TNW Index — Keep track of companies & markets you care about

@patrick @rrhoover @rutgerteunissen +1

@rrhoover This is something we wanted to develop for a long time. We're turning content into data and with that our editorial team can make better decisions on what to write, who to write about and when to write. We've gone one step further though as this info is open to everybody, so we're seeing lots of journalists from across the globe asking for access to get story ideas, background info on startups. Index is a product that helps you finding the stories and companies in your industry, in that sense it has a different purpose and audience than the products you mention (which are all great tools by the way that have their own purpose). You mentioned in today's newsletter that there are 100 products being hunted on a daily basis. That is massive! We (the people) need tools to stay on track of what is going on, Index is aiming to solve that problem. You hunt it on PH, and track it on Index :)

@patrick When you mention integrating media, are you talking specifically about TNW-specific content or content from sources across the Web?

@hughjones77 Not just from TNW, we already show Techcrunch, The Verge, Business Insider, Re/code, Mashable and Tech.eu. Also some local media companies (in their own language). We'll add more top tech media outlets (which one would you like to see?)

@patrick Those are a great start-- they definitely provide a solid content base to start off. I might also include ReadWrite (http://readwrite.com/) and WIRED. I'm interested to see where TNW Index goes as you guys prepare for a public launch.

@anderson760 thanks for the feedback and to be honest you nailed it. There are many use cases and we're figuring out which ones make most sense to focus on. Here are some use cases we have seen from our super closed beta users: - Investors and journalists are using it (and have been requesting access) to discover great startups and stories - Entrepreneurs are tracking their industry, competitors and get their companies in front of investors, bloggers and potential business partners. - The casual tech savvy uses it to get an idea what’s happening in their space and consume that info in a new way. Which one are you?

@anderson760 @patrick Hey Patrick! Great product to track companies but I wonder how can I track a particular industry? The timeline gets quite busy if I start tracking all companies within an industry. (Also for the onboarding process, while choosing the first three companies to follow - I mainly got companies that I was not interested in, so it took me a while to find the relevant companies. )

@anderson760 @rohinivaze10 We're working on the onboarding process. We see people tracking big companies that they actually might not want to track after all, but feels like the right thing to do when you start. On the one hand this is not a bad thing, you'll learn fast what Index is about and learn how to set up your account in the way you like it. If you want to follow a particular industry, just start typing the name of the industry in the search bar, when it autocompletes, click on it and follow the industry. To be honest we are not at a level yet where we have the tags all in a accurate manner, this is something we'll work on. Also, we'll be coming up with a different solution to follow the right companies, but that is to come over the next 2 months or so.

@anderson760 @patrick Thanks Patrick. Best of luck on the updates. I look forward to it! And just to clarify, it took me time for the onboarding process since it wouldn't let me skip ahead unless I tracked at least three companies and I kept on clicking on 'show more', but you might be seeing most people choosing big companies to start with and your process makes sense then :)

@patrick Probably the last 2. I like to track mobile and b2b saas so any way you could make that easier for me would be great. I also have ideas on distributing blog posts or products, so knowing who has wrote an article, and then finding out who has also shared it helps a lot. I've found that tracking big companies like google and apple aren't that beneficial, they add a ton of noise to the feed immediately. I feel like Angel list + this would work great, angel list tracks the little guys, but you surface the content.

@_jacksmith Could you provide me with an example Jack? Data is pulled from different sources at the moment and also curated manually. We try to do our best to keep up with the investments worldwide but from time to time something will slip through the cracks.

@martijnsch Shyp - shows only $2.1m raised.

@ourielohayon thanks. Good idea, not sure how we could implement it but I'll bring it up in the product meetup.

@philfreo Yes great suggestion. This is a beta and we have a roadmap :) so yes this is on it. Thanks.

@patrick why a closed beta? looks like a more organized version of TechMeme with the ability to browse news at company level (neat). this product desperatly wants to fly like a peacock!

@virtualgoodz haha, well we're just at the beginning and we weren't ready for a lot of people yet. We're also looking for customer feedback so we have the right input for our roadmap. In closed beta that is better controlled. I hope we can open up next month though, but hey thanks to PH you have direct access today!

@rrhoover @patrick so, can I connect my PH account to the Index so the products I hunt/vote up get automatically tracked?

@chrismessina not yet. That is a great idea though. Upvoted it for our next product meetup. Thanks!

@rrhoover @patrick Looks good Patrick! On the onboarding: I realise that picking large companies is important as there's plenty of updates from these guys, but it took me a while as I - like @RohiniVaze10 - don't like to follow them (stories are often too generic). You could potentially tweak the first step by showing large companies that your LI connections work at or have worked at, on top together with these LI connections. Will make it a bit easier/relevant to select. Looking at your target audience most users will prob have connections at large tech companies, no? You could also create a category filter. I must have clicked 10 times to reveal new companies to find the ones in the messaging space I'd like to follow. Anyway, long story. Great job on the product. TNWI looks like something I could use to track my industry! EDIT: and that's a damn fine follow animation! Really nice touch :D

@anujadhiya They let you follow companies that your connections/friends also work at

@anderson760 make sure to apply for that LinkedIn partnership.