Why tech journalists should be entrepreneurs

Lukas Zinnagl, editor of TechCrunch EU, gives five reasons why tech reporters need to be entrepreneurs as well.

Zinnagl writes, “Michael Arrington, Om Malik and others are masters of research and inherently the reason why they’ve become successful. Researching a market is crucial to any Tech entrepreneur thinking of starting a company, however there is an array of other elements why I think Tech journalists should not only write about startups, but start them. Starting a company, raising money for your endeavor or pitching a VC always requires knowledge in certain topics. I argue that these topics are often fulfilled by Tech Journos more than by others.

“1. Market

“When writing (and more importantly doing research) about a certain Startup a Journalist inevitably has to look at the market. Not only for similar players and competitors, but also its size and current status. There are market trends and those ought be understood for an article of quality.

“2. Competition

“Whenever you want to start a company or think about writing one, one has to deeply look at your most feared or more beloved players in your segment. Knowing your competitors is essential from the early days on. Caring about your competition and watching them closely how they fail or succeed is what let’s you do better. Writing about Startups requires knoweledge of their enemies and friends.”