The hottest Product Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Design Topics

Sam Altman’s GPT5 Tweet: Line by Line Analysis

Enterprise AI Trends • 295 implied HN points • 14 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Product Business Innovation Market
  1. GPT-5 will simplify how users interact with AI by combining different models into one. This means users won’t need to learn about what each model does, making it easier for everyone to use.
  2. There will be different levels of intelligence that users can access by paying more. This 'pay-for-sophistication' model allows users to get better answers while also helping OpenAI make more money.
  3. GPT-5 will act like a smart assistant that decides how to process user requests. This means better performance and less complexity for developers, as the AI will automatically choose the best way to respond.

How Duolingo reignited user growth

Lenny's Newsletter • 9571 implied HN points • 28 Feb 23
💼 Business Tech Marketing Growth Product Leadership
  1. Duolingo achieved 4.5x user growth over four years through innovative strategies like leaderboards and push notifications.
  2. Their focus on improving retention over new user acquisition led to significant improvements in engagement metrics.
  3. Using data and models, like Zynga and MyFitnessPal did, helped Duolingo identify North Star metrics and drive growth effectively.

One-on-one coaching moment for paid subscribers

Ageling on Agile • 39 implied HN points • 09 Oct 24
💼 Business Coaching Management Leadership Agile Product
  1. One-on-one coaching sessions are available for paid subscribers. These sessions allow for personal engagement on topics like Agile, Product Management, and Leadership.
  2. Each subscriber can have six half-hour coaching moments a year. These moments can help clarify work-related issues and provide guidance.
  3. Feedback from subscribers shows that the coaching is valuable. Many find the insights helpful for understanding their challenges and finding solutions.

The definitive product positioning framework

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 749 implied HN points • 04 Dec 24
💼 Business Marketing Startups Strategy Sales Product
  1. Choosing the right customer segment is crucial for your product's success. Different segments have different needs, and you need to focus your strategy accordingly.
  2. Positioning isn't something you can just test quickly with A/B tests. It's more of a strategic choice you make at a higher level, affecting how you market and present your product.
  3. Your homepage is the best place to show your product's positioning. It should be clear and accessible, so everyone inside and outside the company understands it.

Our first try at PLG nearly failed. Here's what we did next.

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 354 implied HN points • 08 Jan 25
💼 Business Startups Marketing Sales Product Growth
  1. The team turned around low activation and conversion rates by improving their onboarding process. They made it easier for users to get started and better understood how to use the product.
  2. They used data from user feedback and behavior to identify problem areas in their product. This helped them find ways to create a smoother experience for users.
  3. By adding gentle reminders and prompts in their product, they encouraged free users to explore paid options. This strategy increased their free-to-paid conversion rate significantly.
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Gemini 2.0 Pro, Diffusion model for video restoration, OmniHuman , o3-mini, Deep Research in ChatGPT and Open-source DeepResearch, GitHub Agent mode, Arena-Price Plot, Pikadditions and more

AI Brews • 10 implied HN points • 07 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Software Innovation Research Product
  1. Gemini 2.0 Pro has been updated, bringing new features and improvements to Google's AI offerings.
  2. Topaz Labs introduced a diffusion model that can enhance old videos to high-resolution, making it easier to restore low-quality footage.
  3. ByteDance's new AI system, OmniHuman, animates photographs into realistic videos, leading to more lifelike movements and speech from still images.

Are You Doing Product Management or Bullshit Management?

Untrapping Product Teams • 687 implied HN points • 10 May 23
💼 Business Management Product Decision-making Stakeholders
  1. Companies often misunderstand the role of product management, focusing more on pleasing stakeholders than solving end-users' problems.
  2. Bullshit management happens when product managers get stuck in tasks unrelated to actual product management, like gathering requirements from stakeholders or attending numerous meetings.
  3. To escape bullshit management, focus on evidence-based decision-making, empower teams to make decisions, prioritize learning over planning, and resist anti-patterns that hinder product management success.

