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 founders. I am going to share them here too!
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!
Taking Action
September 27th is National Voter Registration Day in the United States. As such, I could list off a bunch of facts about the electoral college, the popular vote, democracy, or the current political system in order to convince you that the system is worth your time. But I'm not going to do that.
September 27th is National Voter Registration Day in the United States. As such, I could list off a bunch of information about the current political landscape, the Electoral College, or democracy in general just to convince you that the system is worth your time. But I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to even talk about the candidates. I just want to talk about taking action.
Yes, all the systems, processes, and entities above could be stronger. But something being broken doesn't mean it is hopeless.
I watch entrepreneurs beat the odds day after day to improve and fix the broken systems, industries, and entities in the world. They do so using only the scarce tools and resources provided to them. So, why is that they can do what others can't? It's simple. It's because they take action. They take action instinctively, again and again, day after day, without hesitation.
A handful of people who we call entrepreneurs take action and change the world over time. So imagine if everyone seized each day and took action without hesitation in their own lives. I am not going to ask you to register to vote. Nor am I here to tell you that need to vote on November 4th. Instead I am going to ask you to take action, in order to solve the problems in the world that you see. If there are tools at your disposal, don't squander opportunity and watch them waste away. Use the opportunities in your life to make the world better.
In other news, here are some tools I happened to find on the cyber; I mean Internet:
- TurboVote: Sign up to receive election reminders, get registered to vote, & apply for your absentee ballot.
- Vote.org: Everything you need to vote.
- VotePlz: Get ready to vote.
- And many more!
See what I did there? 😉. Hope it helps!
Swallow The Frog 🐸
“If you know you have to swallow a frog, swallow it first thing in the morning. If there are two frogs, swallow the biggest one first.” -Mark Twain
"Swallow The Frog."
I heard that phrase recently. It wasn't the first time I heard it and apparently Mark Twain originally said it quite some time ago. His original Swallow The Frog quote was:
“If you know you have to swallow a frog, swallow it first thing in the morning. If there are two frogs, swallow the biggest one first.” -Mark Twain
As human's we are all guilty of procrastination. In fact, it is actually programmed in us to do so.
Making sure you swallow a frog on your todo list each day is so important for progress in one's life and especially in entrepreneurship.
For some reason when Matt Rodak reminded me of the swallow the frog meaning in a recent conversation, it stuck with me. I woke up the next day, looked at my Todo list in ToDoist and starting swallowing some of the larger frogs on my list! I completed the items that I really hated doing normally and that had this stench of anxiety around completing. And I felt great afterword!
The best part about swallowing the frog earlier in the day is you don't spend the whole rest of the day thinking about it. It's done. It's gone. The progress is made and you can now use your brain power in other productive ways. And if you do the worst part of your day first thing in the morning then when bad things happen the rest of the day, they are quickly put in perspective as not that awful.
One little productivity hack I started to use that I think you might find useful is this. When I caught myself snoozing an item on my todo list or I found myself feeling anxiety around an item to work on, I started adding the frog emoji 🐸 in front of the task's name. That way the next time I looked at my todo list, I knew exactly which I item's I needed to accomplish first that day.
So tomorrow wake up and Swallow The Frog. Ensure you get the tasks you dread the most, done first each day! And if you have to swallow more then one frog each day (as most startups founders do) then make sure you swallow the ugliest and wart-iest first! And if you still need help, someone even wrote a swallow the frog book, which might be helpful.