Strong Opinions @marksbirch

I read with amusement the other day a point Keith Rabois made regarding entrepreneurs and blogging:

@hunterwalk @AlexBangash I don’t know of a single successful CEO or entrepreneur who blogs regularly.

— Keith Rabois (@rabois)

November 3, 2013

After what must have been well over a few hundred responses, it seemed that Keith was not really all that off the mark. There are maybe a handful that could be considered possible exceptions, but for the most part those successful CEO’s and entrepreneurs (by Keith’s definition) are just not blogging. They may throw up a post once in a blue moon, but on a regular basis? Not so much. Let’s face it, who has time for that?

I am not sure this is anything unexpected though. Honestly, how many people blog on a regular basis (which for the sake of argument, once a week)? Other than people whose job is in fact blogging, either for their own enterprise or in the employ of an online content provider, there is not a whole lot. There are a few well known examples in the tech world like Fred Wilson and Brad Feld, otherwise there is scant few. Who’s got the time to spare if it’s not your job?

Or maybe our idea of time and commitment is misconstrued. I do not necessarily believe it is always comes down to time that stops folks from blogging. You could say that about any non-work activity. Who has time for exercise or who has time to watch Stanford college football games or who has time to spend with one’s family or who has time to take vacations…you get the point. Everything is a balance based on priorities. If it is important, then you make time for it.

Rather than time, the issue may be about exposure. Blogging is a very public and permanent record of the author. Your blog advertises you, your thoughts, and your opinions to the world, all unfiltered and available in a click to be shared across all the social networks. For one’s personal brand, that is a powerful medium. From the perspective of a company however, that is not a highly valued. Rather, the corporate minions see it as a massive and unacceptable risk.

CEO’s and entrepreneurs are not their own boss. That whole “be your own boss” thing is overstated. They might have more latitude, but there are investors to answer to, employees to consider, customers to please, media and press to cultivate, partners to work with. A CEO is not a utility player or a free agent, but the face of the company. That is why those quotes in press releases sound so dull and lifeless. That is why there are handlers and training provided to CEO’s at speaking events to make sure they do not go off script. That is why companies invest heavily in people and processes so that they can control the message and the flow of communications.

Sure, most CEO’s and entrepreneurs are too busy to blog. Often startup founders are heads down for months at a time delivering on product and close sales and building a company. There are plenty however that do have or could make the time. Some have even said as much to me. But they realize either explicitly or implicitly that their “blogging” may not be a good idea. At most, they may get a company blog or a regular column in some media outlet, but the content will be heavily scrubbed or even ghost written by the PR team. At that point, the words lose poignancy and authenticity. Their blogs and social media accounts are sanitized to remove any whiff of originality and personality.

And that is a shame. I see immense value in blogging as an executive or entrepreneur. For me, this is my “down time” in that it affords me the opportunity to think expansively on ideas or to think deeply on a topic. That means I cut out an hour of the day for a post, but it is well worth it. In the same way, it is important for folks to have dedicated “think time” and the exercise of writing lends itself naturally to that process. It unlocks ideas, it exposes insights, and it brings clarity, which are the type of mental exercises that become diminished when in the fever pitch of running a company.

Will we see more authentic voices emerge from the CEO and successful entrepreneur world? I believe so, as we are starting to see with more executives taking to Twitter and more forums available provide thoughts and opinions without the baggage of maintaining a blog. But it is not so much about the “infrastructure” or the medium of delivery, but the fact that social media is not the exception anymore, but the reality. Kids are growing up in an age of ubiquitous social networks, always on Internet, faster and more powerful smartphones, and with this access is a different set of mores about sharing and openness. Maybe it is not “blogs” in the future, but in order to rise above the increase noise and overflow of information, authentic, engaging, and genuine voices are going to stand out. That is where the best and smartest companies will be heading in the future, with leaders that shift away from risk management and move forward into engagement.

ADDENDUM:  I realized that I forgot one of the key points I meant to discuss and the whole reason for this post!  One of the implications in the Twitter debate was that CEO’s and entrepreneurs that blog often are taking time away from running their companies.  Thus “blogging” somehow correlates to harming one’s business.  This is important to understand for startups because many investors harbor negative perceptions of entrepreneurs that are heavy users of social media.  The message is that it is okay for investors to blog and tweet and such, but not for entrepreneurs.  I find that position ludicrous and rather hypocritical.  As Andy commented below, would the same hold for speaking at events, talking to the press, writing thought leadership pieces and articles, or other types of communications?  Of course not!