This is a redacted version of the by CEO David Smooke and COO Linh Smooke sent to 1.3k shareholders. The feature image was generated by Stable Diffusion, prompt “Green clock strikes noon on a terminal computer screen” HackerNoon shareholders' newsletter TL;DR We’ve been building! HackerNoon shipped hundreds of product features meant to add more context and data to , notably with and technologies. our publishing platform AI Web3 As always, we serve three primary user groups: millions of readers (averaging 4M pageviews monthly YTD), 35k+ writers, and 2.5k+ customers. 2022 YTD Revenue is at $ , and $ over the last 365 days. That’s a 34.5% growth rate YoY and 97% of total 2021’s revenue, with ≈3 months left in the year. While we remain profitable YTD and optimistic for our publishing, software and revenue growth, we did lose some customers to market conditions. redacted redacted for three quarters in a row surpassed Billboard Top Nav as the biggest and fastest growing inventories. Here are some recent we are excited about: stable diffusion image generation within our text editor, , , , and , , , , , , & . LFG. Writing Contests HackerNoon product updates crypto coin price pages NFT profile images the tech beat rankings tech company brief rankings newsletter slogging in the slack app store Star Trek themed Noonies the tech marketing store blockchain game rankings emoji credibility indicators technology polls Read the rest of the article for full context. 🚀 Product Development The most fulfilling part of our past 4 months has been features and iterations to improve the experience for our readers, writers, and brands. The HackerNoon publishing platform is making a dedicated effort to add more relevant context to content, integrate more insightful data via APIs, steer into Web3 adoption, and simply double down on the existing moments of . product delight We’ll dig into the product development below, but some of the recent highlights are stable diffusion image generation within our text editor, , , , and , , , , , , and more :-) crypto coin price pages NFT profile images the tech beat rankings tech company brief rankings newsletter slogging in the slack app store star trek themed Noonies the tech marketing store emoji credibility indicators technology polls Context-Building Features Quote from , generated via our new Launched 2 weeks ago, this feature turns any highlighted text into downloadable and shareable quote images. See them used in the . an old story Quote Sharing Image Feature. wild here Readers and writers alike trust HackerNoon as a destination for editorial quality and transparency. Gaining that trust takes time, and, in many cases, admission of biases inherent to built-in perspectives. We’ve learned that early on with our clear distinction between . These following features are meant to provide more context to the stories and writers’ perspectives: an individual story and a brand-as-author story Visit any HackerNoon story and hover over the emojis underneath the writer’s bio, you will be able to see if the content is original or republished, timely (such as if the writer was present on-the-ground), is associated with a coin or a company, or uses referral links. relies on both writers’ self-reporting and editors’ verification, as every HackerNoon story is subject to . : Emoji Credibility Indicators This feature the Second Human Rule You can also scroll down to the bottom of the story to see the people, and mentioned (if any) in the story you just read. Within the HackerNoon editor, to any human, company, coin, or other story by typing a few keywords, a handy feature that users of Google Doc and Notion certainly appreciate. Mentioned in Stories: coins companies writers can now easily link links are hyper-important in context building, but they are easy to miss. allows writers to embed any URL within the HackerNoon’s markdown editor and provides readers with title, image, and basic meta descriptions. This is an expansion of our existing , and copy and paste embed functionality. Rich Media URL Embeds: This feature Youtube Twitter Git Data API Journalism We learned a long time ago that , and we know they would appreciate more data-driven insights, such as with these following features: a typical HackerNoon reader is more educated and wealthier than industry’s average On top of mentions around the web and on HackerNoon, public companies’ pages now also come with stock price charts, (example, ), and full-width videos (example, ). Readers can visit our curated list ( ) via the HackerNoon Homepage or Top Nav Menu to learn which companies are rising and falling in public consciousness week-over-week. Iterations to : Tech Company News Pages Apple Microsoft hackernoon.com/companies users can now visit our curated database of top cryptocurrencies that have achieved $1 Billion Market Cap to sort and view these coins by price, trading volume, and most recent stories on HackerNoon. This builds on our reputation as a destination for , and . , users can visit each individual coin page (such as , , ), read through the coin’s wiki ( ) and hover over the clock along each coin’s pricing chart to read a timely HackerNoon story next to the ever fluctuating pricing data points. : Coin Price Pages bitcoin blockchain cryptocurrency stories For a