What you’ve seen of GeniusCog up until this point is the result of three weeks worth of conversation between Marcus Whitney and I about what we wanted it to be and an additional week of actual implementation. You may have noticed (or rather you may have not noticed) there hasn’t been a post written since the first of the month.  Of course there’s a very touching explanation for why, but I know better than to bore people. If you’re reading this post, you want news about startups in the Southeast region of the United States.

The important thing is we’re back.

Between myself and hopefully a few others, we plan to shed some light on the companies who you don’t know about, who you wouldn’t think to care about and the ones who’s office you pass every day and don’t know it.

That being said, there are some you ought to know about the production side of GeniusCog and where our loyalties lie…

1) The Editorial / Publisher Relationship

While Marcus Whitney is the publisher of this news site, he is not — and will never be — responsible for any of the editorial content that gets posted. This means he doesn’t review everything I write and pick it apart prior to me hitting the publish button. I am the editor and I wouldn’t be involved if I didn’t have total control over the content.

The last few weeks Marcus and I have talked extensively about what it means to be publisher. In this case, it means that he set up the site — altering the CSS and installing widgets I felt we needed. It means he pays for the hosting bills and other such operational expenditures, which are admittedly not very high at this point. Basically any roadblock I might encounter that would prevent me from reporting a story to the best of my abilities, Marcus steps in to clear them so I can move forward. It actually leads me to my next big point…

2) We Aren’t Getting Paid For GeniusCog

We are not getting paid to produce GeniusCog… at least not at the moment. News media does not function the same way a traditional business would (so having a traditional business model doesn’t make sense). News is our product and the only way to demonstrate the value in the news we provide is to produce enough of it to evoke an impact. So it will certainly take time, and not necessarily money. Although, money does help because with enough of it, those of us working on the site can make it their primary job. So as we begin gaining momentum, if you’d like to help us get there faster with investment please get in touch.

Also on a side note: I know there will be typographical errors in posts that I write. Despite my best efforts this will happen. Any long-time newspaper staffer knows that if you write an article, you need another set of eyes to proof read it. The reason is very similar to why the pitcher of a baseball team cannot also be his own catcher. Unfortunately I don’t have a dedicated copy editor and will instead have to rely on the Nazi-like readers who will no doubt point out errors in the comment section. Please understand that I have both revilement and vast appreciation for these folks.

3) Our Initial Focus Is Nashville’s Technology Companies

Since GeniusCog is based in Nashville, we plan to devote most of our time to informing the entire world about it’s tech scene. There are a few reasons for doing it this way as opposed to *only* hitting the noteworthy companies in the Southeast’s major cities: (1) I have a limited amount of time to scout for news and learn about my beat, which is infinitely easier to do when focused on what’s local to me. (2) Covering additional cities means stretching myself thin and providing a less pithy product (which again, product = news). (3) In covering one area effectively, we show the potential of what we could do for the entire Southeast region if adequate funding was applied. It doesn’t mean we won’t cover things outside of Nashville.

4) Yes, We Realize What Our Site Design Reminds You Of

I know what our site looks like and no we did not directly rip off anyone. We purchased a premium WordPress theme (Newspress) and tweaked it to fulfill our needs.  Once we achieve consistent daily content, have an adequate number of contributors and implement a revenue strategy, we will then tackle a redesign that gives GeniusCog it’s own identity. [If anyone wants to take the initiative and write us a new theme in exchange for us pimping out your company, contact either Marcus or myself.]