The hottest Scaling Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Technology Topics

An AI rumor you won’t want to miss

Marcus on AI • 7153 implied HN points • 10 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI Deep Learning Scaling Data Computing
  1. The belief that more scaling in AI will always lead to better results might be fading. It's thought we might have reached a limit where simply adding more data and computing power is no longer effective.
  2. There are concerns that scaling laws, which have worked before, are just temporary trends, not true laws of nature. They don’t actually solve issues like AI making mistakes or hallucinations.
  3. If rumors are true about a major change in the AI landscape, it could lead to a significant loss of trust in these scaling approaches, similar to a bank run.

How gardening teaches you this crucial lesson about scaling your business

VERY GOOD PRODUCTIZED GUIDES • 59 implied HN points • 16 Sep 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Productivity Scaling Automation
  1. Create systems that allow you to enjoy what you love, even when life gets busy. This gives you the freedom to step away without worry.
  2. Think about tasks you do daily that take more than 10 minutes. Find ways to automate them or get help to save time.
  3. Building these efficient systems might take time upfront, but once they're in place, they let you scale your business and work more smoothly.

Caterpillar to Butterfly

Software Design: Tidy First? • 1237 implied HN points • 14 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Software Expertise Design Consulting Scaling
  1. As organizations grow, the need for specialist skills becomes more important. It's not enough to have hobbyists; experts are needed to handle complex tasks.
  2. When specialist teams form, their priorities might clash with client teams' needs. Client teams often want quick fixes, while specialists aim for quality work.
  3. To handle increased requests, organizations should empower client teams to solve their own issues. This self-service approach helps manage workloads and creates better efficiency.
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5 Challenges of Scaling Paid Ads for Early Stage Startups

Nail It and Scale It • 59 implied HN points • 25 Jun 24
💼 Business Startups Marketing Advertising Scaling Growth
  1. It's hard to find out why ads aren't working. There can be many reasons, like targeting the wrong audience or having a bad website design.
  2. Early stage startups often struggle to scale quickly due to internal issues. When they get more leads, they might need to pause ads to catch up, which can hurt their momentum.
  3. Finding product-market fit takes time and constant testing. Just because something works now doesn't mean it will work later, so keep experimenting with different strategies.

The Future of Farcaster with Dan Romero

The Generalist • 380 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Social media Blockchain Decentralization Monetization Scaling
  1. Farcaster, a disruptive social network, is built on a permissionless protocol, attracting attention by charging every user a fee to prevent spam.
  2. Farcaster competes head-to-head with Elon Musk in the social arena, aiming to offer a fundamentally different social experience rather than just a Twitter clone.
  3. Introducing innovative features like 'Frames' mini-applications within the feed has been a game-changer for Farcaster, sparking interest among developers and users.

What You Need to Know About GPT-4 and PaLM 2

Gradient Flow • 319 implied HN points • 01 Jun 23
🕹 Technology AI Data Ethics Performance Scaling
  1. Leading-edge AI models like GPT-4 and PaLM 2 are becoming less open due to growing costs, IP protection, and misuse concerns.
  2. Insights from technical reports of these models help in understanding capabilities, risks, and benefits, aiding in developing strategies to manage potential harm.
  3. GPT-4 and PaLM 2 underwent rigorous testing for responsible AI behavior, outperforming predecessors in various tasks and showing advancements in performance, scalability, and efficiency.

Amazon Prime Video reduced costs by 90% by ditching Microservices [System Design Sundays]

Technology Made Simple • 159 implied HN points • 07 May 23
🕹 Technology System Design Microservices Architecture Scaling
  1. Amazon Prime Video saw a 90% cost reduction by moving away from Microservices to a monolith architecture. This change improved scalability and reduced infrastructure costs significantly.
  2. The challenges Amazon faced with their initial microservices implementation included hitting scaling limits and high overall costs of the system. Moving to a monolith architecture helped address these issues and allowed for better scaling.
  3. While the debate between Microservices and Monoliths continues, the decision should depend on factors like team size, emphasis on scale, and complexity. Microservices offer scalability but require careful planning, while monoliths are easier to design and manage.

GM Shaders Mini: The Matrix

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 117 implied HN points • 18 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Scaling
  1. Matrices can rotate, scale, and skew both vectors and vector spaces.
  2. Matrices are multiplied with vectors or other matrices to transform them.
  3. Matrices are powerful tools in shaders for operations like color remapping and noise functions.

