Hidden Gems: The 100 .edu sites every Entrepreneur Should Read

Whether you’re an ivy-leaguer or a high school dropout, chances are you still have quite a bit to learn from others. Why not learn from the people who do learning best? Check out these .edu blogs and other informative sites for strategies, theory, and concrete resources for building and growing your business.

Marketing

Marketing may be one of the many things you try to squeeze into your business, but for the people behind these sites, this is all they do. Take advantage of their ability to specialize and use their knowledge to better market your business.

1. Center for Customer Insight & Marketing Solutions: This center at the University of Texas focuses on customer-driven business practices and marketing.
2. Journal of Consumer Research: Learn more about consumers with this journal.
3. Marketing Visions & Business Software Solutions Blog: Get an academic perspective on Internet marketing here.
4. Advertising World: Get linked up with lots of marketing services and ideas in this huge directory from the University of Texas.
5. Marketing Weblog: Learn about building brands, marketing over Second Life, and more on this blog from Instituto de Impresa.
6. Research Design and Statistics: Learn about psychology, behavioral economics, and decision making in this blog by Craig Marker.

Innovation

Inside every great entrepreneur is an inventor, constantly thinking of new and exciting ways to solve problems and create new things. These sites support the inventor inside, offering encouragement, resources, and a whole lot more.

7. Invention Dimension: Invention Dimension, a part of the Lemelson-MIT Program, is full of inventor profiles and resources for innovative entrepreneurs.
8. The Art of the New: The Art of the New encourages and shares innovative thinking.
9. Innovation: Jim Moore takes a look at innovation, intellectual property, economics, and more.
10. Government Innovators Network: Check out this network if you plan to do contract work with the government.
11. Invention Master Resource List: This resource list from Berkeley is full of links for innovative entrepreneurs.
12. Center for Innovation in Product Development: This center at MIT promotes innovative products, offering resources from concept to market launch.
13. The Patriot Entrepreneur: On this blog, you’ll get news about innovation at George Mason University and beyond.
14. MIT Innovation Club Blog: Read this blog to learn about some of the smart innovations MIT students and alumni have created.
15. National Technology Transfer Center: NTTC offers assistance to businesses with innovative ideas.
16. The Lemelson Center: The Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian Institute promotes the study of invention and innovation.

Industries

Educational resources can sometimes be frustrating because they tend to focus on theory, while you’re looking for concrete ideas. Check out these blogs for some specialization in a few industries.

17. Peter Gordon’s Blog: Find out what this USC professor thinks about the economy and real estate development.
18. Notes on Design: Learn about design from both academics and professionals on this blog.
19. The View from Here: The Business of Nascar: Read this blog to understand how business works in a place you might not think of.
20. The Transportationist: David Levin writes about transportation and the economy.

International Business

In today’s global economy, entrepreneurs must be familiar with the ideas of international business. Learn about law, events, and more issues in international business with these sites.

21. CIBER: CIBER centers for international business offer events, online resources, publications and more.
22. Exploring International Law: Read this blog to consider how law and politics may affect international business.
23. Global Edge Resource Desk: Visit this site for a collection of resources that are useful for international business.
24. International Business Resource Connection: Check out this site from the University of Kansas, and you’ll find loads of helpful resources for international business.

Knowledge & Information

At the root of every institution of learning is information. These libraries, defenders of free knowledge, and business training sites have a lot of information to offer entrepreneurs.

