Top all-time · #2171
Alex Danco
Personal blog · danco.substack.comeconomicsstartupsphilosophy
Alex Danco's personal blog at danco.substack.com covers economics, startups and philosophy. Since 2019, 34 different Hacker News readers have linked it 78 times, most often “The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-02-25, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (6) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Alex Danco's Substack for essays on tech, venture capital and finance, including a critique of Silicon Valley and writing on scenes. Commenters call it insightful and interesting.
- Recommended for · 3 comments
- Called interesting and insightful, a relevant critique of Silicon Valley, and a piece by one of a commenter's favourite finance writers.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 6 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Back online for a limited time. Act now! Click to read Alex Danco's Newsletter, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
Most-linked posts?
- The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2021-01-24
- The Car Bundle3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2019-11-26
- Why the Canadian Tech Scene Doesn't Work3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2021-01-17
- It's not debt, it's better: An interview with Harry Hurst of Pipe2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-08-02
- Social Capital in Silicon Valley2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-01-26
- A startup is a bundle, and Windsurf broke the bundle2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-07-18
- Debt: The First 5000 Years2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-05-17
- Progress, Postmodernism and the Tech Backlash2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-02-23
- Homesteading the Twittersphere2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-08-23
- The Social Subsidy of Angel Investing2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-12-03
What Hacker News says?
Not sure about their underratedness, but I find the following newsletters interesting and insightful: Two Truths and a Take by Alex Danco (tech, VC, and broader topics): https://danco.substack.com/ The Uncertainty Mindset by Vaughn Tan: https://uncertaintymindset.substack.com/ The Diff by Byrne Hobart (finance, tech): https://diff.substack.com/ Kneeling Bus by Drew Austin (urbanism, tech): https://kneelingbus.substa…
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: What are the underrated newsletters you like reading?”Submitted The trillion-dollar lawsuit against Tether as a story · 349 points
HN discussionAlex Danco offers an interesting criticism of Silicon Valley's desire to satisfy "what many people want" without any sense of responsibility or paternalism: https://danco.substack.com/p/progress-postmodernism-and-the-... (I am not saying the critique of postmodernism is right or wrong, but simply that it is insightful and relevant.)
Comment linking /p/progress-postmodernism-and-the-tech
on “An interview with Paul Graham on writing”Submitted The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class as a story · 231 points
HN discussion> Every paragraph dripping with absolute glib, lack of self awareness. > ... "Compassionate To The Core" ... The elites are truly out of touch with the reality. Some are unhinged. It is baffling. Just the other day, some exec, who worked with Musk at Tesla, wrote that him acquiring Twitter was the part of a master plan to fix the climate: https://archive.is/uSz6I Read also: The Michael Scott theory of social class (…
Comment linking /p/the-michael-scott-theory-of-social
on “Sam Bankman-Fried Has a Savior Complex–and Maybe You Should Too”Submitted Have you ever seen a goth downtown? as a story · 220 points
HN discussionThey're quite explicit about their goals, they're just quieter about it now because they don't want to give away the game. Alex Danco, one of my favorite finance writers, wrote this piece about it, recommend: https://danco.substack.com/p/if-youre-first-out-the-door-its...
Comment linking /p/if-youre-first-out-the-door-its-not
on “EU offered 'zero-for-zero' deal to US weeks before tariff announcement”Submitted Why I don't love Light Rail Transit as a story · 117 points
HN discussionIt probably won't work, the problem is a lot deeper than a something a few more talented migrants can fix. A few years ago Alex Danco wrote up what he saw as the issues [1] and it reads pretty much like the list I would have made in the 90s, except for the bit about Montreal. There were also other issues, like accounting practices, [2] which don't sound like thy have changed much either. [1] https://danco.substack.c…
Comment linking /p/why-the-canadian-tech-scene-doesnt
on “Canada plans brain drain of H-1B visa holders, with no-job, no-worries permits”Submitted An Introduction to René Girard as a story · 73 points
HN discussioni threw some good parties in the 90s at warehouse spaces I lived in, and this is distinct from a community space, but closely related. with hindsight, there is a specific talent for doing that. Alex Danco's writing on "Scenes" [1] codifies a lot of the details, but nobody so far has been able to scale it. The main factor when I did a hacker/artist space, it was the effect of relationships with musicians and scene pe…
Comment linking /p/how-scenes-work-with-jim-oshaughnessy
on “Holding Community Space”Submitted The Social Subsidy of Angel Investing as a story · 64 points
HN discussionSubmitted Writing is power transfer technology as a story · 55 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class as a story · 48 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Car Bundle as a story · 37 points
HN discussionSubmitted It's Going to Get Worse as a story · 24 points
HN discussionSubmitted Dancoland, Part 2: Just-So Stories as a story · 17 points
HN discussionSubmitted Black Swan Events as a story · 11 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why the Canadian Tech Scene Doesn't Work as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted Wine Tasting with Claude Shannon as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted A startup is a bundle, and Windsurf broke the bundle as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why the Canadian Tech Scene Doesn't Work as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Scarcity Status versus Abundance Status as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted It’s Going to Get Worse as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Immune Systems / Antifragility, Part 2 – TTT S2E9 as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Progress, Postmodernism and the Tech Backlash as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Counterfeit Food as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Social Subsidy of Angel Investing as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Prediction: The Successor to Postmodernism as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted A startup is a bundle, and Windsurf broke the bundle as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
