Investing in funds

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. I’ve quietly backed 30 venture funds over the last 8 years. I wrote about why and what I look for. And if you’re interested in investing alongside me as an LP, let me know here.

2. The downside of venture investing: Returns take foooorrreevverrrr. Hunter Walk recently wrote about the importance of pursuing secondary sales as a fund manager.

3. More startups are investing in media than ever before. And they probably should. Product Hunt would have never worked if I hadn't written hundreds of blog posts and thousands of tweets years before its launch. Anu writes about this shift in ”Media and Machines”.

4. I used to blog more and host the Product Hunt podcast. I’d like to get back into media creation, but it has to feel additive to an already noisy ecosystem. Ideas welcome.

5. Speaking of media, I’ve been enjoying Jack Altman’s new pod. His recent interview with Josh Kopelman from First Round describes the changes we’re seeing in venture. Worth a listen for those of you investing.

6. Hacker houses are like college for some. They connect young, driven builders with a community of like-minded people. But many can't emigrate to SF long-term, legally and/or financially. I'm thinking of starting a "short-term hacker house," a non-profit that houses and flies <24 year old founders to the city for a few weeks. I can’t finance it myself though. If you’re interested in financially supporting, LMK.

7. Poetry Camera captures photos but in words. It’s a creative idea, now available for preorder (shoutout to Cyan Banister for the tip on Twitter). I’d buy one but honestly not for $699. Apparently tariffs haven’t helped with production costs.

8. My gf and I went to Disney World with my parents. I highly recommend it. And if you go, you have to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Apparently it’s the most expensive roller coaster in the world, costing $500M. It’s insane. Spoiler alert.

9. This is a neat project: Spotted In Prod. Made by Raffi, it’s a curation of screen captures of well-designed apps and user interactions. I built a (much less polished) version of this for mobile games in ~2012 when I worked in the industry.

10. André 3000, one of the artists on my Mount Rushmore of rap, released a new album. And like his previous Ayahuasca-inspired release, this one is far from his roots. Enjoy. :)

11. Here’s a mix for your next work sesh. There’s more distraction-free music on their channel.

12. I’ve been meaning to get a full body scan for a while. I feel healthy, but I have no idea what’s going on inside. Function Health just acquired Ezra and dropped the price down to $499. I scheduled my session for June. If you need an invite to Function Health, here’s my referral code.

13. A new GTA VI trailer dropped. When I was a kid, I sunk so many hours into GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas. This new release, apparently over 10 years in the making, might get me to pick up a console.