[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"nav-categories":3,"article-how-to-raise-millions-for-100-the-lucrative-shadow-economy-of-fake-github-stars":70},{"data":4},[5,37,57,64],{"name":6,"slug":7,"categories":8},"Productivity","productivity",[9,13,17,21,25,29,33],{"id":10,"title":11,"slug":12},17,"Branding","branding",{"id":14,"title":15,"slug":16},19,"Marketing","marketing",{"id":18,"title":19,"slug":20},20,"Work","work",{"id":22,"title":23,"slug":24},34,"Community","community",{"id":26,"title":27,"slug":28},21,"For newbies","for-newbies",{"id":30,"title":31,"slug":32},24,"Investment","investment",{"id":34,"title":35,"slug":36},22,"Finance","finance",{"name":38,"slug":39,"categories":40},"Tech","tech",[41,45,49,53],{"id":42,"title":43,"slug":44},28,"Technology","technology",{"id":46,"title":47,"slug":48},32,"Artificial Intelligence","artificial-intelligence",{"id":50,"title":51,"slug":52},26,"Security and protection","security-and-protection",{"id":54,"title":55,"slug":56},31,"YouTube Blog","youtube-blog",{"name":58,"slug":59,"categories":60},"News","news",[61],{"id":62,"title":58,"slug":63},18,"quasanews",{"name":65,"slug":66,"categories":67},"Business","business",[68],{"id":69,"title":65,"slug":66},16,{"post":71,"published_news":98,"popular_news":161,"categories":232},{"title":72,"description":73,"meta_title":72,"meta_description":74,"meta_keywords":75,"text":76,"slug":77,"created_at":78,"publish_at":79,"formatted_created_at":80,"category_id":26,"links":81,"view_type":86,"video_url":87,"views":88,"likes":89,"lang":90,"comments_count":89,"category":91},"How to Raise Millions for $100 — The Lucrative Shadow Economy of Fake GitHub Stars","A new investigation just dropped, and it’s deliciously cynical: researchers scanned more than 18,000 repositories and uncovered roughly 6 million fake stars.","researchers scanned more than 18,000 repositories and uncovered roughly 6 million fake stars.","Venture capitalists are obsessed with them. A partner at Redpoint Ventures openly admitted that many funds run scrapers across GitHub every day","\u003Cp>A new investigation just dropped, and it’s deliciously cynical: \u003Ca href=\"https://awesomeagents.ai/news/github-fake-stars-investigation/\">researchers scanned more than \u003Cstrong>18,000 repositories\u003C/strong> and uncovered roughly \u003Cstrong>6 million fake stars\u003C/strong>.\u003C/a> The undisputed champions? AI startups (the non-malicious kind, at least).\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cpicture>\u003Csource srcset=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083239137.webp\" type=\"image/webp\">\u003Cimg alt=\"How to Raise Millions for 0 — The Lucrative Shadow Economy of Fake GitHub Stars\" class=\"image-align-left\" height=\"201\" src=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083239137.jpg\" width=\"300\" />\u003C/picture>At first glance, who cares? Stars are just digital likes, right?\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Wrong.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Venture capitalists are obsessed with them. \u003Ca href=\"https://jordansegall.substack.com/p/so-how-many-stars-is-enough-a-data\">A partner at Redpoint Ventures openly admitted that many funds run scrapers across GitHub every day.\u003C/a> The #1 filter? Star count. On average, you need ~3,000 stars to get a serious look for a seed round and ~5,000 for Series A. It’s not the only signal, but it’s a brutal gatekeeper.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>And once something becomes a gatekeeper, a market appears.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cpicture>\u003Csource srcset=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083242905.webp\" type=\"image/webp\">\u003Cimg alt=\"How to Raise Millions for 0 — The Lucrative Shadow Economy of Fake GitHub Stars\" class=\"image-align-right\" height=\"201\" src=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083242905.jpg\" width=\"300\" />\u003C/picture>One star costs between \u003Cstrong>$0.03 and $0.85\u003C/strong> depending on quality (fresh bot account vs aged profile with commit history and avatar).  \u003Cbr />\nWant 3,000 stars for seed? That’s \u003Cstrong>$90–$2,500\u003C/strong>.  \u003Cbr />\nIf you actually close a $2–5 million round, your ROI is absurd.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>This is Goodhart’s Law in action: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>The authors of the report have a simple fix: stop worshipping stars. Look at \u003Cstrong>forks\u003C/strong> instead.  \u003Cbr />\nForking requires real effort — someone actually cloned your repo and did something with it. Faking forks at scale is way more expensive. Even better: track the \u003Cstrong>forks-to-stars ratio\u003C/strong>. Real traction shows up there. Pure hype evaporates.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cpicture>\u003Csource srcset=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083241156.webp\" type=\"image/webp\">\u003Cimg alt=\"How to Raise Millions for 0 — The Lucrative Shadow Economy of Fake GitHub Stars\" class=\"image-align-left\" height=\"447\" src=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083241156.jpg\" width=\"300\" />\u003C/picture>This pattern is universal:\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cul>\n\t\u003Cli>Telegram → views (cheap) vs meaningful engagement (likes + comments + reposts);\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>Mobile apps → installs vs Day-7 retention (DAU);\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>SaaS → sign-ups vs paid conversions or 30-day usage.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\u003Cp>Bots will always flood the cheapest metric. “Just detect them better” doesn’t work — detection always lags. The winning strategy is to move the goalpost to the metric that’s expensive to fake.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>P.S.\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr />\n\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/how-higgsfield-ai-became-shitsfield-ai-a-cautionary-tale-of-overzealous-growth-hacking\">We’ve seen this movie before. Higgsfield AI spent months farming fake blogger mentions and “organic” coverage\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>The product was actually impressive, but the growth-hacking burned their reputation so badly they’re still scrubbing “Shitsfield AI” memes off the internet years later.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, entire Telegram channels exist that are 100% fake — bought followers, stolen content, botted views, comments, and shares — yet blue-chip advertisers happily pay top rates because the vanity metrics look perfect.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cpicture>\u003Csource srcset=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083245174.webp\" type=\"image/webp\">\u003Cimg alt=\"How to Raise Millions for 0 — The Lucrative Shadow Economy of Fake GitHub Stars\" class=\"image-align-right\" height=\"298\" src=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/0001/image-2026-05-30t083245174.jpg\" width=\"200\" />\u003C/picture>The economy of fake stars isn’t a GitHub problem.  \u003Cbr />\n\u003Cstrong>It’s a human problem\u003C/strong>: we love easy numbers, and the market will always sell us the easiest ones.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Want real traction? Make the signal expensive to fake.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Also read:\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cul>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/ai-is-kryptonite-for-critical-thinking-here-s-exactly-how-it-melts-your-brain\">AI Is Kryptonite for Critical Thinking — Here’s Exactly How It Melts Your Brain\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/startups-are-reviving-dead-brains-and-big-pharma-can-t-look-away\">Startups Are Reviving Dead Brains — And Big Pharma Can’t Look Away\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/the-battle-for-humanity-s-last-dataset\">The Battle for Humanity’s Last Dataset\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\t\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/us-intelligence-agencies-secure-9-billion-for-ai-chips-and-access-to-anthropic-s-mythos-model\">US Intelligence Agencies Secure $9 Billion for AI Chips and Access to Anthropic’s Mythos Model\u003C/a>\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\u003Cp>Thank you!