Entrepreneurial knowledge seems to be everywhere in this startup obsessed environment but can that be referred to as such if it is not refined? Innumerable blog posts and websites catering an insane amount of information (related to technology, startup opportunities, financial risks, venture capital, crypto currencies and so on) exist on the internet. They are all very vast and often present unreliable material to the readers. To take that giant leap forward the entrepreneur requires certain tools, especially of knowledge to harbinger in those good fortunes. To properly understand the mechanics of startup culture and to assimilate certain principles very important for a healthy life, we have mentioned here a set of influential blogs that you should consider reading. Their useful blogs and articles traverse multidisciplinary subjects and often have very practical applications. From Psychological understanding to those related to mega market projects and startup ventures they are really very useful in furnishing you with the right knowledge you need.
Farnam Street – The Farnam Street (FS) blog focuses on providing productive lessons and insights, with a timeless tint, for work and for life. Its weekly newsletter offers quick and useful multidisciplinary wisdom. It also supplies the listeners with a rich dose of podcasts which have an appreciative amount of deep and nuanced conversations. Further the books recommended by it delve on the deeper exploration of ideas expounded by the company.
Shane Parrish a former Canadian spy is the founder of this company and in recent times he has seen his popularity surge owing to the company’s advancement especially in terms of profit and also in providing valuable inputs to budding entrepreneurs. Sometime later he was also beginning to be referred to as a Wall Street Insider with a massive investment portfolio ranging from real estate infrastructure to technology. In addition to all of these he is also the host of the Knowledge Project podcast.
Rhiannon Beaubien is one of the most prominent writers here on this blog. Her development of the course content and habit of simplifying complex ideas is very fascinating. An interesting element here is the valuable lessons that they provide on mental models. Interwoven ideas about business and life find expression in the articles and blogs they provide. The methodology consists of ‘mastering the best of what other people have already figured out’. Its Sunday Brain Food newsletter visits certain of these key areas too. The devotion to provide to the people the inspiration they need and the ideas that need to be infused into certainly is a praiseworthy task and a profitable one too.
Andreessen Horowitz- A Venture Capital firm founded in 2009, it has had a string of financial successes and a solid investment portfolio especially in the technological arena. Founded by American entrepreneur and investor Marc Andresseen and Ben Horowitz it mainly invests in the spheres of Fintech, Gaming and Social, Security and Privacy (Software Infrastructure) , Bio+Health, Crypto currencies and Blockchains and various other sorts of businesses. It has a preeminent voice in Techno-democracy and other governance related matters also.
Ben Horowitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, “The Hard Thing about Hard Things and What You Do is Who You Are”. The title of this book simplifies many things about the company, its self help message, generation of leadership motivations and so on. Engagement with inspired innovators and cultural leaders is what it advances on a regular basis. a16z is the cultural leadership fund which aims to connect the greatest cultural leaders to the best new technology companies and further enable more African Americans to enter the tech industry. The company’s creative depot also seeks to create a healthy environment which can mould startup ideas and other business endeavours.
Recently, it inaugurated Future, its Media property which condenses an array of information related to technology and other business opportunities. An expert driven platform it provides numerous essays for entrepreneurs and also provides a space for ‘outside’ writers. Podcasts on crypto networks and articles on startup building and the like has made the firm a defined voice of Techno-optimism where they seek to leverage a startup solution for every problem that arises in society. Its sheer optimism can certainly help in breaking boundaries and in setting forth ambitious goals for the entrepreneurial class.
Y-Combinator and The Startup School- Y-Combinator is an American tech startup accelerator launched in March 2005. Till date it has launched more than 3000 companies including AirBnb, Dropbox, Twitch and Reddit. Its humongous investment community has made it into a major source of early startup funding. We must understand its role as an accelerator. Accelerators are meant to provide mentorship and educational guidance to the early stage startup functionaries and eventually the startup event they organize culminates in public pitches and the like. In other words they hasten the growth of a company by providing an exact space where ideas, funds and growth plans could be effectively negotiated.
Its Startup school offers courses on professional leadership and contact with expert advice(especially related to early stage funding and business development). It also facilitates enriching conversations among the startup community besides raising money on a large scale. Articles that deep dive into the intricacies and problems of starting up a venture are also readily available. It is almost like an amateur bootcamp for future business leaders.
Connecting with the right investors, getting the products launched and providing a rich user experience, it has become a thought leader owing to all of these functions. In other words it is virtually a Serial Launchpad for prospective Ideas.
Venture Beat- It is an online Technology news platform Founded in 2006 by Matt Marshall, an ex- correspondent for the Mercury news. Its editorial features news on Big Data, Cloud, Deals, Enterprise, Entrepreneur, Media, Marketing, Security, Small Business and Social. The history of the company is equally fascinating. In March 2009, Venture Beat signed a partnership agreement with IDG to produce DEMO conference, a conference for startups to announce their launches and raise funding from Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors. In 2012 the partnership ended though.
Timely analysis, perspective and context from analysts and industry insiders linking executives facilitate a very good knowledge base for startup founders. It revels in making known innovative products and invests in life enhancing discussions and ideas. The routine segments and beats harness a gamut of relevant information which make it easy for an onlooker to tread the path of an entrepreneur. Forums for lively conversation and other segments for gaming culture and the like provide incentive for making it big in the startup world. Reliable expert advice and different perspectives on a particular subject coalesce to make it an enriching experience.
Feld Thoughts- It fields itself as a Technology Venture Blog and was founded by Brad Feld an investor, an author and a business leader. Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. He has co-founded companies like Foundry, Mobius Venture Capital, and Techstars. Brad is a prolific writer and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. He has written a number of books as part of the Startup Revolution series and writes the blog Feld Thoughts.
He regularly organizes leadership boot camps which seek to offer unique and powerful experiences for entrepreneurs. These camps aim to inculcate in the participants a sense of awareness about their life and the work they seek to undertake in the future. Deep learning experience infused in a productive and programmed manner is one noteworthy aspect. Skimming through the articles and books one finds a treasure trove of rich material ranging from life advice to startup culture to recommendations of books closely relating to us as individuals. Lucid language and easily relatable personal experiences make it a highly unique place which combines the nodes of sophistication and simplicity at one very place. Novel ideas and a long term vision just find expression here and it is on these grounds that this is a highly rated blog.
We tried to take you through some of the most prominent centres of startup culture where your own future could readily manifest and it is in lieu of all this that these blogs operate and should, which is to cater to you life changing ideas and a dynamic set of principles for a resounding journey ahead.