more in-depth analysis $BTC $ETH $USDT text powered by these HackerNoon posts last but not least, we’ve begun to conduct our own weekly polls as of late July! Users can vote by visiting the homepage (and soon, unique polls pages) for a limited time. So far, results from the polls , and generated top of mind insights on , and . The next iterations of these polls include: headline generations from polls results, unique social sharing per individual poll pages, and integration within HackerNoon stories so any writer can conduct their own polls. : HackerNoon Polls have directed some upcoming product decision possible crypto regulation the video game console wars what technical practitioners actually think of the Elon Musk media machine Web3 Integrations HackerNoon built its own content management system, meaning we have near absolute flexibility when it comes to choosing which technologies to maximize readership. We are making a dedicated push for Web3 technologies in HackerNoon, and are in talks with more Web3 staples to work with HackerNoon. Here is our YTD progress: - This launched in March, it allows an account to be connected to just a wallet. Since then we have been building out security and UX , like NFT embeds and writing contests winnings. Signup / Login with Wallet for web3 use cases beyond identity nd more writing contests with paying customers such as , , and . Read more about the progress of writing contests (and ) in the Revenue section below :-) , , a #Web3 #CyberSecurity #EnterTheMetaverse SandBox Sentry Twingate what winners say As NFTs are a way to verify digital ownership, we are exploring NFTs to accredit and advertise creators’ stories. , , and now ( ). NFTs Story Embeds Noonies Awards as NFT Badges NFTs for Profile Photos example We have been streaming micropayments in browser from Coil subscribers to HackerNoon writers. To date, and emoji credibility indicators also indicate which stories are web monetized. - Web Monetization via Coil 4,500+ stories have been published The play to earn (or more recently, play and earn) market has seen this past year. To help users and companies see the rise and fall of public interest in certain projects, we launched a . The platform tracks WoW search interest for each blockchain game on HackerNoon, aggregates recent story mentions of the game, and includes video mentions of it . We hope to expand growth measurement data inputs - here and on - to include more on and off chain activity sources. : Blockchain Gaming Pages great growth blockchain games ranking platform on YouTube the coin price pages This is (for now) is in use by editors only. We implemented a GPU model at a cost of $ per original image created (for ref, ), and we are exploring approaches to reduce that marginal cost. IMHO this is a game changer for the internet history of blogging featured images. More to come. Stable Diffusion image generation within our text editor. redacted DallE is about $ redacted per image Continuous Redesign We’ve continued to enhance user experience across all three groups with these following platform-exclusive features: the brand new profile pages center the users, highlighting the ability to (now available in animated rainbow - ), and segment Stories, Favorites, Bookmarks, Comments, & into their own, easy-to-navigate tabs for writers and readers alike. Redesigned Profile Pages: optimize one’s CTA button a much loved design treatment similar to Total Reading Time Quotes the allows writers to sort drafts, track submissions, communicate via , inspires them with , total reading time generated front and center, and features a with all the writers perks (web monetization + writing contests), all in one place. Redesigned Writer Dashboard: revamped writer dashboard editors’ notes ongoing story templates highlights reward tab we’ve added full-width comments, every story around the web mentions, , , and emoji reactions below total reading time generated in the beloved pixelated graph. Users can also export their stories as or or ! : Revamped Stats Pages Cloudflare reader data rankings within related HackerNoon stories audio files PDFs JSON files now comes with , atop and for all visitors. : Choose Your Color PakistanFloodRelief noonies2022 standwithukraine Protip: for more regular HackerNoon publishing platform updates :-) Subscribe to #HackerNoon-Product 💰 Revenue 2022 YTD Revenue is at $ . That’s a 34.5% growth rate YoY and 97% of total 2021’s revenue, with ≈3 months left in the year. While we remain profitable YTD and optimistic for our diversified revenue growth, we did lose some customers to market conditions. Revenue over the last 365 days is $ with the Writing Contests making $ YTD. redacted redacted redacted Billboard ADs, Newsletters, and Niche ADs constitute our core limited inventory items and continue to be our top revenue sources. indicating the continued trust our advertisers have placed in our longest-running limited inventory. Billboard ADs made $ redacted YTD and now boast of companies such as , , and amongst its clientele. The increased subscriber numbers MoM and the increased open rate (from 16% last quarter to 21% this quarter) point towards a higher value provided to clients at the same price point. Newsletter ADs made $ redacted YTD Stanford Linode 80,000 hours and