Welcome to 2019! Before we get too far into the new year, we want to take a quick look back at the 18 most-read stories on GrepBeat.com for 2018. Caveat: GrepBeat only officially opened for business on Aug. 9, when we posted our first stories and sent out the inaugural email newsletter. So really, these are the 18 most-read stories of the last five months of 2018. Or, as we like to think of it, the first five months of Year 1 AGB.
We hope you enjoyed reading these stories as much as we enjoyed the opportunity to bring them to you. And if you haven’t read some of them yet, well, get cracking!
1. Sudsy Makes Spilling Shampoo In Your Luggage A Thing Of The Past (Dec. 11)—2018 was a big year for Sudsy Founder Khushbu Mandiwala. She graduated from NC State, landed a fellowship to help launch her startup, and—most importantly—topped the GrepBeat 2018 Most-Read List.
2. No Trick: ShareFile Founder Lipson Back With Real Magic (Aug. 21)—Not even a punny headline could put off Triangle tech watchers from wanting to know the latest about serial entrepreneur Jesse Lipson.
3. Teamworks HQ: Where The Walls Actually Talk (Dec. 4)—OK, the walls don’t literally talk. It’s, like, a metaphor. Oops, that’s a simile.
4. Led By 3 College Students, Vade Seeks To Redefine Parking (Nov. 27)—So we Downtown Durham residents aren’t the only ones obsessed with parking.
5. Durham Startup Alum Is New Take on Nostalgia (Aug. 9)—This is the first “real” story ever published on GrepBeat (i.e. not including our “Hello World” intro post), so it’s fitting that it’s about “nostalgia.”
6. Latest Chapter in Oakley’s Story Is Helping Other Startup Execs Tell Their Own (Oct. 24)—Come for the illustration of the “Thrivers Quadrant,” stay for the wisdom of startup-exec-coach par excellence Tim Oakley.
7. StrongKey Growing Durham Presence Under CEO Jake Kiser (Nov. 20)—Judging by the metrics, we need to illustrate more stories with pictures of a CEO casually strolling in a dewy meadow.
8. The Download: Doug Speight, American Underground (Nov. 13)—The first of two entries from the Download Q&A series from Brooks Malone of accounting firm Hughes Pittman.
9. Startup Summit Brings Its Own “Shark Tank” to the Triangle (Oct. 17)—The stats resulting from slipping the name of a popular TV show into the headline suggest that SEO might not be totally dead. Also: the Startup Summit was a cool event, and the Shark Tank competition highlighted in the article included Sudsy, the startup that’s the subject of Story No. 1 above.
10. The Download: Joe Sinsheimer, Wolfpack Investor Network (Dec. 10)—Take note, foodies: Joe name-checks five coffee shops and restaurants, though, full disclosure, one of them is Starbucks. (Hey, he owns stock.)
11. Meet… Jennifer Fentress, Pendo (Sept. 13)—Tricia Lucas, the Co-Founder of the marketing-exec recruiting firm Lucas Select, lands the first of three entries from her Meet… series of Q&As.
12. Lost Your Credit Card? Chill: WalletFi Will Keep Your Netflix Coming (Dec. 6)—Yes, the headline was a long way to go for a “Netflix and chill” joke, but Durham’s WalletFi (which was just accepted to the MassChallenge FinTech accelerator) is a startup to watch in 2019.
13. Having Trouble Raising Money, Entrepreneurs? VCs Feel Your Pain (Oct. 2)—Did you know that Cofounders Capital partner Tim McLoughlin, the writer of this piece, played hockey at Harvard? You do now.
14. Teamworks Academy Helps College Athletes Transition From Field to Office (Dec. 18)—If the walls at Teamworks’ HQ did literally talk, they would likely tout this cool program for just-graduated college athletes.
15. Three Questions With… Adam Smith, Automated Insights (Sept. 18)—Q. Would this story have performed twice as well with six questions? A. Probably not; see the Rule of Three.
16. Looking Sharp: Wirl Offers Personal Stylists on Demand (Nov. 1)—If this was a Best Dressed list, Wirl would’ve been No. 1—or helped you be No. 1.
17. Meet… Eric Masters, MATI Energy CEO (Nov. 15)—Eric is the only GrepBeat subject whom we have reason to believe is actually a dog dressed in human clothes.
18. Meet… Katy Jones, FoodLogiQ CMO (Oct. 10)—Sure, lots of startups have two capital letters in a one-word name these days. But how many (besides FoodLogiQ) have three? And should that be the new Rule of Three?
Final note: One of our three writing interns, UNC junior Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, wrote the most-read story (Sudsy) and four of the top nine overall. Way to go, Marco!