\u003C/p>","how-to-raise-millions-for-100-the-lucrative-shadow-economy-of-fake-github-stars","2026-05-30T06:41:53.000000Z","2026-06-03T03:32:00.000000Z","03.06.2026",{"image":82,"image_webp":83,"thumb":84,"thumb_webp":85},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/Z9Wfv8pSY76WHEN7iToj7yTXjdx05ZATdyQwaneH.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/Z9Wfv8pSY76WHEN7iToj7yTXjdx05ZATdyQwaneH.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/Z9Wfv8pSY76WHEN7iToj7yTXjdx05ZATdyQwaneH.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/Z9Wfv8pSY76WHEN7iToj7yTXjdx05ZATdyQwaneH.webp","small",null,63,0,"en",{"id":26,"title":27,"slug":28,"meta_title":92,"meta_description":93,"meta_keywords":94,"show_on_homepage":95,"deleted_at":87,"created_at":96,"updated_at":97,"lang":90},"Newbie Growth Hacks: AI, Solo Startups & Tech from Scratch | Quasa","Insiders and instructions on how not to step on a rake in any area of life.","For newbies, how to, newbie, advice, instructions",false,"2021-10-25T14:55:26.000000Z","2026-04-22T15:10:24.000000Z",[99,112,124,136,148],{"title":100,"description":101,"slug":102,"created_at":103,"publish_at":103,"formatted_created_at":80,"category":104,"links":105,"view_type":110,"video_url":87,"views":111,"likes":89,"lang":90,"comments_count":89,"is_pinned":95},"Why Every Trader Should Follow Macroeconomic Trends","Discover why successful traders look beyond charts. Explore how inflation, interest rates, GDP, and macroeconomic trends shape global markets.","why-every-trader-should-follow-macroeconomic-trends","2026-06-03T13:17:52.000000Z",{"title":35,"slug":36},{"image":106,"image_webp":107,"thumb":108,"thumb_webp":109},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/O6TcMtVtgtZSChQwNqtc4Rqqn7OzNwv219qbxECY.png","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/O6TcMtVtgtZSChQwNqtc4Rqqn7OzNwv219qbxECY.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/O6TcMtVtgtZSChQwNqtc4Rqqn7OzNwv219qbxECY.png","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/O6TcMtVtgtZSChQwNqtc4Rqqn7OzNwv219qbxECY.webp","large",8,{"title":113,"description":114,"slug":115,"created_at":116,"publish_at":116,"formatted_created_at":80,"category":117,"links":118,"view_type":110,"video_url":87,"views":123,"likes":89,"lang":90,"comments_count":89,"is_pinned":95},"How Independent Pros Get Paid Faster in 2026","Why Cash Flow Still Breaks Good Businesses In 2026.Late payments are normal, not rare.If you want predictable payments to independent professionals, reduce your deadlines. Add prepayments. Use tools that allow you to create estimates, invoice, and collect payments in a single process.","how-independent-pros-get-paid-faster-in-2026","2026-06-03T12:54:55.000000Z",{"title":35,"slug":36},{"image":119,"image_webp":120,"thumb":121,"thumb_webp":122},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/eRgpQLrxg1aBhwSReND4OfQjeZG7yB4WrQwOg83x.png","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/eRgpQLrxg1aBhwSReND4OfQjeZG7yB4WrQwOg83x.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/eRgpQLrxg1aBhwSReND4OfQjeZG7yB4WrQwOg83x.png","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/eRgpQLrxg1aBhwSReND4OfQjeZG7yB4WrQwOg83x.webp",10,{"title":125,"description":126,"slug":127,"created_at":128,"publish_at":129,"formatted_created_at":80,"category":130,"links":131,"view_type":86,"video_url":87,"views":54,"likes":89,"lang":90,"comments_count":89,"is_pinned":95},"The Michelin Guide: How a Tire Company’s Side Project Became More Famous Than Its Tires","In the late 19th century, two French brothers grew tired of producing all sorts of rubber items that nobody really wanted in large quantities.","the-michelin-guide-how-a-tire-company-s-side-project-became-more-famous-than-its-tires","2026-05-30T07:31:04.000000Z","2026-06-03T09:23:00.000000Z",{"title":65,"slug":66},{"image":132,"image_webp":133,"thumb":134,"thumb_webp":135},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/iVcergtRxaQ0EFQ1X7tqqkG9wUIMzWpunXSNZ3RV.