has been the most affected by the welcome emergence of writing contests. With major tags being taken over by the writing competitions, AD by Tags is being reimagined as buttoned links on the tagged pages. Ad by Tags made $ redacted YTD and have served as a new cheaper alternative to Billboard ADs to help companies leverage advertising on HackerNoon at a lower cost. , , and more have been the biggest buyers of this inventory. Story Audio ADs ( ) made $ synthetically produced by AI redacted YTD Lisk Algorand Couchbase Writing Contests — Now Our Largest Inventory for 3 quarters in a row now surpassed as the largest HackerNoon inventory. Writing Contests accumulated 2K+ stories participated and 5M+ reads across all stories. Linode even sponsored a while being acquired by Akama. Since its launch late last year, writing contests sponsors, such as , , and , have committed to a total of ~$200k in payout money to winners. Writing Contests Billboard Top Nav #Linux writing competition SandBox Sentry Twingate Writing Contests create the right flywheel incentives ( ): more new quality content on the internet creates a win for readers, a win for sponsors, and a win for contributing writers! pictured below Looking at performance across the sponsors, we can see that brings thousands of new visitors to HackerNoon and to the sponsors (some with ), while enabling great content creators to earn from their pen and encouraging content creation on niche technical topics. ( ). the contest landing pages created millions of impressions Sponsors and writers are pumped about these contests see more Brand Publishing Growth via Brand as Author Program is most brands' first contact with the HackerNoon ecosystem. Over 3000 brands have leveraged this offer to . Publishing as a brand by consuming our free credit broaden their content marketing efforts HackerNoon's managed account services help build upon those efforts. For example, , , and , to name a few, increased the reach of their existing corporate blogs by simply choosing to republish on HackerNoon. We’ve also seen increased demand from stalwarts in the Blockchain space like , and to in order to target Web3 developers. Arthur Hayes BNBchain Amazon IVS Coinbase Avalanche Lisk buy from HackerNoon This quarter, buoyed by strong sales to Brands and the demand for more exposure, we increased prices per article from $ to $ . This price increase enabled us to bring over to Brands our biggest differentiator from our Managed Accounts Program - a . Our team’s accumulated enough social media ad insights to have these niche ads perform well. Basically, we are paid to drive more relevant traffic to our own site while helping drive traffic to our paying customers. redacted redacted guaranteed $100 per story ad spend on social media With literally now publishing with us, we've streamlined mandatory , , and communicated to Brands which helped speed up the time to publish. thousands of brands disclosures editorial transparency content guidelines NEW: The All-You-Can-Buy Brand Storefront This quarter, we also launched the to enable customers and clients to self-checkout This new experience has generated a little over $ in revenue YTD (mostly on Brand-as-author credits). On top of ability for brands to preview each and every ad, : Brand Dashboard Storefront redacted the storefront also offers massive discounts across all packages ** **with a 20% early-bird discount for startups looking to get started publishing on HackerNoon. Startup Marketing package ** **with a 32% discount: 52 Brand as author credits, 1 week of HackerNoon Story Audio ads, and 1 Tech Company News Page. Content Marketing package with a 33% discount: 3-month writing contest, with $18K prize pool for winners. package Writing Contest ** **offer up to 50% discount for startups. Brand-as-author credits First-time brands can get ** **upon a free BAA credit . filling out a simple Ice-breaker For V2 of the Brand Dashboard, we will include a “wins” tab, where staff members upload campaign wins such as trending mentions/milestones/data from their stories and ad placements, and in-app direct messaging, where staff can help clients answer any questions or report on campaigns’ progress. Impact of the Recession and Ongoing Conflicts It is undeniable that our target customers - companies in the emerging tech space - have been feeling the brunt of the recession. We did have a number of large and well funded technology customers renege or drastically alter agreements and upcoming plans, citing layoffs and budget cuts. BUT, we remain profitable and have more time on hand to clean house, tightening our process to be the go-to publishing platforms for every single tech company out there. Revenue-wise, we are profitable YTD and still project to sizably increase our 2022 total revenue for the 7th year in a row. 