Technology is moving at an insanely rapid pace, and you are expected to keep up. But in 2014, there were an estimated 60,000+ tech startups just in the United States. That is a massive amount of new technology to keep up with. And we can only assume the startup fever will continue to spread.
Thankfully, you do not need to have a second full-time job as a VC on Sand Hill Road to keep up. There are many sites dedicated to curating, discovering, and promoting the best of new tech. By making these sites a part of your weekly web browsing routine, you will be ahead of the curve in no time.
PRODUCT HUNT
If you consider yourself an early adopter of technology, Product Hunt is the place for you to be. In under two years, it has become the number one destination for tech startups to show off their early wares. And with over $7.1 million in venture funding, it is likely that Product Hunt will remain the preferred launch method for many tech startups to come.
For Logical Position’s Development Manager Tyler Conlee, Product Hunt gives him an opportunity to “glimpse into popular startups with unique ideas to common problems.” With a community that has submitted over 23,000 products and sends over 3.5 million unique referrals per month to other sites, it is no surprise that Tyler benefits from Product Hunt.
In recent months, Product Hunt has also begun to expand its verticals to include Games and Books. While these verticals are starting out small, it should only be a matter of months before its new verticals will be essential to visit as well.
HACKER NEWS
Originally called Startup News, Hacker News was founded in 2007 by Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham. Much like Product Hunt, you can upvote tech news items and products. But unlike Product Hunt, the tech content and startups upvoted tend to be more technical and critical. Links you share and comments you make should be “deeply interesting,” according to the Hacker News welcome letter:
What does “deeply interesting” mean? It means stuff that teaches you about the world. A story about a robbery, for example, would probably not be deeply interesting. But if this robbery was a sign of some bigger, underlying trend, perhaps it could be.
It is a lofty goal that, thus far, the community has been able to adhere to. Topics on Hacker News range from “Things I would build if I worked at Github” to a new search engine called Hulbee that uses “semantic information recognition.”
It doesn’t get much deeper than that.
TECHMEME
Techmeme is one of the most popular and informative tech news curation services on the web. Based in San Francisco, Gabe Rivera and his team of editors scour hundreds of tech blogs to find breaking news and insightful tech articles. In many ways, Techmeme is Google News focused on “the leading edge of tech.”
One of Techmeme’s most useful features is “discussion.” By clicking the discussion tab, you get a list of tweets and articles written by other influential tech members and insiders. Techmeme also maintains a leaderboard of the most featured publications on their site. You can also look at “snapshots” of Techmeme’s front page by entering a previous date and time at the top of the page. You can also suggest news items on Twitter by including “tip @Techmeme” in your tweet.
If you are a news junkie looking to get into tech, I cannot understate how important it is to make Techmeme a part of your weekly, if not daily, routine.
AMAZON LAUNCHPAD
Considered a competitor to Product Hunt, Launchpad is a new platform for startups selling hardware. Currently, there are over 200 items available that you can purchase. These products are being hand-picked through partnerships with, according to TechCrunch, over twenty-five VC firms, accelerators, and crowdfunding platforms.
If you like new hardware, you can be confident what you order will be fulfilled by Amazon’s robust global shipping network. Launchpad also benefits startups, who can now leave the e-commerce and distribution issues to Amazon, giving them more time to focus on hardware and manufacturing.
I suggest you start your shopping with these products:
- Soma Sustainable Pitcher & Plant-Based Water Filter
- PowerUp 3.0 Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplane
- FOBO Bike, Smart Tire Pressure Monitor
Now all you need to do to keep up with the latest and greatest in tech is to add these sites to your bookmarks bar. Consider yourself informed.