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/iVcergtRxaQ0EFQ1X7tqqkG9wUIMzWpunXSNZ3RV.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/iVcergtRxaQ0EFQ1X7tqqkG9wUIMzWpunXSNZ3RV.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/iVcergtRxaQ0EFQ1X7tqqkG9wUIMzWpunXSNZ3RV.webp",{"title":137,"description":138,"slug":139,"created_at":140,"publish_at":140,"formatted_created_at":80,"category":141,"links":142,"view_type":110,"video_url":87,"views":147,"likes":89,"lang":90,"comments_count":89,"is_pinned":95},"Archive Digitization Challenges: How to Choose the Right Scanner?","One of the most crucial parts of any archive digitization is selecting a scanner. When an improper scanner is used, the final product may be low-resolution images, damaged originals, slow workflows, and hard-to-find digital images later in the process.","archive-digitization-challenges-how-to-choose-the-right-scanner","2026-06-03T08:22:54.000000Z",{"title":43,"slug":44},{"image":143,"image_webp":144,"thumb":145,"thumb_webp":146},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/HMvJbSyNCBh3AHfnDrPrnlbuIDkRXTU32Lr166da.png","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/HMvJbSyNCBh3AHfnDrPrnlbuIDkRXTU32Lr166da.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/HMvJbSyNCBh3AHfnDrPrnlbuIDkRXTU32Lr166da.png","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/HMvJbSyNCBh3AHfnDrPrnlbuIDkRXTU32Lr166da.webp",35,{"title":149,"description":150,"slug":151,"created_at":152,"publish_at":153,"formatted_created_at":80,"category":154,"links":155,"view_type":86,"video_url":87,"views":160,"likes":89,"lang":90,"comments_count":89,"is_pinned":95},"The Economic Moat: Warren Buffett’s Secret Weapon for Investing (and Building) Businesses That Last","Today let’s talk about something genuinely smart — a concept that has made Warren Buffett one of the richest people in history.","the-economic-moat-warren-buffett-s-secret-weapon-for-investing-and-building-businesses-that-last","2026-05-30T06:59:15.000000Z","2026-06-03T06:52:00.000000Z",{"title":27,"slug":28},{"image":156,"image_webp":157,"thumb":158,"thumb_webp":159},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/I0jq670jMFQVn6083rwLEXVuQt3P7wxQ6Zxdoehk.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/I0jq670jMFQVn6083rwLEXVuQt3P7wxQ6Zxdoehk.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/I0jq670jMFQVn6083rwLEXVuQt3P7wxQ6Zxdoehk.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/I0jq670jMFQVn6083rwLEXVuQt3P7wxQ6Zxdoehk.webp",44,[162,175,190,203,218],{"title":163,"description":164,"slug":165,"created_at":166,"publish_at":167,"formatted_created_at":168,"category":169,"links":170,"view_type":86,"video_url":87,"views":173,"likes":174,"lang":90,"comments_count":89,"is_pinned":95},"The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur","Entrepreneur is a French word that means an enterpriser. 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You can be a new tech company, if your goal is not to grow high and fast; then, you are not a startup. ","what-is-a-startup","2021-08-04T12:05:17.000000Z","2025-12-17T13:02:00.000000Z","17.12.2025",{"title":65,"slug":66},{"image":199,"image_webp":87,"thumb":200,"thumb_webp":200},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/EOsQhSW3VXyG7a6NPdE1oZd00xfJXe3bjY5aJGb7.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/EOsQhSW3VXyG7a6NPdE1oZd00xfJXe3bjY5aJGb7.webp",73967,6,{"title":204,"description":205,"slug":206,"created_at":207,"publish_at":208,"formatted_created_at":209,"category":210,"links":211,"view_type":86,"video_url":87,"views":216,"likes":174,"lang":90,"comments_count":217,"is_pinned":95},"Top 5 Tips to Make More Money as a Content Creator","Content creators are one of the most desired job titles right now. 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