A big update at Weekend Fund

If you’re new here: Hi, I’m Ryan Hoover, founder of Product Hunt and early-stage investor at Weekend Fund. I also helped write Hooked and occasionally publish essays. This newsletter highlights my latest experiments, essays, and curiosities. If someone forwarded this to you, subscribe along with 25k+ others here. :)

1. We recently announced Weekend Fund’s new GP: Vedika Jain. I’ve been working with her for nearly six years and remain impressed more than ever by her drive and curiosity. I’m excited about what we’re plotting for the fund in 2025. Give her a high five on Twitter. :)

2. You gotta watch Cyan Banister’s interview on Tim Ferriss’ podcast. I’ve always admired her independent thinking and conviction in her values. Her story—particularly as a very successful VC—is unique having grown up on a reservation (as a white girl) to homelessness as a teen.

3. “What’s something you used to believe that you no longer subscribe to?” When asked this question, one particular idiom came to mind: “No pain, no gain.” Perhaps “With pain, less gain” is more true for me. More thought in this short blog post.

4. I attended ChapterX, a conference for post-exit founders, hosted by my buddy Grant Gittlin and team. I rarely go to tech events, mostly because they feel so transactional. But this one was different. Would recommend.

5. Art Basel was inspiring. I appreciate this piece by Ernie Barnes. It captures the passion and effort that goes into achieving hard things.

6. I visit NYC often and love its walkability. It’s easy to put in 5+ miles daily. My home base is less walkable, so I bought this treadmill to place under my standing desk.

7. The return of Digg. I was first introduced to Kevin Rose when he was on the The Screensavers, a nerdy tech TV show that started in the late ‘90s. After the show, Kevin founded Digg, a community-driven social news aggregator and one of the pioneers in the “web 2.0” era. I was a DAU and weekly viewer of Diggnation, their weekly video show. Kevin and his co-host, Alex Albrecht, recently revived the show and it appears Digg is also coming back. Alexis Ohanian, reddit’s cofounder, seems to also be involved based on @digg’s RTs.

8. I take many supplements. Tbh, I don’t know how effective they all are, but I’ve felt better since adopting it into my routine years ago. My buddy, @msg, recently shared Supp, a new startup to optimize your supplement intake toward your goals. According to them, my current stack is scored 85/100 and could be improved with a few additions and brand swaps.

9. I recently made a change to my morning routine. I’m not proud to admit my habit of rolling over in bed to check my phone immediately after waking up. I now avoid it and start the day with a “baby” five-minute meditation followed by journaling. My goal is to start the day with an intention and less anxiety-inducing noise.

10. Jhanas, a meditation practice, sounds wild. Nadia Asparouhova shared her experience achieving MDMA-like states of consciousness through the practice.

11. I’m a fan of “dumb” apps and wrote this in 2014. Software—like any medium—can be used as a form of self-expression and fun. It doesn’t have to be so serious. Here’s a recent dumb app that launched on Product Hunt: vscode-pokemon.

12. Dub techno seems underrated. It’s my go to genre when I want to do focused deep work. I’m currently listening to this set.

13. I’m trying something new with Intro. If you’re building a new project or startup and want my support during a 30-day sprint, subscribe here (scroll down to plan #2).