Kyle Sanchez, Founder & Editor, Start Magazine (Image Credit: Start)
A Brief History and Manifesto from the Founder
Major business publications do a great job covering the peak of the mountain. They track the massive buyouts, global disruptors, and visionaries who reshape markets. They document the highest levels of commerce, but often feed the scraps to more than 32 million entrepreneurs next door.
Yet, an entirely different reality runs parallel to those celebrated achievements. It is built by everyday operators who stretch limited assets and bootstrap their visions. The ones who somehow manage to play creator, investor, builder, marketer, and accountant while balancing the realities of family and community. These are the independent founders, the rogue innovators driving change from within, and the unglamorous, load-bearing weight that actually holds the market together.
Start Magazine exists to serve this unrepresented segment. We are not here to compete with the established narrative or tear down the media that celebrates the elite. We are simply here to complete the bigger picture. Our pages require absolute humility and raw transparency about the tuition paid in the real world. We believe there is profound honor in the daily mechanics of running a business, and we have deep respect for anyone who survives a failure just to stand back up.
“Our pages require absolute humility and raw transparency about the tuition paid in the real world.” Kyle Sanchez
The History & The Idealistic Vision
For more than a decade, I have worked inside the print media industry, combing through hundreds of magazines and business journals every single year. For at least half of that time, I have had a burning desire to start telling more relatable stories.
Typical business publications are filled with inflated jazz. Yes, they occasionally feature solo operators and micro-companies, but those businesses always feel stuck in the shadows of the corporate giants in the surrounding pages. Take a local “Fast 50” list, for example. A privately-owned staffing agency might make the cut, but they land in 49th place simply because a privately-owned giant happens to do business in the exact same zip code. It’s a technicality, sure. But I think I can do better for the little guys, and I know they deserve better.
“Typical business publications are filled with inflated jazz.” Kyle Sanchez
Start Magazine intends to put out similar rankings and special features, but our methodology will be unique. We will benchmark each company by size and adjust the rankings accordingly to create an even playing field. This may be an idealistic vision. But I am perfectly content with that.
The Aesthetic
This brand is designed to truly serve the small business community, and that goal dictates our aesthetic as well. We have all grown tired of boring business publication websites that just slap a standard blog feed on a landing page and surround it with chaotic ads. Start is designed to be an enjoyable, immersive experience—both online and in our ‘digital print’ flipbook layouts. The medium should respect the reader.
“The medium should respect the reader.” Kyle Sanchez
The Age of Information
Lastly, Start Magazine will never put its content behind a paywall.
This has been the most absurd development in modern online publishing, and it is time for it to end. I cannot tell you how many times, over the last decade, I’ve been forwarded an article link by a friend, client, or peer, just to hit a ‘subscribe to read this article’ banner. What in the world is the point of creating content that not even the article’s subjects are subscribed to?
We live in the age of information, and it is time publishers act accordingly.
To that end, if you are building something enduring on your own or doing the real work inside an existing organization, welcome to the fold.
