Why YourStack failed

And more about the sperm shortage, why Gen Z is job-hopping, and why you shouldn’t send me a Yeti mug.

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 alongside 20k others here. :)

1. Occasionally people ask me what happened to YourStack, a project we built at Product Hunt. So, I wrote a post-mortem on why it failed.

2. A year ago I created synthetic Ryan, a deep fake version of myself, using HeyGen. The tech is getting good. They just raised a hefty round at a $500M valuation. I’m excited to see more exploration in generative video (shoutout InVideo, a Weekend Fund portfolio co).

3. Ben South tweeted a video of his interactive podcast concept. I love experiments like this. Gen AI is unlocking an opportunity to create endless media that can be personalized to the individual and a long tail of niche interests. If you’ve seen anything novel in this space, let me know!

4. I first saw Kasbo, a Swedish electronic music producer, perform ~7 years ago. He recently released his third album which inspired this post on the tension between the desire to be achieve with acceptance of oneself.

5. Porter Robinson, an artist I fell in love with after seeing him perform Worlds in 2015, is releasing his new album July 26. I’m considering throwing a listening party in SF with a small group of fans and friends. If anyone has access to a venue with a killer sound system, let me know. :)

6. I appreciate it when VCs send me a Yeti mug, but I don’t need another. Creative swag like this one from my friends at Hustle Fund, are very welcome.

7. Speaking of VC swag, shout out to the Shrug team for delivering some of the best in the game. Shrug calendar 2021 was my favorite.

8. I recently tweeted about tarpit ideas. Here’s Anu’s defense.

9. I’m going to FWB Fest, a gathering for music, ideas, and emerging tech in the woods of Idyllwild. Are you going?

10. I’ve been enjoying Pretty Girl’s “emotional dance music” (as she describes it). Here’s a set she just published from her show at The Forum.

11. From SignalFire's recent talent report: "Gen Z's fresh graduates held twice as many different jobs in the first four years after college as Gen X did". My quick thoughts on why this might be, a sign of the future of work.

12. My friend, Connie, did an Ignite talk about the sperm shortage. Fascinating industry.

13. And while you’re on YouTube, check out Fahim Anwar’s channel. He’s hilarious and underrated, imo.

Until next time,

Ryan ???