FoundRead – a leg up for startups

Last nine months have been a lesson in humility, and a harsh realization that starting a company is for those dumb enough to climb a rock face standing perpendicular to terra firma. Confusion, constant second guessing, manic multitasking and perma-smile are new emotions. Caffeine has become my best friend. Sleep and I have broken up.

While growing our little publishing company has been a thrill-a-minute, it has also been an educational process, one that Harvard Business School can’t teach you. I have been scribbling some of my lessons, hoping to someday turn it into a book. How analog for a digital guy – quipped a friend who also was responsible for the title of my first book, Broadbandits. Why don’t you start a blog about it, after all you are good at blogging – he said.

Mulling over this for a few days, it dawned upon me, that the lessons I am learning, thousands have learnt before, and might actually have a wider (and better) perspective on trials and tribulations of being a founder of a business. Not just a tech start-up, just any business. Why isn’t there a resource that captures this tribal wisdom? What if we could build one – one that can be shared by one-and-all?

The site is more of a community site and visitors are able to sign up and participate in the growing body of content and ideas. What I find really interesting is that there is an Ideas page where you can see pending contributions to the group. Stories can be voted on using a simple star system, and comments on stories can also be rated using a very Digg/Muti system.

I love the idea of this site and how it works. Take a look at it, register and you may agree with me.

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foundread, om malik, tips, howto, shared knowledge, startups