Matt Saincome
Matt Saincome | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1991 (age 34–35) Danville, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | San Francisco State University |
| Occupations | Businessperson, Journalist, and Satirist |
| Notable work | The Hard Times: The First 40 Years |
Matt Saincome (born 1991) is an American businessperson, journalist, and satirist.
Education
[edit]Matt Saincome was born in Danville, California, in 1991. Following high school he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism.[1][2]
Music
[edit]In 2009 he and his brother Ed cofounded the straight edge hardcore band Zero Progress, for which Saincome was the frontman using the stage name of “The Champ” – a satirical character based on typical hardcore frontmen’s macho attitudes. The band folded in 2014, following which Saincome founded the straight edge band PURE. He has also served as a booker for hardcore and punk shows in the San Francisco area.[2]
Writing
[edit]Saincome published a zine called Punks! Punks! Punks! between 2009 and 2012, releasing a total of six issues. Ian Mackaye, Henry Rollins, Lars Frederiksen, and several other punk scene figures were interviewed in the zine, which had a print run of about 50 copies an issue. Following his degree in journalism, he worked as a freelancer for Vice[2] and served as the music editor at SF Weekly until 2016.[1] As a freelancer he produced several articles that went viral, including his Weekly piece “Meet the Man Who Had Sex with a Dolphin (and Wrote a Book About It)”. During this time he came up with the idea of creating a career out of what he called “punk comedy journalism”.[3]
The Hard Times
[edit]In November 2014[2] Saincome, his brother Ed Saincome, and Bill Conway used an $800 budget to cofound the satirical website The Hard Times.[4] The original typewriter that Saincome used to propose his first idea for the Hard Times is now in the hands of a private collector.[5] Since its founding, the site has added live events and a podcast network to its repertoire. The podcast is entitled The Hard Times Podcast, and features Saincome and Conway in discussion and doing interviews.[6] Its work has been described as a "combination of satirical stories that get into the nitty-gritty of punk politics, and spoofs of news stories".[1][3] By 2019 the site was receiving about five million views per month. In 2019 the company cofounded a sister site about videogaming called The Hard Drive.[7]
He also cofounded OutVoice in 2018, an automated tool for freelancer payments. Their clients include Hearst Communications, Adweek, and the Onion.[8] In 2019, Saincome co-authored the book, The Hard Times: The First 40 Years, following which he proceeded with a national book tour.[1] In 2020 The Hard Times was acquired by Project M in a deal that valued the company over $2 million and allowed Saincome to retain ownership of Hard Drive. He also stayed on board at Hard Times in a position focusing on brand vision.[9] Saincome was a featured speaker at ONA23.[10]
Hard Money Podcast
[edit]In May 2021, Saincome, along with cohosts Enrique Abeyta, Danny Polishchuk, and Gabe (nlm), created the Hard Money Million Dollar Podcast, in which Saincome cataloged his attempt to turn $10,000 in to $1,000,000 or go broke doing so.[11] By December, 2021, they had reached a high of $160,694, over 16X their initial investment. Their strategies included discussions about investments in Cryptokitty renaming, NFTs like TopShot, vending machine distribution platforms, options trades, and other highly speculative investments.[12] During this time, Saincome was honored with the creation of an anonymous parody account, CattSaincome, which continues to troll Saincome.[13] Ultimately, the podcast ended with $73,748 in February 2023, nearly 7X in its two years of existence.
Unusual Whales
[edit]In 2025, Saincome became a venture partner at Dyanism Capital.[14] Saincome is currently the CEO of Unusual Whales, an API platform that uses AI to track options trades.[15]According to Saincome, as quoted on the Motley Fool website, the purpose is "so retail investors can invest alongside Congress and reduce information asymmetries."[16] Subscribers to the platform can track trading by politicians, as well as conversations about trades in Discord and Telegram, prediction markets, and a custom-built AI model that tracks over 1 billion data points a day.[17] For his work on Unusual Whales, Saincome has been featured on NPR[18] and in Memelord Magazine.[19] Unusual Whales Newsletter is among the 40 most popular finance newsletters on Substack and maintains a communities on Discord and YouTube.[20] Data collected by Unusual Whales led to the creation of ETFs following both Democrats and Republicans.[21] The tool has also revealed that some Congresspeople have recorded gains of over 100% while in office.[22]
Personal life
[edit]Matt Saincome adheres to a straight edge lifestyle.[23] On September 7, 2025, Saincome married Celina Kimelman, a designer, patternmaker, and owner of Belle De Nuit. Saincome and Kimelman have one child. [24]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Rae Alexandra (November 12, 2019). "With New Book, 'The Hard Times' Expands Its Punk Satire Empire". KQED. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 Sam Lefebvre (January 28, 2015). "The Hard Times Is Matt Saincome's Latest Comedic Provocation to Punk - With his popular, satirical news site, the musician and writer punks punk". East Bay Express. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- 1 2 Colin Stutz (February 22, 2018). "Spotlight: 'The Hard Times' Founder Matt Saincome on Turning Punk Into Comedy & Developing a New TV Show". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ August Brown (January 13, 2017). "In strange times for Internet satire, the Hard Times grows beyond its punk niche". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ 20 May 2026 Interview with private collector.
- ↑ Richard Guzman (March 19, 2019). "The satirical punk website The Hard Times is ready to make some noise as a podcast". Daily News. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Siran Babayan (October 29, 2019). "THE HARD TIMES GETS SERIOUS (NOT!) WITH NEW PUNK BOOK". LA Weekly. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ "OutVoice: Pay, Manage, Onboard your publication's freelancers". OutVoice. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ Anthony Ha (July 2, 2020). "Project M acquires punk rock satire site The Hard Times". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ "Matt Saincome". ONA23 - Aug. 23-26, 2023 in Philadelphia & Sept. 28-29 online. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- ↑ "Spotify". open.spotify.com. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ CryptoKitties. "hardtimes Cryptokitty site". CryptoKitties. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑
"Catt Saincome". X. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Matt Saincome | LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Archived from the original on 2025-03-25. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ "Unusual Whales". Unusual Whales. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ Hartill, Robin (2026-02-26). "How to Buy Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF (NANC)". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- ↑ "About Unusual Whales | Options Flow Platform, Mission & Story". Unusual Whales. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ "Do traders who place big bets make big money? : The Indicator from Planet Money". NPR. 2026-02-24. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ Gautama, Jovian. "The Punk Rock Comedy Capitalist". MEMELORD MAGAZINE. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ "Join the Unusual Whales Discord Server!". Discord. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ Kamdar, Bansari Mayur (March 14, 2024). "Democratic ETF outpaces Republican peer on Big Tech bets". Reuters. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Mortimer, Rachel (2025-01-26). "How to invest like a Pelosi". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- ↑ Joe Warminsky (October 25, 2019). "The Hard Times sells out in the most strategic way possible". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Celina (2022). "Celina Kimelman, Linkedin". Linkedin.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- 21st-century American journalists
- 21st-century American musicians
- 21st-century American writers
- American satirists
- People from Danville, California
- San Francisco State University alumni
- American punk rock musicians
- American technology company founders
- Journalists from California
- Living people
- American comedy writers
- 1991 births