Simplifying your product strategy is a competitive advantage

amivora • 11 implied HN points • 22 Jan 25
💼 Business Strategy Product Marketing Innovation Entrepreneurship Competition
  1. Keeping your product simple can help you stand out in a crowded market. People appreciate products that are easy to understand and use.
  2. It's important to focus on what makes your product essential, instead of trying to add too many features. This helps users quickly see the value.
  3. Prioritizing what to keep and what to cut is key. If you're not willing to cut things that seem valuable, you might not be prioritizing deeply enough.

Please take our programming assessment with an LLM

Creating Value from Nothing • 185 implied HN points • 05 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Engineering AI Product Remote work
  1. Clipboard Health is using real-case programming problems in their hiring process. This helps them see how candidates actually work and fit into their async work culture.
  2. They believe that using LLMs, like chatbots or AI tools, is okay during assessments. They see these tools as standard parts of a modern engineer's toolkit, not as cheats.
  3. By allowing LLM use, they hope to create better assessments that truly evaluate a candidate's skill, helping to find the best engineers for their team.

Leaving product analytics

timo's substack • 314 implied HN points • 05 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Analytics Product Data Warehousing
  1. Product analytics tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, and Heap are evolving to offer new features like marketing attribution and user experience analytics.
  2. New players in the market like Kubit are focusing on providing product analytics directly on cloud data warehouses.
  3. The future of analytics is moving towards event analytics, opening up new possibilities and challenges for businesses.

Now live for all: Substack Notes

Substack Blog • 748 HN points • 11 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Product Network Content Subscription Mobile Apps
  1. Substack Notes is a new space for sharing short-form content and connecting with other writers and readers on the Substack platform.
  2. Notes can help writers grow their audience and revenue by sharing links, images, quick thoughts, and snippets from Substack posts.
  3. Writers can use Notes to recommend others' work, share commentary and inspiration, 'restack' a quote, and provide a behind-the-scenes look into their content.

Roundup: Google Gemini, "Service-as-a-Software" and A New Era for SaaS Margins

Good Better Best • 2 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI SaaS Product Pricing Innovation
  1. Google has bundled its Gemini AI with Workspace plans, making it cheaper for users but risking lower profits. This strategy may help them gain more customers quickly.
  2. Human support will be essential for using AI effectively. Even with AI tools, we still need humans to refine the results and handle complex tasks.
  3. Different companies are adopting various pricing models for their AI services. Google's approach focuses on getting users to adopt their technology, while Microsoft is looking to charge more based on usage.

#119 A creature of design

Design Lobster • 319 implied HN points • 03 Oct 22
🪑 Design Product Quote
  1. Design can be inspired by animal qualities, leading to creative and functional designs like kinetic sculptures and supportive chairs for pets.
  2. Consider how movement can enhance your design - like Theo Jansen's sculptures that stride gracefully due to specific joint lengths.
  3. DIY design solutions, like the Bailey chair for dogs with megaesophagus, can have a big impact and inspire supportive communities.

Our conference season watchlist

Top of the Lyne • 117 implied HN points • 02 Aug 23
💼 Business Tech Marketing Events Sales Product
  1. September is a busy month for conferences and tech events.
  2. Major conferences like Inbound, SaaStr Annual, and Dreamforce are key events to attend for marketing, sales, and revenue teams.
  3. Various events like Sales Enablement Summit and Pendomonium offer specialized learning opportunities for specific teams within organizations.

Why we have a freemium model

Founders Confidential • 19 implied HN points • 15 May 24
💼 Business Marketing Strategy Product Growth Economics
  1. A freemium model helps reach people who might not afford services otherwise. It allows companies to assist those, like students in developing countries, who are pursuing their dreams.
  2. Offering free services creates a lot of positive word-of-mouth. When people see value in free offerings, they tell others, which brings in new customers.
  3. Having a strong free tier pushes companies to provide a great user experience. It shouldn’t be frustrating to use; instead, it should show enough value to encourage users to consider paid features.

#107 Sitting comfortably?

Design Lobster • 299 implied HN points • 18 Apr 22
🪑 Design Fashion Furniture Product Art Innovation
  1. In the late 19th century, there was a debate on acceptable women's clothing, with the Rational Dress Society advocating for comfort and autonomy over traditional restrictive garments like corsets and bustles.
  2. The kotatsu heat table is a clever Japanese design combining a low dining table with a blanket and electric heater, providing warmth and coziness while reducing the need to heat an entire room.
  3. Bréné Brown's quote 'Lean into the discomfort of the work' reminds us that discomfort can lead to growth and innovation, urging us to embrace mindfulness and vulnerability in our design work.

