20 Must-Read Blogs for Online Entrepreneurs

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20 Must-Read Blogs for Online Entrepreneurs

Posted April 10, 2009 in Business, Tools/Resources

One of the most important parts of being an online entrepreneur is maintaining an intellectual edge. Those who work and start businesses on the web are always learning, always watching other businesses, and always looking for new sources of information.

The goal of this list is to provide that — 20 useful, thought-provoking, and potentially lucrative sources of news and ideas. Each of these blogs are run by leading individuals and companies, and together they can help form a cornerstone of learning in your daily schedule.

Not all of these blogs are about entrepreneurship, or even business, but all of them are well-written and definitely worth looking at.

Here’s the list in no specific order:

1. OnStartups Written primarily by Dharmesh Shah, OnStartups is a blog about entrepreneurs and new companies, mostly in the online space. There’s enough good information here to fuel at least a few new ideas from every read.
2. How to Change the World This is a blog written by former Apple evangelist and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki. Having launched multiple online ventures personally, and funded even more than that through his VC firm, he’s definitely worth listening to.
3. VentureBeat Possibly skewed a bit towards the offline world, VentureBeat is still worth reading for online entrepreneurs. All of their stuff is well written and well thought out.

4. Mashable One of the bigger blogs, and entirely focused on Social Media, Mashable is often passed over by serious entrepreneurs. That being said, this blog often has breaking business news and information that can be incredibly useful for anyone dealing with social media (which should be every online entrepreneur).
5. yCombinator’s Hacker News yCombinator is one of a handful of companies dedicated solely to providing seed money for online ventures. This is their blog. (Note: it’s highly tech oriented)
6. Scobleizer Scobleizer is one of the earliest tech blogs written by the often-controversial Robert Scoble. It’s a blog filled with opinion and advice that are frequently contrary to other information sources. For that reason, it’s a good read.
7. ReadWriteWeb This is another blog that feverishly covers tech news and startups. It’s got a lot of good information and frequently covers the latest developments in the tech world.
8. ValleyWag ValleyWag is a blog run by Gawker media that follows the ups and downs of silicon valley. For tech enbtrepreneurs, this blog is definitely a must-read.
9. A VC Accurately self-described as “Musings of a VC in NYC”, this blog is one of the best resources for anyone looking to glean some wisdom from an experienced venture capitalist.
10. The Eco Capitalist Written by Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, this is a blog about breaking from tradition and launching a business based around environmentally friendly ideals.
11. Signal vs. Noise SVN is a blog by the popular company 37signals. As one of the biggest and most prominent online startups in recent years, they have lot of useful information to share with other entrepreneurs.
12. Seth Godin’s Blog Written by the 10-time-bestselling author Seth Godin, this is a blog about marketing, markets, and how people think. It’s also a blog that just about every entrepreneur should take a look at.
13. Tim Berry’s Blog This is a blog written by the guy behind the popular “Business Plan Pro” software. There’s much more opinion and advice here than news, but it’s from a very knowledgeable source.
14. Work Happy A collection of online tools and resources for entrepreneurs, Work Happy is definitely a valuable blog to viist. It’s not updated very often, but the content is worth the visit anyhow.
15. Information Arbitrage Information Arbitrage is a site written by a Wall Street investor turned web entrepreneur. It’s very financially technical, and provides a lot of business insight.
16. The Netsetter Written by the CEO of the Envato Network, Collis Ta’eed, this blog provides an unprecedented look into the thoughts of a very successful online entrepreneur.
17. Startup Company Lawyer This is a blog that’s actually about the legal aspects of running a new company. This information is in short supply, and can definitely provide a boost to potential entrepreneurs.
18. Get Elastic Get Elastic is a blog about e-commerce and how to get website visitors to buy things. If your business plan involves this type of conversion, then this blog is a must-read.
19. Lessons Learned Written by venture capitalist Eric Ries, this is a blog that is definitely a must-read. Topics vary considerable, and every post is chocked full of good info.
20. GrokDotCom This is a blog by the conversion and optimization company FutureNow, Inc. It centers on usability, conversion, and overall optimization of a variety of different websites.

