StartupDunia is one year old

It was exactly one year ago, this day, that StartupDunia was born. And what an year it has been !!

507 posts, 2-4 themes, several hundred subscribers and several thousand visitors later, I thought I’ll share some of my experiences over the last year and touch upon the topic of where things are headed.

When I started out, my goal was to focus on Web 2.0 and cool new startups in India. As time progressed, I realized that there are several other areas I’m interested in covering as part of my blog — broadband, VC, entrepreneurship, incubators etc.. So, over time, I’ve expanded the focus to include all these other topics that are of interest to me. Too many things going on, one may say. Well, thats exactly how the Indian startup and tech scene looks like.

So, any lessons learnt over the last year ?

Absolutely. The single biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that blogging regularly is a time consuming process and requires a lot of discipline. There have been several occasions over the last year, when the posting has been infrequent. I’ve tried to be as regular as I can, but believe me — juggling between a day job, personal & social life and blogging is not an easy thing. There have been moments when my wife has gone ballistic, thanks to the number of hours I spend on the laptop. Normally, I’m more interested in doing long, insightful posts - but time is a commodity thats difficult to come by. I’ve developed a new found respect and admiration for the bloggers who make the time to post every day.

Do I regret any of the posts I’ve done ?

I’d be lying if I said no. In fact, I think, any blogger would be lying if they answered no to the above question. Just like time and experience makes you a wiser person in regular life, time and experience makes you a better blogger (at least thats what I think). No, of course not…this doesnt mean that I’ll tell you what posts I’d redo if I got a second chance (did you think it would be this easy ).

What have I gotten out of my blogging experience thus far ?

The single, biggest benefit of blogging has been the sheer number of people I’ve come to know by means of my blog. I’ve gotten a chance to interact with entrepreneurs, wannabe entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts, PR folks, fellow bloggers, VC’s, marketers by means of my blog. People, who otherwise, I’d never have gotten a chance to interact with. And its been a fulfilling experience thus far - meeting people with varied backgrounds and learning about their perspective on things.

So, what’s in store for the future ?

Well, to begin with, I’m planning to get an additional person onboard to write for StartupDunia and make things a bit more manageable. Stay tuned, I’ll do a follow up post later this week.

In addition to this, I need your help in determining what type of content you’d be interested in reading more regularly on StartupDunia. What topic, what post length would make your reading experience more enjoyable ?

Simply put, I want to make StartupDunia worth your while and your time. Tell me what I can do to accomplish that. Drop me an email or leave a comment with any input you may have.

Finally, before I end this post, I want to take this opportunity and thank all of you for reading my blog. An extra note of thanks to those who took the time to vote on the polls or comment on the posts. It means a lot to me. Without all of you guys, StartupDunia wouldnt be where it is today.

Similar Posts

• StartupDunia is 2 years old
• Apologies on the unannounced absence
• The abrupt break from blogging

Comments

9 Responses to “StartupDunia is one year old”

1. kamla bhatt on October 10th, 2007 1:03 am

   Congrats Pranav on completing your one year. You have a great blog out there and wish you all the best with your future plans.

   Cheers!

   kamla bhatt

2. ram on October 10th, 2007 7:58 am

   Congrats man for completing a successful year, i always enjoyed your blog from google reader, this time i came out to wish you all the best for your future plans.

3. Information Madness on October 10th, 2007 9:35 am

   Congratulations!!

4. pranav on October 10th, 2007 10:12 am

   Thanks @Kamla,@Ram @IM for the kind words..I really appreciate it.

5. Chandra on October 10th, 2007 2:20 pm

   Congrats Pranav.
   Good luck for the coming years.
   Your blog has always been a great a source to find new things about Indian sartup scene.

6. Vikas on October 10th, 2007 6:49 pm

   Congrats Pranav. Didn’t realize it’s only been one year. Keep it up!

   In terms of content, I’d love see more startup resources focussed on India - like hiring help, office spaces, marketing ideas, etc.

   Your post on hosting resources was a useful reference point and I wish there were similar posts on other areas as well

   Cheers!

7. Trakin on October 11th, 2007 12:26 pm

   Congratulations Pranav,
   It is not a easy task. I know how difficult it is to post regularly. It needs discipline, committment and loads of time
   and you have done it successfully.

8. pranav on October 11th, 2007 1:43 pm

   thanks vikas, trakin..

9. snigdha on April 2nd, 2008 11:48 pm

   Congrats on completing a year. i stumbled upon your blog a couple of months back and thoroughly enjoyed its content. it is nice just the way it is. if you ask us readers to tell you what we would like you to write isn’t it catering to the masses kind…just write what you want to write. it’s your blog space.