My business partner, Brian Newton, and I were talking about resources for business executives.  Since I host a segment of a business cable TV Show called EYE on Business (Time Warner/Spectrum), and my section focuses on StreetSavvy Business (from my days growing up on the streets of New York, hence the image to the left), we decided to develop a “Nifty 50” list of those sites and resources that would be ideal for the StreetSavvy Business Executive.   StreetSavvy Business is aimed at finding solutions to complex business problems and by so doing executives are leading their companies in new thoughts, directions, and opportunities.   StreetSavvy Business is a way to prevent companies from regressing to the mean – and worse, mediocrity.

There more than 750 million URLs for websites in the US and around 200 million that are “active.” There are certain sites because of their breadth, content or unique perspective that can help entrepreneurs and executives alike in understanding the business environment, changing behaviors of different segments of the population, the economic environment, and the political environment. C-Level Partners put together a selection of sites that they have found to be useful to business leaders of all kinds.

We divided these sites into categories, but clearly, there is overlap among the websites. Based on the collective wisdom of C-Level Partners and its advisory group of more than 60 C-Level Executives, these are the sites that are used time after time by those queried.
Much of the information is free while there are premium services or subscription services. Even if there is a fee for premium services, signing up for the blogs or free newsletters will help the executive get and stay ahead. A word of caution: A website is only as good as the information that it provides for an intended purpose.

General Business
www.businessweek.com : Originally called Businessweek and now called Bloomberg Businessweek; this magazine provides information and opinions on what is happening in the business world. It focuses on issues shaping markets, technology, and politics, and provides options on developments which affect the business world.

www.ceo.com : CEO.com is a resource for executives seeking out the latest in business news and leadership strategy. Our editors probe the web and handpick the most relevant content for the site that will help you become a more effective business leader.

www.cfo.com : Targeting corporate financial executives this site offers information on Accounting & Tax, Banking & Capital Markets, Risk & Compliance, Strategy, and Technology. Their content includes articles on current topics, white papers, and links to other relevant content.

www.cio.com : For this site’s content the “i” means “Information” so much of the content is related to technology topics. When visiting the site in January 2017, I noticed a piece on European privacy regulation which, having lived in London for 14 years, can be a minefield. Given the current state of flux in these regulations, a firm with activities linked to Europe would be well-served to remain compliant. Of course, there were many technology related items on this site which has extensive content.

www.forbes.com : Published bi-weekly, Forbes features original articles on finance, industry, investing and marketing topics. Forbes also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, and law.

www.fortune.com : Fortune Magazine competes with Forbes and Bloomberg Businessweek in the national business magazine category and distinguishes itself with long, in-depth feature articles.[2]  The magazine is best known for the Fortune 500, a ranking of companies by revenue that it has published annually since 1955.

Economic/Financial/Political/Technical
www.ft.com : The Financial Times, is the cornerstone of international business news, analysis, market data and company information. It provides perspective on global business issues and provides clarity in a complex business world. Also, as it is UK based, the points of view presented are less US-centric than many other publications in this list.

www.money.cnn.com : Purportedly the largest business website, CNN Money provides information on business, markets, technology, media, luxury, personal finance and a section on small business.

www.economist.com : The commentary makes it a requisite for any business professional. You need to stay up to date on all news to cultivate partnerships and understand the new realities of both the political and economic climate to be successful whether you are an entrepreneur or a corporate executive. Like the FT mentioned above, The Economist is UK-based, and the point of view is less US-centric and thus useful for US executives to better understand communications with overseas partners or customers.

www.reuters.com : Reuters.com brings you the latest news from around the world, covering breaking news in business, politics, entertainment, technology, video and pictures.

www.research.stlouisfed.org :  The St Louis Fed offers an outstanding range of publications and data on economic, financial and policy issues. Their FRED service is the data service, and they make available an Excel Add-in that allows you to download historical data including thousands of series covering the entire world.

www.gartner.com, www.forrester.com, www.idc.com : We lump all these together, and you can add others as well. These sites provide market research, analysis, and advisory services on a range of technology and Information Technology that is critical for the Chief Information Officer, Marketer and even other executives to understand.