That’s it for our list — but what do you think? Did we miss any critical resources? Did you read some of these blogs and decide they weren’t worth it?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

About the author: Mason Hipp is a designer, entrepreneur, and writer. He is co-author of the Book The Unlimited Freelancer, and has just recently launched a collection of premium graphic resources for web designers called MediaLoot. Follow him on twitter @MasonHipp

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126 Comments

Cristian Graziano
April 10th, 2009 at 2:13 pm

I hadn’t heard of the Startup Lawyer. Definitely bookmarking this one!
Tom Ransom
April 10th, 2009 at 3:01 pm

How about an OPML list? Not that we’re lazy or anything like that.
Catherine Cantieri, Sorted
April 10th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

Cool list! I’ve already bookmarked five of them!
Mitesh
April 10th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

This post is amazingly helpful. Thank you for sharing!
logo designer
April 10th, 2009 at 5:06 pm

I love the start-up lawyer link. That is going to be very useful.
mylotnovice.com
April 10th, 2009 at 5:10 pm

Thanks for the list, hope I will learn something usefull.
Dharmesh Shah
April 10th, 2009 at 6:19 pm

Thanks for including OnStartups.com in the list. I’m in great company.

Quick note: Correct spelling of my name is “Dharmesh Shah”. (People misspell it all the time).
Mason Hipp
April 10th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

@Dharmesh,

Ouch! That was a catastrophic spelling mistake — sorry about that! All fixed now though, thanks for the catch :-)

– Mason
Colin Wright
April 10th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

VERY nice list! Im reading most of these, but there are a few that I’ll have to tack on to my near-toppling pile of daily reads.

Thanks!
Romel
April 11th, 2009 at 7:48 am

Nice one Bro…did nt know about “Scobleizer”…
Barry Welford
April 11th, 2009 at 11:45 am

This is an excellent list and any entrepreneur will be well served if they checked the RSS feeds of these in their feed aggregator like Bloglines or Google Reader on a regular basis. Thanks for this.
Nikhil
April 11th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

Thanks for the List Mason,
I am already a big fan of OnStartups & The Netsetter.

Both blog are very inspirational and helpful.
Paul
April 11th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Thanks for the list. Think maybe next time you can include a little more info, like how often they publish and some kind of rating of each?
Yokum Taku
April 11th, 2009 at 7:40 pm

Thanks for the inclusion on the list. BTW – it is StartupCompanyLawyer, not StartupLawyer.
Joe
April 12th, 2009 at 12:58 am

Thanks for the post. I am definitely adding at least three of these blogs to my reading list.
namefield
April 12th, 2009 at 4:40 am

news.ycombinator.com is not a blog
Satyajit
April 12th, 2009 at 5:50 am

Any particular reason I don’t see TechCrunch out here?
Steven Finch
April 12th, 2009 at 6:38 am

I cant believe http://crenk.com wasnt added to the list.
Sean McColgan
April 12th, 2009 at 6:41 am

Great list – loving veturehacks content at the moment…grokking some great ideas from their blog posts & podcasts (venture voice).

Also worth the sub are the blogs over @ Harvard Business School http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/
Sean McColgan
April 12th, 2009 at 7:02 am

Forgot to mention http://blog.mixergy.com/ by Andrew Warner it’s got to be one of the best entrepreneur blogs out there…
Broiezo Seetu
April 12th, 2009 at 8:47 am

i think techcrunch too popular to mention it worth :)
Don McArthur
April 12th, 2009 at 9:51 am

#15: “Information Arbitrage is a site written by a Wall Street investor turned web entrepreneur. It’s very finacially technicaly, and provides a lot of business insight.”

Help! ;^)
Birte
April 12th, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Invaluable information for anyone doing business via the net. And who is not these days.

