At Founders School, we believe knowledge increases your chances for success. And the repetition of such knowledge drives home its true meaning. So as the year winds down, we’re taking a looking at the five most popular blogs this year, in case you missed them.

Take this opportunity to refresh your memory and reinvigorate your most important muscle–your brain.

5) Why Getting Out of the Building Doesn’t Mean Giving Away Your Idea

Getting out of the building to talk to customers doesn’t mean getting out of the building and telling people about your idea. You’re not out to say the following: “I have a great idea X to solve Y problem with Z solution. What do you think of that?” What you’re really doing when you talk to customers is listening and learning.

4) Why Email Marketing Still Trumps Social Media

Email marketing is one of the oldest, most basic, and yet the most powerful forms of digital marketing available today. The marketing world has gone crazy over social media–with good cause! Social media is an explosive method of marketing, reaching new fans in incredibly engaging ways. But in spite of social media’s viral potential, email still wins as the most disruptive method to reach and woo your customers.

3) When Should My Venture Start Thinking About Intellectual Property?

With all the details of startup life to attend to it is easy to lose track of important things that could make a huge difference in your business. One of these important issues is intellectual property. Peter McDermott’s Founders School series on intellectual property highlights several pitfalls common to startup life that could really sink your startup from an IP perspective. 

2) Smoothing Out the Sales Funnel for More Customer Conversions

One of the foundational marketing theories has to do with the purchase funnel, also known as the conversion funnel, or sales funnel. Every customer goes through a process that eventually leads them to purchase the product or service. It starts broad, and ends specifically–thus the term “funnel”.

1) ‘The Art of Startup Finance’ Illustrates How To Properly Pay Attention to the Numbers Behind Your Business

It may surprise you to learn that your financials should not be left to a bookkeeper alone. In order to understand a business and avoid making mistakes, you must understand the numbers that drive the important metrics–cash flow and revenue–that fuel your venture.

Use the comments section to let us know which one you think is the best.