The hottest Startup Strategy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter 1546 implied HN points 25 Jul 25
  1. Medium has turned around its business by focusing on quality writing and rewarding writers better. The new management cut unnecessary costs and introduced systems that encourage good content.
  2. A big part of Medium's success is its commitment to human curation. Instead of relying only on algorithms, real people help highlight the best articles, making the platform more reliable for readers.
  3. Medium aims to attract not just professional writers, but everyday people who want to share their knowledge. This broader approach could help it grow even bigger, potentially reaching millions of subscribers.
Venture in Security 275 implied HN points 08 Feb 24
  1. Large corporations like Microsoft may have resources, but they often struggle to innovate due to the innovator's dilemma.
  2. Startups need to focus on understanding market needs and finding the right distribution channels to succeed.
  3. Cybersecurity founders should consider external factors like market conditions and economic trends when planning their startup journeys.
Venture Curator 199 implied HN points 11 Dec 23
  1. Successful startups focus on building a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) with the 'Viable' part being crucial, not just the 'Minimal' part.
  2. Key to MVP success is launching quickly, getting feedback from customers, and iterating based on that feedback.
  3. Early adopters are crucial for testing MVPs; founders should build products for customers with urgent needs, even if the MVP is not perfect.
Investing 101 87 implied HN points 12 Jul 25
  1. Everyone allocates resources, not just money, but also time and attention. People are basically investors in their own lives.
  2. Successful capital allocation is more about making smart, strategic decisions than just having money to spend. Great examples include companies like Berkshire Hathaway and Constellation Software.
  3. Venture capitalists often seek attention for their investing strategies, but it's the actual entrepreneurs and companies that are doing the hard work of building that are the real heroes.
Venture Curator 139 implied HN points 03 Nov 23
  1. Investors look for startup ideas with the potential to reach a billion-dollar valuation, known as 'big ideas,' and may reject ideas perceived to lack that scalability.
  2. Venture capital operates on a power law model, where a small percentage of investments drive the majority of returns, requiring each investment to potentially return the entire fund.
  3. Founders should focus on solving popular, growing, urgent, expensive, mandatory, and frequent problems to increase their startup's chances of success.
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Russell’s Index 4 implied HN points 18 Jul 25
  1. Talking to customers is key to understanding their needs and wants. It helps create better products.
  2. Focus on solving the problem rather than jumping straight to solutions. This leads to more effective outcomes.
  3. Aim for big ideas, but start with small steps. This way, you can adjust as needed and grow your project effectively.
Superfluid 39 implied HN points 01 Mar 23
  1. In the world of venture capital, patience is key for both founders and investors.
  2. Technological revolutions take around 50 years to fully proliferate through society.
  3. Investors should be cautious about backing startups in trendy spaces and focus on patient and sensible deployments of capital.
Anant’s Newsletter 6 implied HN points 18 Feb 25
  1. Hiring a designer who can also manage products can save engineering teams time and resources. They help avoid building the wrong features right from the start.
  2. A designer with product management skills can make design decisions quickly. This keeps projects moving forward and prevents delays in the engineering process.
  3. Having a designer who understands both design and product management helps create a more cohesive product. They can connect different parts of the product and ensure everything aligns properly.
realkinetic 0 implied HN points 05 Jan 21
  1. Real Kinetic successfully launched a new software product called Witful without any VC funding, relying on their consulting revenues instead.
  2. Their approach is focused on steady growth, work-life balance, and sustainability, prioritizing profitability over rapid expansion.
  3. The technology decisions for building Witful were influenced by resource constraints, leading to the use of serverless architecture, Firebase, Elm, and TypeScript, for efficiency and resilience.