10 Websites Every Entrepreneur Must Follow

As a startup founder, the greatest asset you have is knowledge. No where is the adage, "Knowledge is Power" more applicable than in the fast-moving world of startups. The more intimately you know your industry, the more you can connect with people in your niche, the greater the chances of your success.

This article takes a look at 10 websites every startup founder must keep tabs on. Make it a point to check them out first thing in the morning (collect their RSS feeds for easy reading).

The 800lb Gorilla of the startup world, there are few entrepreneurs who haven't heard of TechCrunch. Started by Michael Arrington in 2005, TechCrunch is the loudest champion of startups with a readership exceeding 6M/month.

Getting a feature on TechCrunch takes a considerable amount of effort, awesomeness, and networking skills, but can result in massive exposure, calls and meetings from VCs, and an immediate increase in traffic.

Website: www.TechCrunch.com

Twitter: @TechCrunch

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If TechCrunch is the 800lb Gorilla, Mashable is the nimble Panther stalking the social media landscape. Bigger in terms of sheer numbers with an audience close to 14M, it, nevertheless, lacks the influence wielded by TechCrunch.

Founded by Pete Cashmore in 2006 as a then 19 year old student in Scotland, Mashable has grown to become the second largest media property in the United States, only behind HuffPost in terms of market share.

Mashable's expertise is in social media. For startups that deal in this space, getting a feature on Mashable can boost traffic and revenues significant. Keep tabs on the site to know what kind of startups and stories get featured, and what you can do to emulate them.

Website: Mashable.com

Twitter: @Mashable

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YCombinator's Hacker News is the no.1 source of news for hackers and startup founders. With a large audience that appreciates intelligent, intellectually stimulating discussion, Hacker News is the place to be if you want exposure and enlightening discussion.

The site follows an upvote style system pioneered by Digg and Reddit. Hacker News appreciates intelligent analysis of an industry, thoughtful (and thought provoking) opinion pieces, and 'opening the kimonon' posts where startup founders share industry insights.

Website: News.YCombinator.org

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Started by Dan Frommer and two other technology journalists, it was originally called 'Silicon Alley Insider', but quickly morphed into a much larger property, BusinessInsider. With over 50M pageviews every month, BusinessInsider's audience base is enormous. It has a special focus on startups, particularly those based out of New York.

BusinessInsider's stories are frequently a little tongue-in-cheek and fun. Slideshows of startup offices, for instance, are common, and so are short, quick interviews with founders.

Website: BusinessInsider.com

Twitter: @BusinessInsider

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Veteran tech journalist Om Malik's website, GigaOM, is well respected among startup founders and venture capitalists for its serious, thought provoking journalism. It has less of a 'blog' feel than TechCrunch or Mashable and reads more like a traditional tech media outlet.

GigaOM is a storehouse for knowledge about startups and the people behind them. In-depth analysis and insights are the norm. Spend a day or two digging through the archives for an instant education in entrepreneurship.

Website: GigaOM.com

Twitter: @GigaOM

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Entrepreneur Dharmesh Shah's OnStartups is a storehouse of knowledge for startups and entrepreneurs. The article database is one of the biggest treasure troves on the internet for all things entrepreneurship. Add in the 'Answers' section, and you are looking at a website that should become your favorite hangout spot in no time.

Website: OnStartups.com

Twitter: @dharmesh

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Quora, the fledgling Q&A site with rave reviews, has quickly become a central hub for startup founders and venture capitalists. With questions being answered by Chris Dixon, Marc Andreessen, Marc Benioff, Michael Arrington, Rand Fishkin and other stars of the tech-startup world, Quora's Startup Q&A database is quite possibly, the greatest resource on earth about startups.

Website: Quora.com/Startups

Twitter: @Quora/startups

AngelList dubs itself a 'community of startups', and it is precisely that: a forum, a job board, and an investor shopping hub all rolled into one. More and more startups are finding investors (and investors finding startups) through this vibrant community of entrepreneurs. For tech-startups, being a part of this community should be a priority.

Website: Angel.co

Twitter: @AngelList

Sprouter is a Q&A site where top investors and founders field questions from young entrepreneurs. With people like Eric Reis, Brad Feld, Ash Maurya, etc. on board, it has a vibrant and very informative database of answers that should make educational reading for every entrepreneur. Although the site's traffic and activity has slagged off, the huge archive is still a very substantial resource on all things startups.

Website: Sprouter.com

StartupNorth chronicles startups north of the American border. With a focus on Canadian startups (yes, reader, they exist), StartupNorth is the ultimate resource for news, funding information, and analysis for founders from up-north.

Website: StartupNorth.ca

Twitter: @StartupNorth

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From the land of Rovio comes ArcticStartup, a website that covers all that is worth covering from startups near the Arctic circle. With a focus entirely on startups from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and other Nordic countries, ArcticStartup's vision might be a little too narrow, but that can't take away from the fact that is is a fantastic source of news and information.

Website: ArcticStartup.com

Twitter: @ArcticStartup

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