By Derrick B. Stark, CPA
"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." - Harry S. Truman
I gather many ideas and much inspiration from reading. Many are surprised to learn, however, that the majority of my reading is not industry specific or technical Listservs. There are lots of people smarter than me that process that information...think Vista Notes Live and HME News... and I find it much more beneficial to follow their updates and commentary.
Even still, competition for time and attention make it difficult to find the time for non-urgent, but critically important things like reading, exercising, or Kardashian marathons on E! (I do not judge). To that end, I find blogs and other web publications, when properly curated, wildly useful.
"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." - Harry S. Truman
I gather many ideas and much inspiration from reading. Many are surprised to learn, however, that the majority of my reading is not industry specific or technical Listservs. There are lots of people smarter than me that process that information...think Vista Notes Live and HME News... and I find it much more beneficial to follow their updates and commentary.
Even still, competition for time and attention make it difficult to find the time for non-urgent, but critically important things like reading, exercising, or Kardashian marathons on E! (I do not judge). To that end, I find blogs and other web publications, when properly curated, wildly useful.
The beauty of blogs is their accessibility and portability using Really Simple Syndication ("RSS"). There are several good RSS apps on the market; I use Feedly on my iPad. It is a bit like a curated magazine that I can browse anytime throughout the day or week.
I follow many blogs that I could whole-heartedly recommend, but below is a selection of my favorites to get you started.
Seth's Blog (https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/) - Seth Godin is a man of many talents. He is an author, publisher, marketing expert, and business philosopher. He has a great way of getting his readers to think about what matters by using relatable analogy and straightforward prose. It is uncanny how often Seth addresses a concept I have been grappling with and says it so eloquently that I simply forward it to the person I think it will help with the subject line "What I meant was..."
Slashdot (https://slashdot.org/) - Wikipedia describes Slashdot best...
"Slashdot (sometimes abbreviated as /.) is a social news website that originally billed itself as 'News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters'. It features news stories on science and technology that are submitted and evaluated by site users."
I like to scan Slashdot to get ideas about current events, especially those with a "what's on the horizon" slant. Sometimes what is banal for one industry is absolutely innovative for another.
Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/) - Lifehacker aggregates helpful tips and tricks for everyday life. In addition to useful recommendations and reviews for apps and equipment, I love the How I Work series that provides behind-the-scenes insight on creative and talented people in all types of fields.
Stratechery (https://stratechery.com/) - Ben Thompson uses his site, Stratechery, to publish long-form essays that dive deeply into the strategies and business models of tech companies. There are lots of strategic thinkers, but Ben is an excellent wordsmith and does a good job illustrating the complex strategic decisions at companies like Apple, Google, Uber, and Netflix that are shaping our lives and times.
HME News (http://www.hmenews.com/) - Liz and Co. do a terrific job of relaying technical stories in a meaningful, but digestible, way.
HME News Blogs (http://www.hmenews.com/blogs) - I also read the HME News blogs. Where the main news feed is the front page, the blog feed provides editorial commentary and first-person observations of the DME industry and its place in the world.
MiraVista, LLC (http://www.miravistallc.com/blog) - Well, Duh!
Humans of New York (http://www.humansofnewyork.com/) - HONY started as a collection of pictures of taken by photographer Brandon Stanton. My guess is that Brandon has a gift for approaching people and making them comfortable, and over time, he began to include blurbs of those initial conversations as captions. HONY is humbling in an uplifting way.
I follow many blogs that I could whole-heartedly recommend, but below is a selection of my favorites to get you started.
Seth's Blog (https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/) - Seth Godin is a man of many talents. He is an author, publisher, marketing expert, and business philosopher. He has a great way of getting his readers to think about what matters by using relatable analogy and straightforward prose. It is uncanny how often Seth addresses a concept I have been grappling with and says it so eloquently that I simply forward it to the person I think it will help with the subject line "What I meant was..."
Slashdot (https://slashdot.org/) - Wikipedia describes Slashdot best...
"Slashdot (sometimes abbreviated as /.) is a social news website that originally billed itself as 'News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters'. It features news stories on science and technology that are submitted and evaluated by site users."
I like to scan Slashdot to get ideas about current events, especially those with a "what's on the horizon" slant. Sometimes what is banal for one industry is absolutely innovative for another.
Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/) - Lifehacker aggregates helpful tips and tricks for everyday life. In addition to useful recommendations and reviews for apps and equipment, I love the How I Work series that provides behind-the-scenes insight on creative and talented people in all types of fields.
Stratechery (https://stratechery.com/) - Ben Thompson uses his site, Stratechery, to publish long-form essays that dive deeply into the strategies and business models of tech companies. There are lots of strategic thinkers, but Ben is an excellent wordsmith and does a good job illustrating the complex strategic decisions at companies like Apple, Google, Uber, and Netflix that are shaping our lives and times.
HME News (http://www.hmenews.com/) - Liz and Co. do a terrific job of relaying technical stories in a meaningful, but digestible, way.
HME News Blogs (http://www.hmenews.com/blogs) - I also read the HME News blogs. Where the main news feed is the front page, the blog feed provides editorial commentary and first-person observations of the DME industry and its place in the world.
MiraVista, LLC (http://www.miravistallc.com/blog) - Well, Duh!
Humans of New York (http://www.humansofnewyork.com/) - HONY started as a collection of pictures of taken by photographer Brandon Stanton. My guess is that Brandon has a gift for approaching people and making them comfortable, and over time, he began to include blurbs of those initial conversations as captions. HONY is humbling in an uplifting way.
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