Why we are building a startup media company to support startups
When founding a startup, the driving force is almost always the belief that we can make an experience, service, or process several times better than the status quo.
Every day, Estonian startups are doing powerful, global, and transformative things that have never been done before. This space is filled with curiosity, power, grit, and big thinking.
We want to open this space to everyone while creating a bit of excitement—and a bit of FOMO.
Why FOMO?
Because FOMO — the Fear Of Missing Out — is an inseparable part of the startup sector. It is a driving force, whether we like it or not.
If investors didn’t fear missing out on deals, and if founders didn’t fear falling behind on the technology train, many success stories would never be born. And let’s be honest: FOMO just sounds good.
Why Observer?
Because “FOMO” alone sounds like the name of a pop magazine. One might even say that, as a sector, we have somewhat outgrown pure FOMO — despite the global AI frenzy surrounding us.
“Observer” has deep historical roots in media. The Observer (the slightly more intellectual sibling of The Guardian), which recently concluded its legendary run, was the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. It was renowned for long-form analysis and a depth that daily papers couldn’t match.
That is where we are headed: pulling back the curtain to take a deeper look behind the stories.
At the same time, we aim to be the sector's chronicle. Think of it more like the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia (the definitive historical record), rather than a tabloid chronicle. If you want to know what is happening in the sector, come and see. No paywalls.
And let’s be honest: it certainly helped that .observer was available as a domain. Despite the two “O”s sitting side by side, FOMO Observer has a nice ring to it.
The Origin Story
The real story began in September when Liisa Jõerüüt (a bow of gratitude to her) connected Tarmo and Triin. At that stage, we had both been independently listening to opinions from key players on whether and how a dedicated media channel for the sector should be built. (The only one who dismissed the idea was Tim.)
We are a startup. We're just beginning to explore a business model. Right now, we want to create a channel accessible to everyone—one that encourages and inspires, rather than restricts or mocks.
We created this channel for the Estonian startup sector, but scaling is in our genes. Kaidi Ruusalepp writes beautifully in one of our first columns about how difficult scaling is in the analogue world. But for a digital, English-language channel, borders don't exist. Nevertheless, we are launching as a bilingual platform.
Alongside our journalists, who will cover industry news, startup profiles, and in-depth ecosystem pieces, we've brought on a host of ecosystem players who will bring their founder and investor experience to FOMO with monthly columns.
The mission is set. The team is in place. Welcome to FOMO.Observer.
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