One way that a new blogger can get story ideas and make a name for themselves is to report on new and interesting startups, the problem has been how do you find out about a startup early enough to get the scoop? The main service that I was aware of was KillerStartups.com, they saw the need, the niche, and acted with great success.  The problem that appeared was the sheer amount of new startups interested in the publicity made it impossible for detailed coverage of any of them.  The cookiecutter information that became the standard fare on KillerStartups, while still useful, left open a door for competition that could do a better job providing coverage.

TechCrunch’s Crunchbase has been steadily gaining users in this arena and with the recent addition of an API and KillerStartups’ decline, has taken the lead according to Google Trends (it’s recent integration into Zemanta means you’ll see more of it from me):

Google Trends Data for Startup Info

Still, it’s hard to scoop TechCrunch with their own database, so other startups have entered the field, two that I’ve used and think are notable are TradeVibes and YouNoodle.  If you check out the Alexa data you can see that YouNoodle is enjoying a spike in traffic among Alexa users.  And while Alexa data is generally considered less than ideal, in this case it might be a better indicator of where web-savy users are getting their information:

Page Views by Alexa Users

The Alexa data also seems to show some hope for KillerStartups, but the Google Trends data is showing a clear flatline.   So, we get back to the title of this post, does the way KillerStartups delivers information still have a place?  Can they bounce back or has KillerStartups been killed?

(Disclosure for this post) TradeVibes “Be The VC” Winner is Me!

*Update! – Please be sure to take a look at the comments and note that the Quantcast directly measured results back up what the Alexa results show, a significant bounce back up in traffic and a hefty lead in readership over Crunchbase.

Related articles by Zemanta

• CrunchBase Now Has An API, So Grab Our Data

I was in San Francisco for a conference this week so I decided I’d take Wesabe up on their kind offer to drop by. If you don’t know, Wesabe is a website where users can engage in social personal finance. Upload your bank and credit card transaction data (it’s secure and anonymous) and then tag your purchases. With that done Wesabe delivers money saving tips based on your spending habits!

The Wesabe staff struck me as a very cohesive, intelligent, and dedicated group. All were very kind as as I interrupted the busy day before the launch of a major new feature. Great equipment (i’m sooo jealous of those monitors), a nice library of O’Reilly books, and open and natural light filled workareas all show that Wesabe cares about it’s employees and gives them what they need to do good work for their users.

A special thanks to the Marketing VP Gabe Griego for showing me around and taking me to lunch. Also, Thanks to Marc Hedlund for taking the time to show me the new Tip page enhancement before it was launched.

I’ll cover the tip page enhancements later, but to give you a general idea the new tip page uses all the collected data to help you better compare your merchants and pull in tips. It’s tapping into the Wesabe community’s subconscious frugality to save you money, a very powerful new tool for Wesabe users!

I’m not suggesting that you shred important tax documents or shred anything you don’t want the IRS to know about, but you should shred some of your excess paper records to clear out the clutter. I’m not a financial expert but here’s what I do as the tax documents start coming in the mail:

• Copies of previous tax returns – Never shred
• Receipts and records used for previous tax returns – Shred after 5 years (although some experts suggest saving for up to 7)
• Previous year’s pay stubs – Verify your W2 when it arrives and then shred them (not the W2!)
• Retirement statements – Never shred (at least the year end summaries)
• Bills – As long as you can’t use it as a tax deduction, shred after you get proof of payment

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for applying to become a Google Business Referral Representative. Your application is now on our waiting list.

Response to this program has been so positive that we now have enough representatives for our current needs.

However, we hope to expand the program to more representatives soon. Please note that this program is only available in the United States. We’ll keep your application on file. If we approve your application, we will contact you at a later date (at the email address we have on file for your Google Account).

We appreciate your interest!

- Google Local Business Referrals Team

I’m curious to see if this has been limited to a few large cities or is more widespread, the information available is pretty slim with Google trying to keep a lid on the information and, it appears, trying to keep a low profile. What I was able to glean is that participants have some map based tools (TechingMeOut.com) to help them locate businesses that they haven’t visited and avoid ones they or other contractors have gathered information from.

Say I make $2000 a month and that Wesabe tells me I’ll need all of that to cover my bills, I deposit into savings $1000 on the 15th and again on the 30th, bills are due on the 10th so I transfer $2000 to savings on the 5th.  My monthly average in the savings account is about $830 and @ 4% I should earn over $30 a year that I wouldn’t have otherwise.  I’ll see what I can do about posting a spreadsheet for more exact figures later.

1. Matching Retirement Contributions – My company pays 15% into my retirement fund, no matching required, but many companies will match your contributions up to a certain point – You should always take advantage of this! Your contributions are generally taken out pretax and then matched, this is free money!

2. Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts – If you can participate in one of these plans calculate out your average expenses for doctor visits, prescriptions, glasses, often even over the counter medicine (check what your plan reimburses) and then put away a little more than that (up to a cap)- this comes out of your check pretax and you get reimbursed after you submit your EOB or receipts. This means you are NEVER taxed on this money. So figure out your tax rate and that’s how much extra money you’ll have brought home if you use all the funds in the account. Be aware that leftover funds at the end of the year may be forfeited so plan carefully.

3. Childcare Saving Accounts – These work similarly to the health accounts, except you may have to already have money in the account for you to be reimbursed. This is money that is NEVER taxed, use your tax rate to figure out how much extra cash you’ll be bringing home. Be aware that leftover funds at the end of the year may be forfeited so plan carefully.

4. Health Incentive Programs – There are many of these available, my company offers a gym membership reimbursement up to a certain dollar amount, a reduced deductible if you have a physical (or other preventative tests depending on age), steep discounts for generic drugs, and access to a Nurse Practitioner. All these things can really add up.

5. Negotiated Discounts – Your company does business with all sorts of other companies and you may be able to get in on the bulk savings. We use Verizon cell phone service and so anyone with our email address gets a discount on their cell phone if they use verizon. Check your work e-mail address with Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint/Nextel, and for Alltel email your account rep. We can also get discounts on certain items because one of our sister companies is in the wholesale business, find out if you have those kinds of options from your HR department.

I’m sure there are many more available options, just make sure you take the time to find out about them and follow through!