The life of a startup founder: a seemingly never ending cycle of testing, pivoting, presenting, and tapdancing for money.
In between all of that, how does a person find time for anything else? One of the things you should make time for is a blog. A founder’s blog can help streamline the thought process around your business and open the door for potential investments and opportunities.
So yeah, in addition to all the other stuff you’re doing, I’m telling you: you should totally blog, man. Here’s why:
You define who you are as an entrepreneur
Venture capital firms invest in people. The more VCs know about you and your point of view, the more attractive your startup starts to look.
Use your blog to expose the strengths of your team and develop thought leadership around the elements of the business you’re particularly good at. The more VCs become invested in your story, the easier the funding road will be.
It’s cheap PR for your startup
You should be thinking about PR even before it’s time for your write-up in TechCrunch or Mashable. Use your blog to talk about your startup, generate some early buzz, and position your brand.
As a founder, your blog is a launchpad for the types of conversations you want to see around your business. Let the “voice” of your startup brand trickle from the top down — from the founder blog to your website to your marketing and PR strategy.
It exposes you to new opportunities
Startup execs love to do things in secrecy. We’re all about stealth, super-stealth, private beta, and light launches. But at some point, you have to come out of the closet (queue Diana Ross).
Coming out of the closet in a very public forum can present a wealth of new relationships and opportunities. Mine those connections for joint venture deals, investment leads, and advice.
It lets your peers provide solutions
Blogging as a startup founder is a lot like a group therapy session (Hello, my name is Monique and I have issues with user adoption). Working through some of your problems in public allows you to benefit from the experience of the crowd.
Some of your readers will have enough experience and be far enough away from the problem to see it in a different light and give you some insight.
Yes, blogging is time intensive and as a startup founder, you’ve already got a full plate just trying to run your company. But start thinking of your blog as another tool to support your business. A founder’s blog is a PR tool, an investment driver, and an advisory board all in one.
If you’re ready to get started blogging, here are a few startup founders to follow: Neil Patel (KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg), Caterina Fake (Hunch, Flickr), Kevin Rose (Digg)