Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption

Blogs I Read: ChrisG.com by Chris Garrett

Since I'm a bit behind on this series of posts, forgive me for a second "Blogs I Read" entry today. 

A relatively new voice (to me) in my RSS reader is Chris Garrett. I honestly don't recall where I first read about his blog, but I'm appreciative to whomever pointed me in that direction.  Chris writes well-considered posts related to the business of blogging.  Today, for example, he encouraged readers not to use lack of time as an excuse for not blogging.  As he points out, it doesn't take that much time to write a simple post a day. 

Oddly, I didn't realize he was a Canadian living in the UK until I wrote this post and decided to read his "About" page.  But perhaps that proves the point of Tom Friedman ("The World is Flat") and Shel Israel ("Global Neighbourhoods") that geographic barriers mean less and less.  I believe that is especially true in the blogosphere -- or at least the English language blogosphere.  (I believe it was Robert Scoble who pointed out recently that we in the English speaking world are missing out on lots of good stuff from other countries because nobody has come up with a good system of learning across languages online -- automated translation simply doesn't work.)

In any event, I encourage you to check out Chris' blog to learn more about how blogging can help you and your business and how to improve what you're already doing (or at least thinking about).

Technorati tags: Chris Garrett, English language, foreign language, blogosphere, translation, Shel Israel, Tom Friedman, World is Flat, Global Neighborhoods

Blogs I Read: Feld Thoughts by Brad Feld

The latest in blog in this continuing series of posts is Feld Thoughts by entrepreneur/venture capitalist/angel investor/runner/reader Brad Feld.  I include all of those descriptors because that's what you can expect to see from his blog.  The emphasis is on technology innovation and entrepreneurship, but he includes enough of the other topics to make it more personal.

The running part doesn't resonate with me that much (I have jogged off and on over the years but have no ambition to run marathons!).  But the rest of the content is very good.  You will see a lot of things you don't find in other places. 

But perhaps what I like best is Brad's willingness to share frank information about the VC industry.  As a former entrepreneur (aside: can you really be a former entrepreneur?  I tend to think that it's something you can't get out of your blood), he's the type of VC that I have a lot of respect for.  He understands business and what entrepreneurs are going through and provides that perspective on his blog (and I'm sure in his investing/portfolio work as well).  The series of posts he offers on key topics of interest -- like the one on Term Sheets -- provides great insight.

Just recently, he joined with colleague Jason Mendelson to create a new blog called Ask the VC that extends that education process even more.  That went straight into my RSS reader the day it launched and it offers similarly outstanding material.

Oh yeah, Brad's a 24 nut, too. 

Technorati tags: Brad Feld, Feld Thoughts, Ask the VC, Blogs I Read, Jason Mendelson, venture capital, angel investing, entrepreneur

Blogs I Read: MicroPersuasion by Steve Rubel

I had intended to begin my series about Blogs I Read by focusing on the smaller ones -- the ones written by those who are not A or B list bloggers.  And then I realized my blog reading heavily favors the big guys.  So I need to make a better effort to find new voices.  I do that now through feed aggregators (especially the Todd And Power 150 list and RSS feed which I have blogged about before).  So I am being exposed to them, but not in the same concentrated way that I do with some of the bigger players.

So instead I decided to focus on some of the mainstays of my blog reading "diet."  These are the bloggers who have been in my RSS reader for as long as I can remember.  It will be a mix of PR/marketing and VC/technology business blogs. 

So I begin with MicroPersuasion by Steve Rubel.  This is one of the handful of blogs I recommend to newcomers to the blogosphere.  For those interested in blogging themselves or just understanding the medium better, I find Steve to be a good read.  He rarely misses important stories for the intersection of PR and technology and he often makes good points.

Of course, I don't always agree with him.  Regular readers of this space will recall that I have differed with him on many occasions.  But I agree with him often as well.  Any blog that I find myself saying "Amen!" after every post is one I will probably stop reading because I like blogs that make me think, not just ones that reinforce my existing views.

The only major beef I have with MicroPersuasion at the moment is that it is my sense that Steve has become a bit more conventional since his move to Edelman one year ago from the smaller CooperKatz.  But that could just as easily be that blogging has become more common so it becomes harder and harder to have a truly unique voice all the time.

Technorati tags: MicroPersuasion, Steve Rubel, Blogs I Read, media consumption Diet, power 150, todd and, Edelman, CooperKatz