oxygen Monopolies

Digital Native • 0 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
💼 Business Growth
  1. Make your company synonymous with a clear category early so you become the go-to name in that space. Great product is the foundation, but strong marketing and positioning amplify how far you can go.
  2. Tell your own narrative and be proactive — if you don’t define your story someone else will take the spotlight. As categories get crowded, your message must get more specific.
  3. Hire a growth or brand marketer earlier than you think so distribution, messaging, and creative execution aren’t an afterthought. Put growth and brand skills on your early team to stay top-of-mind both online and offline.

A couple teenagers launched a media company that now drives 240 billion annual views

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
💼 Business Growth
  1. Pubity Group became a massive platform-native media network with roughly 170 million followers and about 240 billion annual views, sustaining that scale across multiple platform cycles without outside capital.
  2. The founder learned the platforms early by experimenting and treating posting like a game, using systematic testing to figure out what content scales.
  3. The company is turning platform-native virality into longer-term value by leaning into wholesome content as a business opportunity and building durable brands, original franchises, and real revenue.

#49 A GTM Framework for the New Epoch

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 20 Feb 26
💼 Business Growth
  1. Shift GTM from volume to precision: prioritize meaningful, contextual outreach and use AI to improve thinking and targeting, not just to scale activity.
  2. Run high-signal outbound with an adaptive, quantifiable ICP and signal-based qualification; let AI assist but keep humans in the loop to avoid burning TAM and improve conversion.
  3. Align multi-channel inbound with a machine-readable Strategic Manifest so autonomous agents produce consistent, high-trust content, and embed human oversight plus feedback loops to refine strategy over time.

why finding real problems is everything

Organic SaaS Growth • 0 implied HN points • 25 Feb 26
💼 Business Growth
  1. Most growth problems in early-stage SaaS aren't what they first look like; surface symptoms often hide the real issue.
  2. Founders often keep trying new tactics and channels because they haven't diagnosed where growth is actually breaking.
  3. The right move is to find the root cause of the slowdown and fix that instead of constantly experimenting with new growth hacks.