My Top 10 Resources for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

What I read, post on, and monitor to stay on top of current entrepreneurial trends

As many current or aspiring entrepreneurs know, the path of starting or investing in businesses is incredibly time consuming, stressful, amazingly rewarding, and refreshingly flexible. Though you are about to become your own boss, you don’t need to have all the answers just yet. There are plenty of useful aids to help streamline the otherwise migraine-inducing process of building a business so that you can enjoy the process of creating and cut through the mundane tasks quicker.

Here are my 10 top resources that every aspiring entrepreneur should be aware of before they begin building their company.

1. LinkedIn

This is a social networking platform that is oriented around business. It extends your social work circles by connecting you to others through your already existing contacts. It is a must for any entrepreneur starting out in business. LinkedIn itself has labeled certain members as INfluencers, so take a look at those in your industry and follow what they’re talking about to keep up with trends.

2. VentureBeat

An online publication that stays up-to-date on everything, business, tech, and startup. It keeps an entrepreneur abreast of what is happening in the market. There is also an entrepreneur section of the website, with articles pertaining to the world of making a startup.

3. Tedtalks for Entrepreneurship

Tedtalks are hugely popular conferences that present “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Some of the best, brightest, and most world-renowned have been featured on Tedtalks. Figures such as Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Larry Page, as well as Nobel Prize Winners have spoken at Tedtalks and their talks prove inspirational and informative for any aspiring entrepreneur.

4. TechCrunch

This may be an obvious one, but TechCrunch is the ultimate place to go for all things startup and breaking tech news.

5. Quora

This is a Q-and-A-based website that is great for entrepreneurs because knowledgeable professionals often frequent this site to answer questions. This isn’t anything like Yahoo answers, people. The responses found on this site are from people who know enough to impart their wisdom. It is a valuable tool for any person looking for guidance with their company. The site organizes and ranks excellent answers for nearly any question. Users must sign up as a person (not a company), so you know who is talking to you.

6. Bplans

This is ultimate guide to getting started with your business. They give a step-by-step guide of everything from how to draw up a business plan to dealing with the funding and managing of the company. Using this site regularly cuts your work in half.

7. Medium

This blog-publishing platform founded by Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone is a great place to find interesting, high-quality content straight from startups and entrepreneurs. Search for “startups”, “entrepreneurship”, or topics that interest you here.

8. Paul Graham’s Essays

Paul Graham is a programmer, writer, and investor. In 1995, he and Robert Morris started Viaweb, the first software as a service company which was then acquired by Yahoo in 1998. In 2005 he co-founded Y Combinator, the first of a new type of startup incubator. Since 2005, Y Combinator has funded over 450 startups, including Dropbox, Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit. Paul Graham publishes essays on paulgraham.com, which cover a wide range of startup-related topics.

9. How to Start a Startup

Originating from Stanford’s business course for people who want to start a company, this video library contains video lectures and associate reading materials to help you come up with new ideas and learn how to evaluate them. These videos include some of the best speakers from the past 9 years of Y Combinator dinners.

10. Business Insider

This is one of my favorite digital media publications for real-time coverage of tech, finance, and general business news.

Those are the top ten that I frequent to make sure to stay on top of company-building trends. Any recommendations, leave them in the comments.

This blog is by Agu De Marco, Co-Founder of Wideo, a DIY animated video production platform.

Looking for a community contributor for technology, startup or entrepreneur related stories? DM me on Twitter @agudemarco or email agu@wideo.co