#83 Gradients

Design Lobster • 259 implied HN points • 30 Aug 21
🪑 Design Digital Product Quote
  1. Gradients have become popular in digital design due to their ability to evoke depth and serenity, contrasting with the flat design trend of the past decade.
  2. By incorporating gradients into design, it can make users feel more at home in digital environments.
  3. Gradients can bring personality and joy to design, as seen in the expressive hues of Le Creuset cookware.

Briefing: AI Capabilities in SaaS

Good Better Best • 2 implied HN points • 06 Dec 24
💼 Business SaaS AI Marketing Finance Product
  1. AI is now being used in many areas of businesses, not just for creating content. Companies are finding various ways to utilize AI across different teams like product, customer support, and engineering.
  2. Most companies that offer AI features are making money from them, especially in content generation and editing. Many also earn from capabilities related to data analysis and customer interactions.
  3. The payment willingness for these AI capabilities is growing. Although some features seem common and cheap, if they can significantly save time or replace human tasks, their value might increase quickly.

Eat a Bit of Candy

Path Nine • 37 implied HN points • 03 Dec 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Reflections Product Reading Listening
  1. Don't take life too seriously, indulge in what you love like Charlie Munger enjoyed candy.
  2. Explore the Cognitive Bias Codex for a roadmap to understanding how we think, live, and work.
  3. Check out reading material like 'Seeking Wisdom' or 'Poor Charlie's Almanack' to enhance decision-making skills and become a better thinker.

#75 The pursuit of simplicity

Design Lobster • 139 implied HN points • 05 Jul 21
🪑 Design Product Simplicity Communication Art
  1. Simplicity in design involves more than just removing elements - it's about reducing something to its most essential to make important relationships clearer.
  2. Apple's approach to product design involves a step-by-step process of refinement, similar to Picasso's method of simplifying his artwork to the most essential elements.
  3. Ensuring that a design communicates its purpose even when simplified is crucial - elements like width and handle design can guide users to understand functionality.

Engineering Leadership Principles

Software Engineering by Hugo Dias • 19 implied HN points • 03 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Engineering Leadership Management Product Delivery
  1. High-performing teams have clear purpose, small size, stable structure, and autonomy for improvement.
  2. Ensuring project completion, minimizing waiting times, and shipping regularly are key to effective project delivery.
  3. Product success relies on setting clear goals, measuring progress, iterating frequently, and valuing team ideas in feature development.

Navigating the First 90 Days Without (Too Many) Hiccups

Pragmatism • 64 implied HN points • 07 Mar 23
💼 Business Management Product Strategy Leadership Career
  1. In the first 30 days, focus on building relationships and understanding the company dynamics.
  2. From 30 to 60 days, dive into working with product and engineering counterparts, prioritize quick wins, and showcase thought leadership.
  3. Within 60 to 90 days, become a key stakeholder in planning, ship your first feature, refine the product roadmap, and take ownership of your product suite.

#68 Making your presence felt

Design Lobster • 139 implied HN points • 17 May 21
🪑 Design Product Ceramics Emotion Memory Craftsmanship
  1. Software can represent human presence in abstract ways, like live cursors that show where others are focusing.
  2. Design can communicate human presence through physical elements, like thumbprints on a teapot showing the maker's touch.
  3. Design has the potential to touch emotions and souls, creating a deeper connection beyond just functionality.

Five product design concepts

A Bit Gamey • 20 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🪑 Design Product Simplicity Thinking
  1. Simple design is often harder than complex design but worth it in the end. It's about stripping away unnecessary elements and focusing on core functionality.
  2. First principles thinking, 80/20 rule, MVP, and understanding user journey are important product design concepts. They help in focusing on what truly matters to users and building valuable digital products.
  3. When designing digital products, prioritize simplicity, test underlying assumptions, focus on high-value features, build MVPs for initial user feedback, and ensure a smooth user journey.