Investment/New Technology
www.yahoofinance.com : Yahoo Finance provides one of the most complete sites for business, finance and stock market news including quotes on stocks, options, and portfolio management.
www.investors.com : One of my favorite sites with news and information that moves the markets and a complete tool for analyzing stocks and financial markets. It has a new America section which focuses on technology trends and companies that will change the economy.

www.motleyfool.com : This is Dave and Tom Gardner’s site which became famous for its investment insight, and analysis of stocks. You can also find out which stocks and industries will make the most changes to our economy during the coming years.

www.marketwatch.com : MarketWatch operates a financial information website that provides business news, analysis, and stock market data. It is a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, a property of News Corp.

www.seekingalpha.com : Seeking Alpha is a crowd-sourced content service for financial markets. Articles and research cover a broad range of stocks, asset classes, ETFs, and investment strategies.

Leadership/Management
www.bain.com : Bain is a top management consulting firm that advises companies on strategy, marketing, organization, operations, IT and just about every aspect of business. They have a tab called Insights which is their blog that can help executives find new ideas that generate results.

www.mckinsey.com : In the same vein as Bain, McKinsey and Company is a global management consulting firm that serves leading businesses, governments, non-government organizations and non-profits and helps them realize their performance goals. Their blog provides stories about people and research which might be useful to find and implement new ideas.

www.strategy-business.com : Business strategy news articles for CEOs, corporate executives, and decision makers who influence international business management.  Their prime focus is to highlight the complex choices that leaders face — in strategy, marketing, operations, human capital, governance and other domains — and the impact of their decisions.

www.enpinstitute.com : Executive Next Practices Institute is a research, collaboration, and thought leader forum composed of several thousand C-Level executives from Fortune 5000 companies, including those from C-Level Partners. Their focus is on first look innovations, beyond the current best practices.

www.cebglobal.com : CEB (formerly known as the Corporate Executive Board) is a best practice insight company with several subspecialties in HR, IT/Operations, Marketing and other functional areas. It develops its programs in partnership with leading organizations around the globe and shares solutions to drive corporate performance and to effectively manage talent, customers, and operations.

www.hbr.org : Harvard Business Review is one of the cornerstone magazines for new ideas and classic advice on strategy, innovation, leadership, technology and marketing from the world’s best management and business thinkers.

www.linkedin.com : Everyone should be on LinkedIn, the largest professional database. You can find people, new opportunities, and through groups engage in dialogs on trends, technology, marketing, business, economics and almost everything else. By participating in posting articles or sharing information, you will also encourage others to find you, and that can lead to business deals. Everyone likely knows that Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016.

www.edgar-online.com : EDGAR Online is a leader in helping professionals uncover intelligence from financial disclosures. EDGAR Online offers distribution of company data and public filings for equities, mutual funds, and other publicly traded assets. Check out the 10k filings of publicly traded companies to get a good understanding of the business climate and insight into their business strategy.

www.marshallgoldsmith.com : Marshall Goldsmith is a leadership coach with some of the key corporate, public and non-profit leaders of the world. His books include What Got You Here Won’t Get Your There are insightful and offer many useful suggestions for motivating and energizing your teams. Also, his subscription service provides weekly 3- to 5-minute videos which offer useful suggestions for better handling challenging, or even very obvious, situations.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship
www.cbinsights.com : This venture and start-up website contains a private company financing and angel investment database. It also provides excellent infographics on technology trends and shares eco-systems of market categories.

www.slideshare.net : Authors, writers, and companies share their information through presentations, infographics, and documents. Owned by LinkedIn, you can now link your presentations to your LinkedIn account.

www.techcrunch.com : TechCrunch is a leading technology media property, dedicated obsessively to profiling startups, reviewing new Internet products, and breaking tech news. Check out its companion site, www.crunchbase.com, which provide an excellent database of innovative companies, their funding, and the people behind them.

www.ted.com : TED Talks are inspiring and revealing. While the site talks about new ideas and trends, it is more than a site for entrepreneurs as it has a strong community. Information from these talks is beneficial to both entrepreneurs and successful corporate business people. Check out www.mashable.com as well, as these two are nice complements to each other.