Bioeconomy Startups: A Dive into De-risking Strategies

The New Bioeconomy • 78 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
💼 Business Startups Scaling Partnerships Finance
  1. Scaling up bioeconomy startups involves understanding the process and collaborating for de-risking.
  2. Finding a consistent feedstock supply is crucial for bioeconomy startups, often requiring partnerships with established companies.
  3. De-risking product-to-market strategy involves market assessment, alliances, and communicating sustainability.

System Design - Scale 0 to Millions of Users

Better Engineers • 7 HN points • 31 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Systems Design Databases Scaling
  1. Scaling systems to handle millions of users involves understanding how to make systems work better under pressure. This can be done by adding more resources or managing them effectively.
  2. Vertical scaling means adding more power (like RAM or CPU) to existing servers, while horizontal scaling means adding more servers to share the load. Horizontal scaling is often better for high traffic situations.
  3. Using a master-slave database setup helps balance loads and keeps data safe. If one database fails, another can take over, ensuring the system runs smoothly and reliably.

How RLHF actually works

Democratizing Automation • 306 implied HN points • 21 Jun 23
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Data science Open Source Scaling
  1. RLHF works when there is a signal that vanilla supervised learning alone doesn't work, like pairwise preference data.
  2. Having a capable base model is crucial for successful RLHF implementation, as imitating models or using imperfect datasets can greatly affect performance.
  3. Preferences play a key role in the RLHF process, and collecting preference data for harmful prompts is essential for model optimization.

Unpacking Okta's Tech Architecture | Monica Bajaj - VP Developer Experience & Mark T. Voelker - VP Architecture at Okta

platocommunity • 39 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Architecture Engineering Tech stack Scaling Documentation
  1. Okta believes in leveling up both the tech stack and the people stack for successful architecture.
  2. The Architecture Charter at Okta involves setting clear guardrails and handholds to empower engineers to make informed decisions.
  3. Writing things down, utilizing frameworks like RFCs and Requests for Discussion, is crucial for communication and knowledge sharing in the organization.

When to Scale or Keep Iterating

The Data Score • 59 implied HN points • 10 May 23
💼 Business Product-Market Fit Scaling Feedback Automation User Behavior
  1. Achieving product/market fit is crucial for the success of a startup or new product as it means the product meets the needs and preferences of the target market, leading to customer satisfaction and retention.
  2. Iterating on a handcrafted approach at the start can help find product/market fit before scaling to avoid unwanted tech debt and ensure the product evolves to meet client outcomes.
  3. To determine product/market fit, look for signs like user retention, surveys showing strong customer preference, and organic growth, then iterate quickly based on critical feedback to ensure the product is indispensable to users.

August 2023 safety news: Universal attacks, Influence functions, Problems with RLHF

AI safety takes • 58 implied HN points • 27 Aug 23
🕹 Technology AI Safety Research Scaling Ethics
  1. Understanding the origin of dangerous behavior in AI models can lead to training safer AI through the use of influence functions.
  2. Gradient-based attacks have become effective in breaking into language models and can even transfer between different models.
  3. Evaluating moral beliefs encoded in large language models can reveal inconsistencies and uncertainties, with safety-tuned models showing stronger preferences.

Navigating Culture in a Scaling Startup

Suzan's Fieldnotes • 58 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
💼 Business Startups Leadership Scaling Hiring Culture
  1. Startups thrive in chaos and rapid change, which can be exciting for those who enjoy a fast pace and quick growth.
  2. Communicating effectively in a rapidly scaling startup requires balancing speed and quality, ensuring team-wide understanding and coordination.
  3. Guiding culture during rapid growth involves hiring for cultural fit, seeking feedback from peers, and finding leadership support that empowers and believes in you.

Fixing the research-to-policy pipeline

Hypertext • 19 implied HN points • 27 Mar 24
🚌 Education Research Policy Programs Scaling
  1. Challenges in evidence-based policy include interpreting research results, dealing with luck, p-hacking, and external validity.
  2. Pre-registration of RCTs and requiring data/code sharing help combat issues like luck and p-hacking in research.
  3. Scaling effective programs poses challenges of logistics, resources, and ensuring successful reproduction in multiple settings.

Navigating Manager Training for Startups: A Strategic Approach

PeopleStorming • 39 implied HN points • 14 Nov 23
💼 Business Leadership skills Legal Compliance Scaling
  1. Evaluate organizational complexity to determine the necessity of leadership training, focusing on skills like change management and decision-making.
  2. Identify leadership challenges related to team motivation and communication to assess the need for training in conflict management and psychological safety.
  3. Align manager training with strategic goals for growth and market penetration, emphasizing skills like vision setting and strategic planning.