I will surely check out the sites that are relevant to me. I am sure it will take a little time and
energy, but well worth it.
solexy
April 12th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

really good list
AC
April 12th, 2009 at 7:28 pm

You could have also mentioned Securing Innovation, the business blog of IP.com. All about protecting intellectual property.
Adam
April 12th, 2009 at 8:37 pm

With all this blog reading, how will they ever find time to start their business? Less reading, more working… :-)
Meryl K. Evans
April 12th, 2009 at 10:10 pm

http://www.WebWorkerDaily.com covers everything you need to know to work from anywhere. http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/ is all about entrepreneurship.
Andrew Warner
April 13th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

@Sean, thanks for suggesting my site.

@Mason, great list.
myDevWares
April 14th, 2009 at 9:35 am

Thanks for the list, definitely will add some of these blogs to my RSS feed…. Just what I needed.
ritchie
April 14th, 2009 at 3:11 pm

Thanks for the list – I had most of these feeds in my reader, but I discovered a couple of new blogs. OPML would be a nice add-on indeed :-)
Yasmine
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:01 pm

I found the greatest marketing idea of all time – in a FREE book http://www.supertips.com/ultimate/x/?id=3160

check it out..you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain!
Mitch
June 30th, 2009 at 12:14 pm

This list was very helpful. For me though, I found it easier to read books about creating my own start-up. Like I found this guy Rob who started his own sport marketing company and is actually successful in an industry I percieved as impossible to get into with all the contacts you need and such. Anyway, his book is Young Guns and it really helped to when I started my own business.
Affordable Website Design
July 13th, 2009 at 7:07 am

this list is very useful for me.I will get great marketing ideas from these blogs.
Ajay
July 24th, 2009 at 1:40 pm

Thank you for sharing this good list. I’ll add them to my reader.
It would be very good if you update it regularly.
Sympathy Gifts
July 25th, 2009 at 11:36 pm

What a great list of sites. I am bookmarking them for future reference. It is very true about the ongoing learning process necessary to run a successful online business.
mei
August 1st, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Can’t state enough how important the entrepreneurial spirit is.

Curious if anyone has caught this book yet? “The Richest Man in Town” by W Randall Jones. I’ve read half of it so far and let me tell you it is well worth it. Would like to hear what everyone else thought of it?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446537837?ie=UTF8&tag=richestmanint-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0446537837
Karol Zielinski
August 10th, 2009 at 9:35 am

you should add some more interesting blogs to your list… like: http://www.blogtrepreneur.com/ http://www.quicksprout.com/ http://carsonified.com/ http://blog.karolzielinski.com … however this list of websites is still really good.
Vic of BusinessAccent
August 20th, 2009 at 6:33 am

I have visited some of them, but not all. I thought I already visited many great business blogs, but there are still nice marketing and entrepreneurship blogs out there. Definitely for my bookmark.
Denny | StartupShack
August 29th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

Wow…VERY nice list of resources! Thx.
Freelancer Online
September 4th, 2009 at 5:42 am

I’ve found a few really good blogs in the list.
Check out my blog, maybe you want to add it to the list;)
That would be really great!
Annette
September 8th, 2009 at 7:06 am

Thanks for sharing this info.

Very useful!

Annette
Kevin
September 28th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

Add your “online entrepreneur” content to the Web Entrepreneur Network carnival at http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_8330.html — a great way to get noticed!
How to Buy a Business
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 pm

Not surprisingly, I have been reading half of these blogs for over a year now and will check out the others as well.
Jonathan Yates
October 9th, 2009 at 4:50 am

I am just starting out blogging on the back of my new book and have really enjoyed this link – thank you
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November 19th, 2009 at 5:59 pm

,..] freelancefolder.com is one another useful source of information on this subject,..]
Sunil
December 8th, 2009 at 1:36 am

Great.. Thanks for sharing…
AlienTYC
December 31st, 2009 at 11:21 pm

Thanks for the list! They are very helpful for my online start-up strategy!
San Francisco Web design
February 1st, 2010 at 8:03 am

great 20 more exciting blogs for me to get in-touch with…. thanks a lot to share
Karol
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:16 am

I would like to recommend one more blog (my own): http://blog.karolzielinski.com

Hope you will like it.
Kevin Lampard
April 20th, 2010 at 2:34 pm

My favorite is ” How to change the world”.Nice list :-)
Theresa Bradley-Banta
May 14th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

Thank you for an excellent list. Nice range of topics. So much information so little time!
Smashing Web Development
June 8th, 2010 at 5:21 pm

We have found that maintaining an intellectual edge is key when meeting potential clients! Thanks for the list.
Man Ray
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:52 pm

That’s quite a lot of reference reading to start with. It would be much more productive if the learning process is done with the practical aspects.
Alex
July 30th, 2010 at 2:49 pm

Hey there,

the link to the Eco Capitalist seems broken – I guess this one is the right one http://www.inc.com/tom-szaky

Thx for sharing!

