In the United States, small and medium enterprises account for nearly 95 percent of new jobs in the economy. However, the mainstream media disproportionately focuses its coverage on Fortune 500 companies and the financial markets.
One website showcases entrepreneurs who are passionate about growing their businesses.
Investment Underground is composed of a team of editors, independent journalists, and subject matter experts who provide insights and analysis into technology, commodities, and stock market news “to break the stories that matter”.
The online portal is run by Chris French, the site’s editor-in-chief. “Our active approach to journalism spans analysis and interviews with noteworthy leaders to uncover real news that affects business right now,” says French, who has covered topics ranging from green energy, foreign investments, and supply side economics.
Aside from writers, Investment Underground is composed of professionals such as lawyers, MBAs, fund managers, and finance professionals. Due to its team’s unique insights and experience in industry, the site correctly predicted the departure of Avon CEO Andrea Jung in 2011. More impressively, the site predicted Warren Buffett’s purchase of his first technology stock in over forty years at Berkshire Hathaway.
Recently, Investment Underground has conducted interviews with CEOs of small- and medium-sized companies, many of whom are also founders of the businesses they operate. These interviews convey what it’s like to start and grow a business, including all the sales, cash flow, and operational challenges inherent in early ventures.
The spirit of entrepreneurship is expressed through a recent Q&A interview with Oogwave CEO Gaurav Jain. “Philosophically, I believe that passion is more important than anything else. So when I hire, I don’t care which school people attended, or what education they had, but what they are really passionate about,” says Jain, a native of India who started and grew a successful technology business. “It’s more about the work they want to do. More than 80 [percent] of our employees did not get an education related to the job they perform. I also value is self-motivation. People with self-motivation tend to do better things faster.”
Investment Underground reflects the evolving nature of online journalism. Traditional news channels relied heavily on advertising for the vast majority of its revenue. However, news blogs and websites are being forced to adapt due to Google’s immense power of being able to allocate web traffic – and consequently, revenue – on the Internet.
French believes that news and blog sites can meet journalism’s traditional criteria of newsworthiness and feature stories while conveying sponsored content to the site’s readers.
Investment Underground’s content has appeared on Google News, Bing News, Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, Morningstar, Vatalyst, Value Walk, and Guru Focus, among others.