25. Information Law Possum: Daniel Haeusermann blogs about copyright, privacy, and more issues in information law.
26. Knowledge Economy: Learn about the way knowledge is becoming more valuable in this blog.
27. BizBrary: Get information about business news and more from this business librarian.
28. Collectanea: Learn about the latest in copyright on Collectanea.
29. Business Blog: Learn how to better research for business with this library blog.
30. e3 Information Overload: Librarian Brian Gray discusses strategies for taming the beast of excessive information.
31. Open Access News: Learn about the movement to make information free and available online on this blog.
32. InfoMatters: Andrew Dillon asks questions like, "Why do I have to pay for bundled cable rather than just the channels I actually watch?"
33. Info/Law: Info/Law blogs about the way that law evolves around the commodity of information.
34. Business News and Resources at the Sterne Library: Stay up to date on business news and resources with this blog from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
35. Jackson Blog: Stanford’s Jackson Library has a blog that shares topics in business ethics, news, and lots more.
36. Law and Information: Check out Urs Gasser’s blog to learn about the role of law in information.
37. IESE Insight: IESE is all about know-how and business knowledge.

Accounting

Accounting may not be your favorite part of doing business, but managing money is essential to your success. Learn about accounting behaviors, tax systems, and monetary warning signs on these sites.

38. Behavioral Research in Accounting: This resource is full of journal issues about behavior in accounting.
39. World Tax Database: Visit this tax database for historical data on tax systems worldwide.
40. Finance Weblog: Read about the subprime crisis, financial markets, and more on this blog.
41. Forensic Investing Red Flags: Check out these warning signs to make sure you’re handling money responsibly and not scaring off investors.

Law

As a business owner, you can’t afford to ignore legal issues. Consider business law and lots more with these blogs.

42. Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Blog: Learn about corporate governance from faculty, fellows and board members at Harvard’s Program on Corporate Governance.
43. Truth on the Market: These law professors write about business law, economics, and lots more.
44. This Day at Law: Learn about historic laws every day in this blog.
45. Doc Searls: Doc Searls blogs about a number of different issues in law, business, and more.
46. Amy Campbell’s Weblog: Amy Campbell discusses the marketing of law firms.

Startups

Getting started is perhaps the most fun, but daunting, part of entrepreneurship. These sites offer assistance, advice, and even training for budding business owners.

47. Get It Started!: Read Wharton’s Get It Started blog for advice on startups and more.
48. Starting Up: Get access to this startup column written by MIT Sloan’s Joseph Hadzima here.
49. University as Entrepreneur: This blog from Arizona State University promotes an entrepreneurial spirit for students and beyond.
50. start me up!: Ron Graham supports and educates young entrepreneurs in this blog and beyond.
51. Small Business Development Center: Get seminars, consultation, training, and a lot more from this center at the Fox School of Business.

Management

Starting up is only the first part of the battle—once you’ve launched, it’s time to keep afloat. Check out these sites for a little help with managing your business.

52. HR and Labor News: This library blog delivers the latest news in labor and human resources.
53. Online Business Training: Learn about business management and more online with the Arkansas Small Business Development Center.
54. Working Knowledge: This blog for business leaders discusses everything from globalization to leadership and management.
55. Harvard Business School Leadership Initiative: Harvard’s Leadership Initiative has lots of great resources, like essays on best practices, a database of American business leaders, and business cases.
56. Management Consultancy International: Link learning with business success using Management Consultancy International’s approach.
57. Journal of Labor Economics: Consider human resource issues with this labor economics journal.
58. MIT OpenCourseWare: Learn about management, social sciences, and much more with these courses from MIT.

Technology

Many of today’s entrepreneurs develop technology-focused businesses. If you happen to be one of them, you’ll appreciate the gold mines on these sites, with insight on intellectual property, the future of tech, and more.

59. Furd Log: Check out the Furd Log for discussions on intellectual property.
60. Ramesh Jain: This blog covers experiential computing and next generation search.
61. Clarifying and Explaining: Clarifying and Explaining discusses implementations of new technology and what they mean for issues like freedom and copyright.
62. Complexity and Social Networks Blog: Check out topics like social finance, innovation, knowledge sharing, and more on the Complexity and Social Networks blog.
63. GrepLaw: GrepLaw is a forum for information, news, and commentary on information technology and law.
64. John Palfrey: John Palfrey at Harvard discusses topics such as intellectual property, copyright, and privacy.
65. University of Washington Emerging Technology: Here, learn about upcoming technologies for the university and beyond.
66. Stanford Center for Internet and Society: Learn about legal doctrines information that will affect technology entrepreneurs now and in the future.
67. Liberty Road: Kevin Morooney blogs about IT, business intelligence, and more.
68. Berkman Center for Internet & Society: Learn about the challenges and opportunities of the Internet from this center at Harvard Law.

