How Hackers Start Their Afternoons

HackerNoon (formerly “ Hacker Daily” on Medium.com) to Publish tech stories, how-tos, I-dids & launches everyday at Noon-ish PST.

How should hackers start their afternoons?

The world is changing. This has always been true. But look at how quickly it has changed in the last five years alone — ride sharing, virtual reality, AirPods, it’s all happening! Nothing is stagnant. The world does not stand still. And neither do you.

We’ve published posts on tech culture from viral stars and insider perspectives from top tech companies. We were with companies from beginning to end. We published What Marissa Mayer Brought to Yahoo That Can’t Be Bought or Sold by former Yahoo-er jelenawoehr and This is the “growth hack” that got my whole company started by Breather CEO Julien Smith.

We exposed a number of vulnerabilities that could sink the Internet. Along the way we published This is what Apple should tell you when you lose your iPhone (by Joonas Kiminki), Google is Forcing Routebuilder to Shut Down (by Andrew Martin) and Why you shouldn’t share links on Facebook (by Inti De Ceukelaire).

And we tried to have fun. We used satire to touch on important social issues. Remember Entire Fucking City of Asheville Moving Out of North Carolina? Jordan Stephens, that was amazing.

We want to make tech better. Tech publishing should be less about how much venture cash some rich person got from his friends and more about how some smart person is changing the world.

That smart person is you.

The HackerNoon Mission Statement

We work to make you more efficient, better-informed, and more productive. We share the startups, tools, and thoughts that matter. We are going to compete with Facebook to make the world a more open and connected place (just kidding, but we do plan on moving tech publishing forward). Reader first. We’re nothing if we don’t add value, smart tech or productivity to your day. If you win, we win.

HackerNoon Beta Statistics

Our monthly averages are 414,711 readers and 972,573 minutes read (so far in 2016). We’re the 44th most followed publication using Medium, just behind Buffer & The Writing Cooperative and just ahead of How We Get to Next by the Gates Foundation & Lemelson Foundation & The Cauldron by Sports Illustrated. As we enter the Hacker Noon phase, our priority is giving your afternoons the insider perspectives of tech people who are living the innovation.

How We’ll (Not Really) Compete with Google: The HackerNoon Design Now Has a Search Function in the Top Navigation!

What Motivates Us

We’re covering what is actually happening in tech. What’s next matters, but reading the truth in what’s happening now means even more.

We love our competitors. They inspired us. But to a degree, they lost the plot. They used to cover awesome startups with a fair helping of snark. Nowadays, TechCrunch, Mashable, and Recode don’t feel like that. They feel like press release generators and the occasional thoughtful column (which we’ll link to from time to time). But, I think there is a need for a voice to share how, why and when tech people are doing what they’re doing. It should also be noted, we use a much, much brighter green than TechCrunch. Our green is almost impossible to miss. When you stumble into one of our articles, you get that feeling of staring directly into a sun from Planet Krypton. We think that’s important.

So, to recap: more snark, better stories, cooler green, more truly hands on perspectives. I think you’ve got it.

About the name: HackerNoon.com

We will be shifting from a sporadic, opportunistic publishing schedule to publishing our stories every weekday at noon-ish PST and sending weekly email roundups of startup launches and hacker advice at noon-ish. Our future letters will be less about us, and more about the shit you need to read to start your morning — I mean — afternoon.

Who Can Get Startup Coverage?

You! And you! And you! All of you! You can submit new drafts and stories directly through HackerNoon.

Who Can Contribute?

Anyone. It’s not about connections. It’s about good writing, real business growth, helping another hacker, remarkable stories, and news value. Own your perspective. As long as you are sharing valuable information about how to make work more efficient, hack life, and/or accurately position startups in the market we are happy. If you don’t have breaking news, please make sure your content creatively offers value beyond the mundane. That’s all we ask.

Again this message is brought to you by BLG trademarks, San Francisco’s go to legal team for any and all trademark issues. Startups, get that TM on your brand.

Hacker News was the first successful news source birthed by/for a venture capital firm. It is a successful news source because it curates what is valuable news for its community of investments and its community of potential investments. And their news source effectively gave news sway to the community they value. In short, Hacker News, like every publication has an interest, and we admire how they have served their interest. Plus, we’ve been #1 there recently (“I Don’t Care How Well You Code Understand Your Compensation” by Arthur Levy).

All of us are subject to market environments and our own perceptions of what is news within market environments. As we look at ourselves in the mirror, there is this line we’re searching for between eight minute abs, seven minute abs, six minute abs, five minutes and the story itself.

Thanks!

We have many more exciting ideas on how to get more relevant people to read and share ideas. But we couldn’t have done it alone. we want to thank the 1,200+ writers, including Kapor Capital’s Mitch & Freada Kapor, Ello Chief Architect Jay Zeschin, Foundry’s Brad Feld, and the many, many more people more qualified than myself to write about the happenings and future of tech.

At the end of the day, readers make our world go around. So if you want us to cover something, we will consider covering it. Tweet @HackerNoon. In the meantime, go meet & follow some of our readers. Here’s list people tweeting Hacker Noon in real time.

Buckle up. This is going to be a fun ride.

Philosophy About Tech Media Industry As Told In 2 GIFs:

Obligatory third gif “to increase recommendations”

Until Next Time,

David Smooke, HackerNoon