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Few successful entrepreneurs blog

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Re: Few successful entrepreneurs blog

#121

Post by mbesto »

Slightly meta, but this is one of the many topics that (1) will continued to be debated and (2) always draw attention. The problem with these statements is a fundamental issue with definitions.

What does successful mean? Raised a million in funding? Sold company for a million?

What is a blog? Is a magazine/newspaper turned digital considered a blog? Does a press release written by someone else count?

What is an entrepreneur considered? Someone who just started a company (less than 1 year)? Someone who's started 40 companies over 30 years?

Probably the most well known entrepreneur blog by what is considered a highly successful entrepreneur, is Richard Branson - http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson - but as far as I can tell he doesn't actually write any of it himself.

Re: Few successful entrepreneurs blog

#122

Post by philwelch »

tptacek wrote: post #61
philwelch wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pg blogs? Or are you thinking of his essays?

Same thing. Blogging used to have a different connotation, but it's lost it, and Graham's site fits squarely into the modern notion.

It seems a little anachronistic as some of his essays predate even the word "blog", and he's been doing largely the same thing for years. If anything the notion of blogging has grown even more topical and ephemeral than ever.

Re: Few successful entrepreneurs blog

#125

Post by ericabiz »

Cabal wrote: post #106
ericabiz wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do. (I can't believe the one night I decided to go out with friends, this is the thread that shows up on Twitter--my wheelhouse!) I built and bootstrapped a tech company from the ground up in the Valley. Sold it in 2007 for 7 figures. Then took my personal blog and grew it into one of the top entrepreneurship blogs online. Now running a funded startup and just completed Techstars Austin. Now that I think about it,…

I think the OP means real companies, not startups who blog and don't seem to do much else.

I'm not sure if you're trolling or you genuinely misread my comment--I'll assume the latter.

LeadPages generates real revenue to the tune of >$3M/year and is funded by Foundry Group as well as other angels and VCs. It is a legitimate business.

My company is funded by 500 Startups, Techstars, and a group of angel investors. We have one product on the market that is generating significant revenue, and are launching MarketVibe, our latest product, this month.

I would agree with the general premise of "successful entrepreneurs who blog are outliers."

Re: Few successful entrepreneurs blog

#126

Post by atmosx »

In my view, statements like this are thin air. People shouldn't even bother to comment seriously on them because they lack context.

Until I am 100% sure what Keith means by the words "successful" and "regularly", I can't comment nor I can take anyone else's comment on such a broad statement seriously.

Re: Few successful entrepreneurs blog

#127

Post by ujsfdo »

joeblau wrote: post #114
laCour wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tobi Lütke of Spotify - http://tobi.lutke.com/ Dalton Caldwell of App.net - http://daltoncaldwell.com/ Suhail Doshi of Mixpanel - http://sufficientlyadvanced.net/ Jack Groetzinger of SeatGeek - http://jackg.org/ Eric Koester of Zaarly - http://ekoester.com/

I wouldn't necessarily add Dalton to the category of "Successful" just yet. Although he is a great influencer and a great technologist.

ZING (too true though)

Re: Few successful entrepreneurs blog

#128

Post by Cabal »

ericabiz wrote: post #125
Cabal wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the OP means real companies, not startups who blog and don't seem to do much else.

I'm not sure if you're trolling or you genuinely misread my comment--I'll assume the latter. LeadPages generates real revenue to the tune of >$3M/year and is funded by Foundry Group as well as other angels and VCs. It is a legitimate business. My company is funded by 500 Startups, Techstars, and a group of angel investors. We have one product on the market that is generating significant revenue, and are launching Mar…

Neither, actually. The OP is quite clear about what he means, probably more professionally than I put it:

https://twitter.com/rabois/status/397233618449227776

i.e. Not startup bubble companies, companies that actually produce something of value, either for society or in significant returns. "Lead generation" isn't one of those.

Re: Few successful entrepreneurs blog

#130

Post by davemel37 »

ronaldx wrote: post #104
davemel37 wrote: post #100

Those who don't engage at the top of the funnel won't be able to afford advertising to the bottom of the funnel. I Can't think of a single founder who blogged high quality original content consistently for more than two years that didn't turn his audience and readership into a successful company. There is a massive misconception about blogging and content marketing in general that gets ignored by people. Creating con…

> I Can't think of a single founder who blogged high quality original content consistently for more than two years that didn't turn his audience and readership into a successful company. This is statistical nonsense. You are unlikely to be able to think of those founders who don't have successful companies, whether they blogged or not. In general, we are more aware of founders who blog precisely because they do that.…

My claim is no more statistical nonsense than the original tweet that claimed successful ceos don't blog.

My point is simply that blogging is a proven, repeatable strategy for building an audience. An audience that trusts you and is happy to give you their money.

Whereas not-blogging is at best a shaky correlation to successful ceos and their success is just as likely to be despite their not blogging than because they save two hours a week not blogging.

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