Economics

Market conditions and economic trends in general can have a huge impact on the success of your business. Check out these sites to get a peek at the way it all works.

69. Planning & Markets: This journal discusses the difference between planned interventions and market approaches.
70. Unintended Consequences: Check out Mike Ward’s blog about counter-intuitive economic findings.
71. Theory B: Get a different view on business and economics with this blog.
72. Finance Weblog: Check out this blog from Instituto de Empresa for news and commentary on current events in economics and finance.
73. The LockeSmith Blog: Understand the economic principles of individualism, free market, and more using this blog.
74. Political Economy Research Institute: Learn about how economics and politics can affect your business here.
75. Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science: Learn about relative prices, inflation, and other topics in economics here.
76. California Policy Inbox: Get up to date on California’s economy and business with this blog.
77. UChannel: Check out UChannel to get the latest economic news in academia.
78. Business Blog: Read this blog for news, research tips, and resources for business and economics from Colorado State University.
79. The Entrepreneurial Mind: Jeff Cornwall’s blog focuses on entrepreneur issues as they relate to venture capital, finance, and the general economy.
80. Economics News: Read Economics News to stay up to date on news, events, and resources in economics.

Responsibility

For entrepreneurs these days, it’s often not enough just to be financially successful—it’s important to be socially and environmentally responsible in business, too. Check out these sites for assistance and advice for achieving these goals.

81. The Nelson Institute: Learn about how your business can be environmentally responsible in this blog.
82. Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility: Xavier University has lots of resources for socially responsible business.
83. Center for Responsible Business: This center at Berkeley is a resource for research and advice for businesses who want to adopt responsible practices.
84. Environmental News Bits: Check out this blog from the University of Illinois that aggregates environmental news.
85. Students for Responsible Business: This organization offers consulting on responsible business.

Entrepreneur Societies

Whether you’re an alum or just an entrepreneur looking for networking, assistance, or information, these entrepreneur society sites have a lot to offer.

86. Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship: Rice supports entrepreneurs in Houston, and has helped launch over 150 technology companies since 1999.
87. Cornell Entrepreneur Network: Even if you aren’t a Cornell alum, you can still take advantage of this network’s collection of interviews and other entrepreneurial resources.
88. University of Oklahoma Entrepreneur Society: Get help planning for a new business through this society.
89. Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs: This student-run organization has lots of great links, challenges, and more.
90. UT McCombs Entrepreneur Society: Get connected with VCs, entrepreneurship guides, and lots of other resources through this University of Texas society.
91. University of Central Florida Student Entrepreneur Society: UCF’s Student Entrepreneur Society is full of helpful resources, like an entrepreneur network, sample business plans, an idea café and more.

Other

There is so much helpful information in these sites that we can’t possibly fit them into a category. Check them out for discussions on issues like diversity, memory, and writing.

92. Words on Work: This resource site from the Carlson School of Management offers materials relating to industrial relations.
93. Talking Biz News: Read this blog to learn about journalism in business.
94. Diversity Weblog: The Instutio de Empresa’s Diversity Weblog discusses female leadership and more.
95. Common Errors in English: Effective communication is vital to any business. Brush up with this site.
96. This is Not a Blog: Learn about online journalism in this non-blog from NYU.
97. Babson Women’s Business Blog: This blog shares information relating to the advancement of women and business.
98. Three Percent: Writers considering publishing a book should read this blog about the business of books and international writing.
99. work/space: Read this blog from Johndan Johnson-Eilola for subjects like memory landscapes, technology, and more.
100. Dean Bruner’s Blog: Read Dean Robert Bruner’s blog for insight on general business topics.

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