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Linh Dao Smooke
HackerNoon COO & Board of Directors
Linh Dao Smooke is the COO, Co-Owner, and Majority Shareholder of Hacker Noon, a prominent tech publication and software company.13 Here are some key details about her:
Professional Background
Linh runs Hacker Noon, which has over 45,000 writers and 5-8 million monthly readers.3 The company has raised nearly $3 million in funding, valuing it at $50 million.3 Linh and her husband remain the majority shareholders, maintaining control over the company's direction and values.3
Career History
HackerNoon:
- Joined in August 2017 as COO and Board Member3
- Helped grow the platform to become one of the most recognizable brands for people in tech3
Previous Experience:
- Head of Asia Marketing at Minerva University (June 2016 - October 2016)3
- Regional Manager for South East Asia at Minerva University (September 2014 - June 2016)3
Education
- Brown University: B.A. in Development Studies (2009-2013)3
- UWC Mahindra College: International Baccalaureate (2007-2009)3
- Monterey Institute of International Studies: Summer Certificate in Global Trade and Development Program (2011)3
Personal Life
Linh is originally from Vietnam but has been living in Colorado for almost 10 years.4 She is married with two children and is currently pregnant with her third child.5 Linh values work-life balance and appreciates that her role at HackerNoon allows her to work remotely and spend time with her family.2
Entrepreneurial Approach
Linh emphasizes HackerNoon's community-focused approach and the importance of maintaining a small, flexible team.1 She is passionate about empowering writers and providing a platform for technologists to share their knowledge and experiences.13
Highlights
My annual birthday blog post is here 🎊
https://lnkd.in/gftrq35d
Every year circa July 28, I spend some time to jot down my thoughts on turning another year older. I've enjoyed doing this reflection exercise for 6 years in a row now! Let's see if we could make it to 10 😉
This year, I cover:
✨ Expectations, ✨ What to do in the face of extreme adversity, ✨ The power of balancing the masculine and the feminine, and ✨ (As always) happiness
On a personal news, David and I are expecting our 3rd child - a baby girl! In our 7 year parenting and 10+ year entrepreneurship journey, we have grown so much. I thoroughly believe that being parents makes us better business leaders. (Some venture capitalists out there may disagree - I even recalled one of them in our early fundraising days refer to us, a husband and wife team with a kid, as a potential vulnerability).
HackerNoon as a business has evolved quite a good bit since those early days. We have a tight-knit nuclear team of 20, and from the early days of us being the only parents, we now have 5 team-members who are parents, and 2 more parents-to-be! We might not make the news every day as a business that's changing the world, but we are proud of this little factoid: a welcoming place for people who want to build families.
Until next year, hope you enjoy my personal reflection this year - and thank you for following along!
As COO of a publishing network I often get asked: why would one publish their stories with us as opposed to hosting their content on their own site. Well, let me tell you my own reason why I publish on HackerNoon.
I recently published a story on parasocial relationship on my personal blog here https://lnkd.in/gUiAHufR, then proceeded to republish the same story with slightly different title on HackerNoon here https://lnkd.in/gg238Uwe, setting the canonical to my personal blog. Without any extra promotion, my blog on HackerNoon got almost almost 4k views (left screenshot) Whereas the one on my personal blog, while having higher engagement, got only less than 100 views (right screenshot)
That right there - is the power of community & distribution. As a personal blogger, I could only do so much. The compounding impact of a publishing network is not to be undermined. Yes, I will keep publishing my personal stories that have little to do with the tech audience on my own site. But anything that overlaps, I'll do both.
