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About benson.vc

This documentation covers the technical implementation of benson.vc, Andrew Benson’s personal website and blog.

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Project overview

benson.vc is a Hugo static site that serves as a personal blog and portfolio. The site focuses on sharing long-form essays on artificial intelligence, technology, and entrepreneurship.

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Site metadata

  • Base URL: https://benson.vc/
  • Title: Andrew Benson
  • Description: “Andrew Benson is an entrepreneur based in San Francisco, California”
  • Author tagline: “A real human being”

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Technology stack

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Hugo static site generator

The site is built using Hugo, a fast and flexible static site generator written in Go. Key configuration (config/_default/config.toml:5-18): 
baseURL = "https://benson.vc/"
defaultContentLanguage = "en"
enableRobotsTXT = true
summaryLength = 0

[pagination]
  pagerSize = 10
theme = "congo"

googleAnalytics = "G-RS2TMEY2KX"

[outputs]
  home = ["HTML", "RSS", "JSON"]

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Congo theme

The site uses the Congo theme imported as a Hugo module. Module configuration (config/_default/module.toml:4-5): 
[[imports]]
  path = "github.com/jpanther/congo/v2"

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Design & layout

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Homepage layout

The site uses Congo’s profile layout for the homepage, which displays author information prominently with recent posts below. Homepage settings (config/_default/params.toml:31-34): 
[homepage]
  layout = "profile"
  showRecent = true
  recentLimit = 5

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Theme configuration

Appearance (config/_default/params.toml:8-10):
  • Color scheme: congo
  • Default appearance: light
  • Auto-switching: Enabled (respects user preferences)
The site has autoSwitchAppearance = true which automatically switches between light and dark modes based on user system preferences.
Header (config/_default/params.toml:19-23):
  • Layout: basic
  • Shows site title
  • No custom logo configured
Footer (config/_default/params.toml:25-29):
  • Shows copyright
  • No theme attribution
  • No appearance switcher
  • Includes scroll-to-top button

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Content structure

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Blog posts

Blog posts are located in content/posts/ with each post in its own directory containing an index.md file. Example post: “On the Proliferation of Artificial Intelligence” (published July 28, 2018) This 3,700+ word essay explores the benefits and risks of AI, covering:
  • Job automation and labor market impacts
  • Algorithm bias and diversity in AI development
  • Autonomous weapons and weaponized AI
  • Privacy concerns and data governance
  • The need for ethical frameworks and international standards
The post was originally submitted for The Economist’s OpenFuture Initiative, showcasing the depth and quality of content on the site.

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Article display settings

Article configuration (config/_default/params.toml:36-53):
  • Shows date and author
  • Shows reading time
  • Shows table of contents
  • Shows heading anchors for easy linking
  • Shows pagination between posts
  • No comments enabled

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Features

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Analytics & SEO

  • Google Analytics: Tracking ID G-RS2TMEY2KX
  • robots.txt: Enabled for search engine crawling
  • Output formats: HTML, RSS feed, and JSON
  • Image optimization: Lazy loading enabled

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Content features

  • Search: Disabled
  • Code copying: Disabled
  • Taxonomies: Not displayed on posts
  • Reading time: Displayed on all articles
  • Table of contents: Auto-generated for long posts

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List pages

List configuration (config/_default/params.toml:55-61):
  • Groups posts by year
  • No breadcrumbs
  • No summaries on list pages
  • Pagination width: 1
Posts are grouped by year (groupByYear = true) which helps organize content chronologically on archive pages.

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Author profile

The site features comprehensive author information configured in languages.en.toml:15-62: 
[params.author]
  name = "Andrew Benson"
  image = "img/andrew-benson.jpg"
  headline = "A real human being"
Configured social media profiles:
  • Twitter/X: @andrewbenson
  • LinkedIn: /in/abenson
  • Instagram: @andrewbenson
  • GitHub: @andrewbenson

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Custom homepage sections

The site includes custom partials that enhance the profile homepage with additional information: About Me section (layouts/partials/about-me.html):
  • Hill (hill.com): Founded with a mission to democratize access to venture-backed private equity
  • River (river.com): Co-founded a Bitcoin-focused financial institution with $2B in assets
Angel Investments section (layouts/partials/angel-investments.html):
  • Ellis (ellis.com): Immigration-tech company pioneering legal solutions for aspiring immigrants
  • Lava (lava.xyz): Non-custodial Bitcoin wallet with built-in Bitcoin-backed loans and enhanced privacy
These custom partials display company logos, descriptions, and links on the homepage profile layout.

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Content style

Based on the existing blog posts, the content on benson.vc is:
  • Long-form: Essays typically 2,000+ words with deep analysis
  • Well-researched: Includes citations and references to studies
  • Thoughtful: Explores multiple perspectives on complex topics
  • Accessible: Explains technical concepts clearly for general audiences
  • Balanced: Presents both benefits and risks when discussing technology

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Writing approach

The AI proliferation essay demonstrates:
  • Structured argumentation with clear thesis statements
  • Use of data and research to support claims
  • Consideration of counterarguments
  • Policy recommendations based on analysis
  • Awareness of international context and liberal values

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Locale & date formatting

Language settings (config/_default/languages.en.toml:1-10): 
languageCode = "en"
languageName = "English"
languageDirection = "ltr"

[params]
  dateFormat = "January 2, 2006"
Dates are displayed in full format (e.g., “July 28, 2018”).

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