Regards,
- Alex
Rachel Pinson
August 18th, 2010 at 5:41 pm

Already an awesome list but more information can be found at sbtv.com including this article:
http://www.sbtv.com/Topics/9228
high equity
September 22nd, 2010 at 6:06 am

Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I simply read through the whole article of yours and also it was quite fine but since I’m more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out! I love what you guys are frequently up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the amazing works guys I’ve added you guys to my blogroll. That is a great article thanks for sharing this informative information.. I will certainly visit your blog frequent for numerous latest post.
Adam
October 22nd, 2010 at 3:09 pm

@high equity — Videos can be a great thing for read engagement. They certainly drive up the time-on-site quite a bit. But if you do them poorly, I think they make you look cheap. Depending on the business, they are not always a great thing.
sağlık
November 6th, 2010 at 6:59 am

Sure thing, great, I hope you do too :,)
Fussbodenheizung
November 19th, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Very informative blog, good information especially link list is very helpful. Thanks for posting it.
Data Entry
November 21st, 2010 at 1:47 am

Good informative post. Thank you for sharing this. Please keep it up.
Kyle Clouse
November 23rd, 2010 at 12:43 pm

Powerful list of sites. Thank you for sharing.
su
December 1st, 2010 at 12:34 pm

Thank you for sharing this good list. I’ll add them to my reader.
It would be very good if you update it regularly…
Wohngeldrechner
December 6th, 2010 at 2:05 pm

great post!

@adam: i totally agree with you!
web Designing
December 28th, 2010 at 11:53 pm

thanks for sharing such a great and knowledge full information
i hope that we will find more again just like this information here
thanks
mikwillson
January 4th, 2011 at 1:08 am

That is to be expected in a long-term, high-risk project like ours.
ashish
January 8th, 2011 at 1:11 pm

I love your website, it’s is very unique!
Jon Rowe
January 12th, 2011 at 1:33 pm

Just wondering what your thoughts are on a website I have created, blogsonamap.com. And if you would be willing to list your blog there. The idea is to help bloggers find other local bloggers who they may share common interests with. Thanks
Jon Rowe
Yong Scherf
January 28th, 2011 at 5:19 am

This article provides the light where we are able to take notice of the reality. this is extremely nice 1 and gives indepth info. thanks for this nice article
Chillimachines
January 30th, 2011 at 2:07 am

I admire the valuable information you offer in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and have my children check up here often.
Unstoppable Entrepreneur Bonus
February 13th, 2011 at 5:06 am

Thanks for the list. :) Very good information indeed.

Chris
Unstoppable Entrepreneur Bonus
Silvertongue62
February 19th, 2011 at 11:37 pm

Good information….
websupreme
February 24th, 2011 at 6:57 am

Really a nice collection.Thank you for sharing with us.
Steven Wheater
March 1st, 2011 at 3:52 pm

Thanks for the list I only knew half a dozen i’ll have to check out the rest
Urho Oskari – My Learning SEO Blog
March 23rd, 2011 at 2:47 am

Thanks for sharing the list. Although this is from 2009. Gotta check how many of them are still alive. :)
Ganar dinero rapido
April 2nd, 2011 at 9:05 pm

Thank you for sharing this good list on the 20 Must-Read Blogs for Online Entrepreneurs. I’ll add them to my reader.
Hacer Dinero Online
April 5th, 2011 at 8:46 pm

Very informative post. I already added all of these blogs to my reading list.
They for sure are the 20 Must-Read Blogs for Online Entrepreneurs.
Single Cup Brewing System
April 8th, 2011 at 7:14 pm

