Startup News Essentials

At the start of every new cohort of Founder Institute New York I like to share some of my favorite news sources with the new founders. For many founders starting out, consuming the right news from the right sources can really help to plug you into the global startup and tech community.

If the old saying, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” is true, then one of the incredible advantages of the internet is the fact that you can customize whose opinions and knowledge you decide to spend the most time with.

The below list could easily be hundreds of links, but for the sake of simplicity I am going to focus on the core recommendations of what I read everyday. I am also going to focus mostly on news sources. I might do another post on the topic of specific blogs and which individuals to follow in the future. Feel free to add any more news sources that you love in the comments below and up vote the best ones! 

For Everyone: 

Nuzzel - This is my favorite news source! Nuzzel's algorithm finds trending articles from your personal network. And even better, they make it really easy to see the trending articles in influencer's networks as well.

Techmeme - If you want to know what the whole industry is talking about on any given day, then this is your one stop! The essential tech news of the moment curated by a mix of editors and an excellent algorithm. 

Launch Ticker -  Efficient tech news broken down to the most important three sentence summary of the original article. Really good at extracting the most important, essential, and relevant information from news to save you time. 

Hacker News - Social news website focusing on computer science, tech and entrepreneurship. 

Axios Pro Rata - Dan Primack's daily newsletter breaks news about deals and dealmakers from Wall Street to Sand Hill Road.

Fortune Term Sheet - Fortune's daily newsletter about venture capital deals and dealmakers.

Product Hunt - Because it is one of the most fun sites on the internet! And because Product Hunt is a curation of the best new products, every day. You will almost always leave the site with something new and exciting to check out. 

Angel List - It is quickly becoming the case that if you want to "exist" in the startup world then you need to be active on AngelList. You can find trending companies, make a hire, invest in a syndicate, connect with other founders, and more. They recently acquired Product Hunt too! 

 

For New Yorkers: 

Digital NYC Voices -  Tips and thoughts from the leaders in NYC business and government. 

AVC - The only blog on this list because Fred Wilson's insightful posts have become daily reading. The comments from the community are often just as good as the original content. 

NYC Innovation Collective - A semi-monthly newsletter that is the byproduct of over 70 NYC startup accelerators, incubators, innovation programs coming together to share resources and news! 

Gary's Guide - Weekly collection of all the startup and tech events happening in New York. Gary does an excellent job curating the information each week, and oh by the way he wears a red tie you can advertise on IRL! 

Charlie O'Donnell's Weekly Newsletter - A curated list of NYC innovation community events each Monday morning.

Gothamist - Never miss a NYC meme again. From breaking news on the cronut, to mayoral soda tax scandals, to changes in the subway system, to Banksy's central park popup stand, the Gothamist constantly has you covered! 

Thank You Jon Stewart

I have no idea when the first time I watched the Daily Show was. I know that I got really into it during college. It played a massive role in helping shape my political views. There is one view that has stuck with me. You do not need to pick a side. You have the right to make your own decisions, think about each event individually, and then form your own opinion. 

To often, every political event in America has a filter placed over it before it is even presented the public. Most often, the Democratic filter is placed by MSNBC and the Republican filter by Fox News. Jon Stewart went after everyone though. If someone did something that wasn't decent they were on his radar. The filter that Jon placed on the media he delivered wasn't Republican or Democratic. It was an empathetic filter. He would put himself in the shoes of who was being affected and if it needed to be done, he would call bullshit.

It seems ironic that a fake news show on Comedy Central is the one that actually most closely resembled what we used to view as journalism in this country. There is a reason for this though. Jon understood how the media works. There are plenty of people doing great journalism in America, but their voices struggle to break through the click bait, sensationalism, advertising driven media world that has been created. What Jon figured out was how to use comedy as a narrative to elevate and communicate stories that would not have other wise broken through the tradition media filters and into the public eye. 

I truly hope that the narrative Jon Stewart and the Daily Show team created does not die with him leaving though the show. I do not think it will though. Off the TV it lives with all the viewers who tuned in every night and loved the show. On TV, Jon Oliver is already doing a truly incredible job carrying on the narrative on HBO with Last Week Tonight. Colbert will be taking over the Late Show on September 8th. Lastly, Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart on the Daily Show on September 28th. 

If you haven't checked out Trevor Noah yet, you can do so on Netflix. I am confident that Noah will do a great job. He speaks 7 languages/dialects. He grew up in South Africa where his actual life was illegal due to apartheid and growing up with a white father and African mother. I personally do not know any experience which better instill's empathy in a person then traveling the world and having experiences across cultures. Noah has these experiences and on top of it is actually pretty funny. 

So in the end Jon said: "Nothing ends, it’s just a continuation. It’s a pause in the conversation. So rather than saying goodbye or good night, I’m just going to say: I’m going to go get a drink. And I’m sure I’ll see you guys before I leave.”

I just wanted to say thank you Jon. I feel the same as Colbert. The world is a little bit better off for having you done your job. I'll see you at that drink you owe us soon.