[System design] Sharding : In and Out Explained

The ZenMode • 42 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
🕹 Technology System Design Scaling Optimization
  1. Sharding is a technique to horizontally partition a data store into smaller fragments across multiple servers, aiding in scalability and reliability.
  2. Before sharding a database, consider options like vertical partitioning, database optimization, replication, and caching to improve performance without the added complexity of sharding.
  3. Different sharding strategies like Hash Sharding, Range Sharding, and Directory-Based Sharding have unique considerations and advantages based on factors like data distribution, queries, and maintenance.

Massed Muddler Intelligence

Breaking Smart • 72 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Engineering Agents Scaling Protocols
  1. The concept of Massed Muddler Intelligence (MMI) entails a new approach to scaling AI, emphasizing the importance of agents, local trial-and-error, and muddling through over monolithic, deterministic training models.
  2. MMIs aim to leverage the principles of embodiment, boundary intelligence, temporality, and personhood to design scalable AI systems that resemble Service-Oriented Architecture in computing.
  3. Building MMIs involves compositing different elements deliberately to create a language of differentiated forms, akin to how reinforced concrete combines materials in defined geometries to achieve specific properties.

Problem: Break Down A Monolith Application Into Microservices

SkylineCodes • 19 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Architecture Scaling Communication Design
  1. Decomposing a monolithic application into microservices pattern helps scale and deploy services independently which is crucial for agility and quick feature updates in a competitive market.
  2. Understanding the Scale Cube model and its dimensions (X-axis scaling, Y-axis scaling, Z-axis scaling) is essential for designing scalable and resilient software architectures.
  3. Decomposing by business capability and subdomain are effective strategies for breaking down microservices, ensuring cohesive and loosely coupled services aligned with business needs.

How IFood Microservice handles 30k Requests per Second[Systems Design Sundays]

Technology Made Simple • 39 implied HN points • 23 May 22
🕹 Technology Systems Design Microservices Scaling Collaboration
  1. Develop solutions with future scaling needs in mind to make things easier down the line.
  2. Spend significant time planning how to divide responsibilities within your team to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.
  3. Clearly define your needs and anticipate potential problems to save time and effort in system design.

System Design Concepts: An in-depth guide to Database sharding

Engineering At Scale • 30 implied HN points • 29 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Systems Databases Scaling Performance Architecture
  1. Database sharding splits a large dataset into chunks stored on different machines, increasing storage capacity and distributing queries for better performance.
  2. Sharding allows for high availability by avoiding a single point of failure and higher read/write throughput by distributing query load.
  3. Cost and maintenance overhead are drawbacks of sharding, and it differs from partitioning where data is stored on a single machine.

Scaling ain't cheap or easy

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 39 implied HN points • 27 Nov 20
🏥 Health & Wellness Testing Challenges Preparation Scaling
  1. Scaling up Covid-19 testing is crucial for returning to normalcy before widespread vaccine distribution.
  2. Implementing large-scale testing efforts requires a coordinated push similar to military operations and campus-wide testing strategies.
  3. Preparing for economy-wide frequent testing demands meticulous planning, infrastructure development, and preparedness on a national level.

The paradox of giants

Infinitely More • 15 implied HN points • 31 Mar 23
🔬 Science Physics Observations Scaling
  1. Giants in folklore, acting in a humanlike manner but at a larger scale, are physically impossible according to Galileo.
  2. Galileo's paradox of the giant involves the concept of scaling and how larger objects may not behave as expected when scaled up.
  3. Observations on scaling in different dimensions can lead to various paradoxes of dimension.

Notes on Dwarkesh Patel's Podcast with Demis Hassabis

Don't Worry About the Vase • 2 HN points • 01 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Podcasts Governance Scaling
  1. In an interview with Dwarkesh Patel, Demis Hassabis discusses the nature of intelligence and the potential of generalizing data across domains.
  2. Demis Hassabis emphasizes the importance of grounding AI systems and the need for a safety framework in AI research.
  3. DeepMind, led by Demis Hassabis, plans to issue its own safety framework and focuses on using games as a fundamental approach to AI development.

Scaling Extreme Programming: Dependencies

Software Design: Tidy First? • 1 HN point • 20 Feb 23
🕹 Technology Programming Systems Dependencies Scaling Organization
  1. Extreme Programming focuses on reducing irreversibility and promoting reversibility in projects.
  2. Scaling Extreme Programming to large organizations requires addressing inter-connections between teams and dependencies.
  3. To manage dependencies in organizations, consider strategies like awareness, team improvement, slack, waiting, prioritizing, and self-service.