10 Best Startup Blogs

I love startups.

Startups think on their feet and offer a different point of view.

Startup blogs also reflect their funky style, and disrupt the marketplace.  Blogging presents an opportunity to level the playing field, connecting with customers, clients, and casual visitors in a personal and informal sort of way.

Here are 10 Startup Blogs who get it right, each in their own special way:

Let’s Begin the Top 10 List with an Honorable Mention: Sonar6 Blog.  No longer a startup since being acquired in 2011 by Cornerstone on Demand, their blog post, How Angry Birds Made Me a Better Manager is hands down my favorite startup blog post.  I had to include them because they are a great example for startups to follow. I love their funky and creative style that makes the reader learn but is also fun.

9. General Assembly Blog.  The company is a global network of campuses and learning for the entrepreneur while offering classes, learning, and valuable insights on their blog too.  The blog’s clean design makes it easy to read and navigate while offering small business and startup insights that can benefit big business and budding entrepreneur’s alike.  A great Startup 101 Guide.

8.
Kaggle Blog.  Entrepreneurs learn early that while life long learning is important, what’s more important for any new business to succeed is surrounding yourself with people smarter than you.  Kaggle is a nerdfest, offering data and analytics outsourcing competitions. Their blog is heavy reading.  As business pros, it’s important to keep pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone which is why I like their blog and visit regularly.

7. Girls in Tech Blog.  Sometimes, a blog can even be on the homepage. Girls in Tech is a social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. Between their top ten lists, infographics, and tech event coverage, there is a lot of good information here for woman (and men) who are looking to grow in the technology sector.

6. Simple Blog.  Part of becoming a good blog is understanding the needs of your readers and intended customer audience. Simple consolidates all banks and financial management information in one place. Simple’s blog offers insights and resources on a variety of household questions.  The topics aren’t sexy – like the pros and cons of leasing a car and tax financial tips – but they are solutions that align with the product’s function.

5. Goodsie Blog.  Besides the fact that the company offers a much needed code-free e-commerce and Facebook store service, I love how they showcase their best and most creative customers on the blog. Great visuals! With the popularity of visual and photo sites like Instagram and Pinterest, Goodsie’s blog does a great job of getting the creative juices flowing for readers who are looking to build an internet marketplace.

4. Magento Commerce Blog.  As I mentioned earlier, blogs need to appeal to your audience and customer base.  Magento is an ecommerce platform and their blog provides updates to the technical aspect of their platform. It’s not entertaining like Sonar6, but their blog provides the necessary and important information that is accessible to their user base without having to wait on hold while they call an ill-fated 1-800 number.

3. Kickstarter Blog.  I’ve been following Kickstarter and researching (for myself) how self-published authors like Seth Godin are using it to crowdfund their publishing efforts.  To date, Seth has raised over $250,000 for funding for his next book.  I’m equally interested in the sense of community they’ve built which is continued on their blog as they feature member projects. It’s one of the best places to learn about startup trends and happenings in and outside your space.

2. Birchbox Blog.  The company offers trial sizes of an assortment of beauty and lifestyle products mailed monthly to your home.  Their blog is eclectic and offers product recommendations and beauty tips with a casual and stylish point of view.  I love that for all the press they have received since launching their startup, guest blog posts are featured regularly.   Their pictures, how tos and point of views make fashion and beauty easy for fashion moguls and stay at home moms alike.

1. Hubspot Blog.  This company has grown tremendously over the last 6 years since it lauched. Hubspot and their blog offers amazing amounts of great free content on Internet marketing and social media resources.  This shouldn’t be surprising; they wrote the book on Inbound Marketing. Their company’s culture still speaks to the spirit of a bootstrapping startup, allowing employees the opportunity to present and work on a workplace project of their choosing in the spirit of creativity, passion, and learning.

Just the culture and company personalities of the 10 blogs listed here are as different as the CEO’s and startup dreams who build them.  Startups are small, nimble, and can react quickly how and wherever they choose.  Blogs too (Don’t Forget SmartRecruiting!).  These are 10 of the best startup blogs who reach their audience that reflects their audience and mission. Who’s your favorite?  Please share below.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media.  She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. When she talks, people listen.  Also, connect with her on Pinterest @blogging4jobs. Photo Credit BusinessWeek.