This is a great resource. Its funny how much information you can receive online for free. Thanks for the post.
Prestamos Hipotecarios
April 8th, 2011 at 9:51 pm

Good informative post. Every business person should have this 20 Must-Read Blogs for Online Entrepreneurs. Please keep it up.Thank you for sharing this.
Shobi
April 9th, 2011 at 2:50 am

Really informative blog thanks for sharing the list Hope to read all of these blogs and get something new from it.
Ella | The Office Escape
April 10th, 2011 at 12:20 am

I echo everyone’s view on this post. Great list. I’ve even bookmarked this page so I can visit all of them later. I am actually looking for great resources like these and your post just saves me time researching!
Loren Holland
April 15th, 2011 at 7:36 am

Great list! Bookmarked your post straight away for future references.
Shahzad
May 8th, 2011 at 2:26 pm

Awesome ideas you have in your blog, i appreciate it.
SEO Miami
May 21st, 2011 at 12:07 pm

Great list. I already visit a few regularly like Mashable. Definitely need to check out some of the other ones.
Jon
May 31st, 2011 at 12:22 pm

Love the list man, cheers. Totally agree you have to include Andrew Warner’s Mixergy on there too.
Shahzad
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:50 pm

i have worked on few of your suggestions, extremely useful. Thanks a lot.
kyle leon muscle maximizer
July 1st, 2011 at 5:49 am

Great list and thanks for compiling it and putting it on one place where it is easily accessible.
Jesus Lotze
July 5th, 2011 at 11:01 am

Hey
I wasent looking for that but still a great post

how did you guys found this information??thank you for your post I saw it on Google And I saved it .I like. You have my email guys, so can you please send me an email when you post some new blogs on your site!!!

thank you and have a nice day
SEO Basics
July 13th, 2011 at 10:56 pm

Thank you so much for this list, I’m always on the look out for inspiring blogs. This is very useful to me. :)
Sonia
July 18th, 2011 at 8:16 am

Thanks for this collection, it contains a few sites, I didn’t know yet.
Shahzad
July 19th, 2011 at 11:34 am

Jobs from all over the world. Latest postings..
Shahzad
July 19th, 2011 at 11:34 am

Earn easy money on internet at your home. visit this blog, ads4shahzadahmmed.blogspot.com
Prestamos Online
August 3rd, 2011 at 5:44 pm

The favorite ones for me are Mashable, Work Happy and Get Elastic.
Incinerator Bin
August 14th, 2011 at 2:56 pm

Great list. Looks like iv got reading to do!
rocket spanish download
September 20th, 2011 at 4:30 am

Really great list here and thanks especially for the lnk to Guy Kawasaki’s blog – he’s a one person definitely worth listening to.
chantelles bootcamp
September 22nd, 2011 at 9:58 am

Nice list, handy to have for the aspiring entrepreneur.
vision without glasses download
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:34 am

Love your list, it’s kept me busy finding and reading all the blogs you recommend. All are excellent.
Steve Schiffman
November 18th, 2011 at 6:42 pm

This is a great blog site with plenty of resources. Finally!! I’ve found some good articles in Scobleizer. Im going to keep browsing. Theres specific info Im looking for. Thanks for creating this blog.
Steve Schiffman
November 18th, 2011 at 6:54 pm

This is a good blog. I’ve found a lot of relevant information that i’ve ben looking for. especially on Tim Terrys blog. Thanks for sharing this.
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December 27th, 2011 at 8:48 am

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December 27th, 2011 at 9:39 am

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Jamie Campbell
December 27th, 2011 at 5:38 pm

These really are must read blogs!!
Josh Simpson
December 29th, 2011 at 8:06 pm

Nice thanks for these blogs.
Sam Logan
January 5th, 2012 at 10:14 am

Hi Mason,

Thanks for the great set of links. I love ValleyWag!

Thanks
jaffa
January 28th, 2012 at 6:11 am

Great blog.
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January 31st, 2012 at 7:28 am

Appreciating the commitment you put into your website and detailed information you offer. It’s great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed information. Excellent read! I’ve saved your site and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.

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