Top all-time · #4344
Abraham Thomas
Personal blog · pivotal.substack.comeconomicsstartupsdata
Abraham Thomas writes Pivotal, a personal blog at pivotal.substack.com about economics, startups and data. Since 2022, 17 different Hacker News readers have linked it 20 times, most often “Minsky Moments in Venture Capital”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-17, and you can follow it by feed.
Pivotal is a newsletter of long-form essays about data, finance, AI, and startups. Its themes include the economics of technology; the ubiquity of data; and the intersection of finance and AI. Click to read Pivotal, by Abraham Thomas, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
Most-linked posts?
- Minsky Moments in Venture Capital7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2022-02-15
- Making Markets in Time2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2025-02-08
- The danger of the mediocre success when testing startup hypotheses (2023)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-05-13
- The Perils of (Startup) Prudence2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-01-21
What Hacker News says?
> Business is rife with survivorship bias, and indie hacking, doubly so. Indie-hacking-projects have the benefit of a dignified exit by open-sourcing - a lot of whatever value in any technology/code/designs was created will be preserved - which is a good thing. It's a shame that oftentimes the "best" outcome for a startup or small software/tech company (where they get acquihired by Apple specifically) is not only th…
Comment linking /p/the-worst-outcome-is-a-mediocre-success
on “I sold TinyPilot, my first successful business”Submitted The danger of the mediocre success when testing startup hypotheses (2023) as a story · 154 points
HN discussionData. This is a really incredible article about the economics of data businesses, if you haven't seen it: https://pivotal.substack.com/p/economics-of-data-biz?s=r
Comment linking /p/economics-of-data-biz?s=r
on “We need a middle class for startups”Submitted Minsky Moments in Venture Capital as a story · 128 points
HN discussionAs to what might happen regarding "Decreased Investment", this article [1] has an interesting analysis for those working in rapidly funded startups. In short it predicts a Minsky moment, but in relation to funding "speed" rather than "value". > Does the compression of timelines in venture change the distribution of terminal outcomes for venture-backed companies? [1] > A Minsky moment is a sudden, major collapse of a…
Comment linking /p/minsky-moments-in-venture-capital
on “Times are great for programmers now. How does it end?”Submitted The Economics of Data Businesses as a story · 109 points
HN discussionAgreed. As an occasional starter of things, if I really believe in my company, then all things considered, I'd rather have a surplus dollar in the company, as that's where I think my highest long-term ROI is. Early on, founders taking lots of cash out would be a negative sign for me. The $100k because-I-can fee strikes me as repulsively WeWork-esque. On the other hand, I've been reading lately about the vast acceler…
Comment linking /p/minsky-moments-in-venture-capital
on “How much do founders pay themselves? A European data set”Submitted Minsky Moments in Venture Capital as a story · 4 points
HN discussionAs suggested in that famous substack post [1], a venture capital crisis? I guess everyone on this site is fucked then. [1] https://pivotal.substack.com/p/minsky-moments-in-venture-cap...
Comment linking /p/minsky-moments-in-venture-capital?s=r
on “More Subprime Borrowers Are Missing Loan Payments”Submitted Making Markets in Time as a story · 3 points
HN discussion> The VC game is simple Good article on some of the less simple incentives of VC: https://pivotal.substack.com/p/making-markets-in-time -- however forewarning that the compelling parts are mixed in with a lot of waffle. Personally all levels of VC seem like a grift to me.
Comment linking /p/making-markets-in-time
on “1% Equity for Founding Engineers Is BS”Submitted How to Price a Data Asset as a story · 2 points
HN discussion> manufacturing startups Oxymoron? VC money chases high growth, high margin businesses. How would a manufacturing business fit the VC funded model? Aside: article with an interesting take on VC -- unfortunately however with an extremely long-winded intro. https://pivotal.substack.com/p/making-markets-in-time
Comment linking /p/making-markets-in-time
on “SF Mayor Lurie to tech CEOs: 'How can we get you back?'”Submitted A systematic way to think about data quality as a story · 1 points
HN discussionA good read when X is "borrowing like never before". https://pivotal.substack.com/p/minsky-moments-in-venture-cap...
Comment linking /p/minsky-moments-in-venture-capital
on “Big Tech is borrowing like never before”Submitted Data in the Age of AI as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Perils of Prudence as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Perils of (Startup) Prudence as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Minsky Moments in Venture Capital as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Minsky Moments in Venture Capital as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
