4 ms·

Hey HN: I started writing Venture Pimp to promote all our startups

9 points by markchristian 16y ago

I'm running a new blog/Twitter feed called Venture Pimp. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I write about a new up-and-coming startup. The blog has two purposes: 1. It lets interested folks find out about fun new things as soon as possible. 2. It can help promote new startups. I've been interested in hearing about new startups for ages, but it was only once I moved towards making my own startups that I started getting interested in promoting them. Anyway, it's sometimes hard to find out about things when they're brand new, so I thought I'd openly ask for submissions. Check it out at http://venturepimp.com, and if you've got a new startup, I'd love to hear about it -- just send a message to @venturepimp on Twitter.

markchristian 16y ago
Clickable links: http://venturepimp.com/ http://venturepimp.com/ http://twitter.com/venturepimp http://twitter.com/venturepimp
- chime 16y ago
  When you review a startup, do you get in touch with the founders? I think a neat feature would be to link to the founders own blogs too. Often I find that for interesting startups, the founder's blog is even more so.
  - markchristian 16y ago
    Although VP is a blog, I feel like the main show is the Twitter feed. So, with that perspective on things, I always try to find their Twitter account and link to it, so people can start following them and see what they're talking about. I'll start keeping an eye out for interesting blogs in the future, though. It's a good idea.
dustball 16y ago
Good luck with this, Mark :)
pedalpete 16y ago
I definitely think there is a market, as TC has diversified into more of a tech/business blog that includes some start-up stuff. I think the ability to comment on start-ups would be great, and maybe get more editorial with your writing style. Take a look at some of the start-up entries on TC and see which ones have more comments, and maybe the writing style will tip you off on what is drawing people in. Also, take a look at Killerstartups.com. Your site seems more similar to them at the moment. Their visits are huge, I suspect due to good seo, but personally, I'm not drawn to their site. I don't find the quality of the content very good.
- markchristian 16y ago
  Agree, Killer Startups seems to be just carpetbombing with absolutely every new startup. I want VP to be the really interesting stuff; if I don't want to use a site, and can't imagine anyone I know using it, I'm not interested in writing about it.
- pmjoyce 16y ago
  Writing copy to get comments isn't ideal in my eyes. The easiest way to attract comments is to be controversial or confrontational - it's a more tabloid format that is ultimately quite shallow and lacking in journalistic nutrition. Instead, why not write well researched and enlightening copy exploring the idea, people behind the idea and the execution of the idea. That's certainly something I'd subscribe to.
kishorenc 16y ago
Nice :) I would personally prefer quality rather than quantity with respect to the no. of startups you cover. All the best.

9 points by markchristian 16y ago

markchristian 16y ago

Clickable links: http://venturepimp.com/ http://venturepimp.com/ http://twitter.com/venturepimp http://twitter.com/venturepimp

chime 16y ago
When you review a startup, do you get in touch with the founders? I think a neat feature would be to link to the founders own blogs too. Often I find that for interesting startups, the founder's blog is even more so.
- markchristian 16y ago
  Although VP is a blog, I feel like the main show is the Twitter feed. So, with that perspective on things, I always try to find their Twitter account and link to it, so people can start following them and see what they're talking about. I'll start keeping an eye out for interesting blogs in the future, though. It's a good idea.

dustball 16y ago

Good luck with this, Mark :)

pedalpete 16y ago

I definitely think there is a market, as TC has diversified into more of a tech/business blog that includes some start-up stuff. I think the ability to comment on start-ups would be great, and maybe get more editorial with your writing style. Take a look at some of the start-up entries on TC and see which ones have more comments, and maybe the writing style will tip you off on what is drawing people in. Also, take a look at Killerstartups.com. Your site seems more similar to them at the moment. Their visits are huge, I suspect due to good seo, but personally, I'm not drawn to their site. I don't find the quality of the content very good.

markchristian 16y ago
Agree, Killer Startups seems to be just carpetbombing with absolutely every new startup. I want VP to be the really interesting stuff; if I don't want to use a site, and can't imagine anyone I know using it, I'm not interested in writing about it.
pmjoyce 16y ago
Writing copy to get comments isn't ideal in my eyes. The easiest way to attract comments is to be controversial or confrontational - it's a more tabloid format that is ultimately quite shallow and lacking in journalistic nutrition. Instead, why not write well researched and enlightening copy exploring the idea, people behind the idea and the execution of the idea. That's certainly something I'd subscribe to.

kishorenc 16y ago

Nice :) I would personally prefer quality rather than quantity with respect to the no. of startups you cover. All the best.