www.fastcompany.com : Fast Company provides a breath of fresh air as it inspires new innovative and creative thought leaders who are inventing the future of business. While aimed at the younger generation and start-ups, Fast Company provides good information on leadership and management that applies to the corporate executive as well giving them an edge in business.

http://www.eofire.com : This is a platform and podcast for entrepreneurs and marketers. Founder, John Lee Dumas, interviews inspiring Entrepreneurs.

www.quora.com : Leaders and entrepreneurs in the tech industry share their information and answer questions from the reader base.

www.entrepreneur.com : This site provides the latest in news and advice for the startup entrepreneur. Moreover, the information is also useful for those in the corporate world who delve into innovation.

www.inc.com : Find out the latest in tips, news, management, leadership and other resources for entrepreneurs from one of the most reputable magazines in the industry.

Marketing
www.chiefmarketer.com : Chief Marketer serves marketing professionals at consumer and business-to-business brands, as well as their agencies, with rich, detailed information on measurable marketing strategies, tactics, and techniques. Marketing executives discuss marketing and technology challenges, how to understand the relationships, and how to determine which tools are most effective, and the role of data and content.

www.hoovers.com : Hoovers has one of the largest databases for use by business people, sales people, marketers and others and which provides in-depth information on more than 85 million companies. You can use this for targeted mailing lists and depend on the subscription you choose; you can get industry information and competitive information as well.

www.advertisingage.com : Advertising Age has been around for a very long time, and this website helps marketers understand advertising as part of the overall marketing mix. Many marketers still are behind in digital marketing knowledge, and this site can help by sharing ideas on what others are doing. As part of Advertising Age, www.btobonline.com provides specific information for the B2B marketer including news, advice, trends and technology.

www.avention.com : Avention is the new name for OneSource, a database of companies that marketers can use to find information on companies in their industry, competitors and even use it as a lead source for direct marketing campaigns.

www.marketingtoday.com : Marketing Today is a combination marketing magazine and blog covering such topics as general marketing, digital marketing, social media, advertising and public relations.

www.marketo.com : Marketo is a marketing automation site and a good one at that. It provides through its webinars, events, and blogs a host of useful information that marketers can use to generate sales and partners.

www.hubspot.com : Hubspot has a fantastic blog covering a range of sales and marketing topics, including A/B testing, content marketing, and e-mail marketing.

www.econsultancy.com : Econsultancy shares the latest digital marketing and e-commerce insight from a team of analysts and experts.

www.kissmetrics.com : The KISSmetrics blog aims to help you track, analyze and optimize your digital marketing.

Miscellaneous/ Specialty
www.apple.com/education/itunes-u : The iTunes U app gives you access to complete courses from leading universities and other schools — plus the world’s largest digital catalog of free education content — right on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

www.businessinsider.com : This site has spent the past few years providing free articles and reports on a wide range of business, technology and policy issues. Quite recently they have begun to charge fees for many of their reports, which are, in fact, well researched. However, whether they will be considered value-for-money has yet to be determined.

www.instantcheckmate.com : This is a relatively new yet interesting site which claims to have the ability to find out background information on most people. You can use it to verify people you want to hire or partner with.

www.lynda.com : This site contains over 2,000 video courses on a wide range of topics which are led by industry recognized instructors. For an introduction to a new area of interest, or to dig deeper on a topic than you already are, this site likely has courses to meet your needs. This is available for a small registration fee and offers a 12-week free trial, so you can assess whether this is right for you.

www.mashable.com : Mashable is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company with a focus on the intersection of technology and culture. Check out its YouTube channel as well.

www.wired.com : Wired probably needs no explanation. Everyone is connected in some way to something or someone. The content is current, often leading edge material that typically is reliable. If you are unfamiliar with it, check it out. Likely you will be impressed and use it going forward.

(This piece was written by Expert-in-Residence  David Friedman and originally appeared at: http://clevelpartners.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-nifty-50-websites-and-resources-for.html)