In journalism, where we started our careers, editors often tell writers to “kill your darlings.”
The phrase can be applied no matter your craft. Here’s the gist: cut the unnecessary.
Too often our emotional attachment to words and phrases or processes and projects cloud our view of the bigger picture.
As tough as it is to kill your darlings, doing so leads to a better story — or, as it relates to business, forces you to focus on the stuff that truly strengthens your operation going forward.
We’re all about better stories and stronger businesses, so with that in mind, we’re pulling the plug on The Founder Beat.
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Over the past two years, The Founder Beat published more than 100 stories about entrepreneurs and business innovators throughout York, Lancaster, and Harrisburg — giving each of them a digital spotlight they most certainly deserved.
Many of them shared their most vulnerable moments with us, and we’re forever grateful for earning their trust.
We identified with them because like so many, we had also faced challenges in what it takes to start and run a business.
Our York Media (our marketing firm that created The Founder Beat), nearly closed in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. When we’d survived, we wanted to celebrate those who had also come out stronger than before.
Our York Media has grown tremendously since COVID, which is why we’re going to focus on that aspect of our business and let The Founder Beat go.
The Founder Beat and its impact would not be possible without the financial support from PeoplesBank, CGA Law Firm, Holly Mayer with Janney, White Rose Leadership Institute, York College of Pennsylvania, and the York County Economic Alliance.
Keep an eye on Keystone Merge and the work they’re doing to promote entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in our region. The monthly Merge events they host around York, Harrisburg, and Lancaster are worth your time.
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We had an idea, and we tried it — and it’s the latter that separates the dreamers from the doers.
We don’t view closing The Founder Beat as a failure. We see it as making a tough choice that so many of us face on our entrepreneurial journeys.
Thank you for being part of ours.
– Rebecca and Will Hanlon