Top all-time · #745
Ben Yoskovitz
Personal blog · instigatorblog.comstartupsbusiness
Ben Yoskovitz writes Focused Chaos, a personal blog at instigatorblog.com about startups and business. Since 2007, 88 different Hacker News readers have linked it 146 times, most often “An Introductory Guide to Startup Funding”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-27, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (7) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog for posts on startup validation, MVPs and customer feedback, often as a source for a point, such as Ben Yoskovitz's 'Useless Feedback'.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 7 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
A biweekly newsletter on navigating the chaos of building & investing in startups. Topics include venture studios, entrepreneurship, product management, analytics and more, leveraging a combination of best practices & instincts. w
Most-linked posts?
- An Introductory Guide to Startup Funding3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2007-10-17
- The Art and Science of Small Exits3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2009-02-16
- A Postmortem Analysis of Standout Jobs3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2010-10-05
- How to Structure Good Hypotheses for Your Lean Startup3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2011-12-05
- How to Have Startup Swagger Without Being a Complete Asshole2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-04-08
- Lessons Learned Running a Software as a Service (SaaS) Business2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2008-03-10
- Why are Customer Development and Lean Startup Principles So Popular?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-12-08
- What To Do After You Launch Your Startup2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2008-02-06
- The Difference Between Stealth Mode and Quiet Mode2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2012-11-27
What Hacker News says?
I like it. However, I found a site that breaks it: http://www.instigatorblog.com/the-art-and-science-of-the-sma... ... When I click my 'Readability' bookmarklet in Chrome, the main article is removed completely, and all that's left is the blog entry's comments. Here is the exact Readability bookmarklet I'm using: javascript:(function(){ readStyle='style-newspaper'; readSize='size-medium'; readMargin='margin-medium';…
Comment linking /the-art-and-science-of-the-small-exit/2009/02/04/
on “Readability”Submitted Questions to Ask When Interviewing at a Startup as a story · 79 points
HN discussionSome hypotheses missing from Daniel's list: o customer problem or need o symptoms that indicate customer problem or need o description of benefits that customer will understand o features to support benefits / solution customer will accept See also Ben Yoskovitz's "Useless Feedback" at http://www.instigatorblog.com/useless-feedback/2010/06/14/ which begins: Asking a friend, "What do you think of my idea?" is almost…
Comment linking /useless-feedback/2010/06/14/
on “How to evaluate and implement startup ideas using Hypothesis Driven Development”Submitted Startup : There is no risk as a story · 56 points
HN discussionTalk to Benjamin Yosko => http://www.instigatorblog.com . He is very approachable, lives/works in Montreal, and recently sold his startup. Tell him Captain Recruiter says hello.
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Where to sell your profitable company”Submitted Small Features as a story · 30 points
HN discussionthe government is spending your tax dollars already They should be spending a lot less of them, shouldn't they? http://www.usdebtclock.org/ I mean, what business would ever be allowed to spend money endlessly without thought to income? Why do we let the government do it? Besides, we already have angel funding, ycombinator, venture capital, self funding, debt funding, crowd funding, etc. http://www.instigatorblog.com…
Comment linking /an-introductory-guide-to-startup-funding/2007/10/17/
on “Want to help startups? Just give them money”Submitted The Future of Startup Accelerators as a story · 24 points
HN discussionGreat point. This same discussion was made by Ben Yoskovitz on http://www.instigatorblog.com/no-shitty-in-mv/2012/01/05/
Comment linking /no-shitty-in-mv/2012/01/05/
on “MVP is not alpha”Submitted Product Managers in Startups: What’s their Role? as a story · 24 points
HN discussionReminds me of how Jason Becker now composes music after his battle with ALS: http://www.instigatorblog.com/jason-becker-and-the-power-of-...
Comment linking /jason-becker-and-the-power-of-technology/2014/01/29/
on “Eye-tracking app lets you make music hands-free”Submitted My First 9 Months as an Angel Investor as a story · 23 points
HN discussionkinda weird foundread just cut and pasted it without adding anything. http://www.instigatorblog.com/how-do-you-prepare-for-present...
Comment linking /how-do-you-prepare-for-presentations/2008/01/16/
on “Presenting at DEMO: 12 Do's. 5 Don'ts.”Submitted The Art and Science of Small Exits as a story · 19 points
HN discussionSubmitted 5 Quick Tips on Pitching Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists as a story · 17 points
HN discussionSubmitted 7 Things No One Ever Tells You About Raising Venture Capital Financing as a story · 15 points
HN discussionSubmitted How Startups Can Use PR Successfully as a story · 14 points
HN discussionSubmitted Lessons Learned Running a Software as a Service (SaaS) Business as a story · 14 points
HN discussionSubmitted 5 Marketing Tools Every Startup Should Use as a story · 13 points
HN discussionSubmitted Startup Fundraising According to Paul Graham as a story · 12 points
HN discussionSubmitted An Introductory Guide to Startup Funding as a story · 12 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Holy Crap Reaction to Competition as a story · 10 points
HN discussion- pg · 2007-03-07
Submitted 5 Phrases You Never Want to Hear in a Presentation as a story · 10 points
HN discussion Submitted Startups Need More Practical Guidance Not Fluff as a story · 9 points
HN discussionSubmitted 10 questions venture capitalists and angel investors are going to ask as a story · 9 points
HN discussionSubmitted Universities Need To Develop Entrepreneurs as a story · 9 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Challenge of Staying Focused in a Startup as a story · 8 points
HN discussionSubmitted Can You Build a Startup Ecosystem Outside the Valley? as a story · 8 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Does Your Brain on Funding Look Like? as a story · 7 points
HN discussionSubmitted Presenting Financials to Venture Capitalists as a story · 7 points
HN discussion