📈 Editorial Feature: HackerNoon’s Top Contributors Nesha Todorovic’s report . on a sneaky change in Upwork’s T&C that nobody seemed to notice is hard at work improving our output and juggling multiple initiatives to recruit new writers and stories into the HackerNoon community. HackerNoon is ramping our human editorial team of subject matter experts, building automations and productivity tools into our editorial process and workflow.. Our editorial team The Second Human Rule Welcoming 4 new editors this past quarter, the editorial team is larger than it’s ever been and that has our drastically. In 2021, HackerNoon published . With ≈3 months left in the year, we’ve already published 10,498 stories in 2022. Increased Human Editorial Capabilities improved output 10,355 stories This is a , i.e. a mix of and original social data from HackerNoon. HackerNoon technology editor writes commentary based on unique social data generated from reader interest in . Tech Company Brief [Newsletter]. human + machine made weekly newsletter tech editor commentary tech companies on HackerNoon - The has been revamped with video tutorials, more mentors, and a structured 3-month curriculum to welcome a shorter, more focused cohort. The initial program has created over 2 million minutes of reading time so far this year. Blogging Fellowship Revamp blogging fellowship with a .This year is Star Trek 🖖 ; , , , . ! Also, Noonies awards are serving as one of badges in our upcoming badge reward system. our 4th annual Launched Noonies jingle jingle themed to much excitement of our top writers also see here here and here We passed 130k votes this week example Story Publishing Experiments - Just 6 months into the series, we’ve already published 1,200+ stories in our . Our use of the public domain to for time tested classics like , , and even , positions HackerNoon as more of a learning destination. Public Domain Books HackerNoon Books series create readership educational Einstein’s Theory of Relativity astounding sci-fi stories The Wealth of Nations - To help tech professionals create content, we have launched and are keen on ramping up story templates. We have 50+ staff-made live templates so far - like , , , , and - have led to 900+ published posts. Story Templates Growth meet the writer Noonies nominees new startup funding how to get a job in tech which coin do you hodl? tech company news in context , has passed and now appears at the bottom of page 1 for a . As we onboard more communities and tech companies, we’ll continue the uphill climb of ranking for a real word atop Google. Notably, the tool has proven invaluable for hosting async with a global community in different time zones. is now ! Slogging live in Slack App Store 400+ stories published google search for Slogging AMA sessions Reader Relationship Growth After messing around with commenting systems built and governed by others (Medium Corp, Disqus, Discourse), . By default, each comment is reviewed by either individual writer or staff editor before publication on the story page. We hope this moderation approach will encourage high-quality human discussions about technology. However on an individual story level, writers can also choose “Town Hall Mode” where every comment auto-publishes. Comments, Comments, Comments. we’ve built our own native commenting system to the HackerNoon content management system We launched , and soon the and the will launch, following this unique platform data + tech editor commentary model. We also launched the automated , , and quietly, with a small group , we’ve been beta testing sending entire blog posts as newsletters, ala . and More Email Touchpoints. Newsletter Growth Tech Company Brief Newsletter Crypto Brief Newsletter Blockchain Games Newsletter Tech Beat Newsletter scaled up our transactional emails of top contributors LinkedIn Newsletters top 20 Trending Technology Stories over the last 24 hours are now live on homepage, dynamically in the top navigation on all pages, and as a newsletter! Users can sort the list by , , , and . . Increased Curation via : The Tech Beat on its own page reads engagement latest comments Writers are pretty excited about this new feature too At the end of the day, the simplest thing we can do for readers is publish quality technology stories. Below are just a few of our favorite recent HackerNoon articles ( ): Editorial Picks. by topic by A CIA Agent's Guide to Steganography, Fooling the KGB, and Protecting Your Crypto @officercia by Container Orchestration Trends for 2023: Kubernetes, AWS Fargate, Docker and Beyond @hiren-dhaduk by Get Ready for New Natural Disasters @ikuchma by Hack Solidity: Reentrancy Attack @Kamilpolak by How a Warm Beer Defined the Notion for Non-Fungible Tokens in 2015 @alyzesam __ __by How Do I Build High-Volume dApps With Ultra-Low Gas Fees? Like a #BAS @bnbchainecosystem by How to Build a QR Code Generator in React @Terieyenike by How to Use DeepAR For AR Effects on Amazon IVS Live Streams @amazonivs by I Don't Like Big Butt NFTs and I Cannot Lie @growthpunk by Implementing a Singly or Doubly Linked List in Java @rakhmedovrs by Random: Meaning in Everyday Life and in Science @nikolao by Teach Me Daddy @cryptohayes by The Metaverse is Not Real, Yet @barthillerich by The Objective Need for Decentralization: Reality Consensus @kameir by 2022’s Top 5 React Native UI Libraries @sarrahpitaliya by Upwork in Real Danger of Losing MILLIONS over ONE DOLLAR "Conversion Fee" @nebojsa.todorovic by What Happened to Terra Luna? @juxtathinka by Why Would an NFT Marketplace Freeze an Account? @nextdecentrum Until next time we are (now live ) along, vote , and treat your internet friends with respect. Slogging in Slack App Store Noonies COO & CEO HackerNoon Linh Dao Smooke David Smooke