This time last year, most of us at FactorDaily were looking forward to the new year with excitement as well as trepidation. We had a vision, the team was coming together, and we were all excited about building something new, but there was also a sense of taking a leap into the unknown; of trying to give shape to something we knew in our hearts and minds, but hadn’t yet been able to put into words. Over the next few months, we sought the words and the threads, and started stitching the story together.

There were some unravellings along the way, and the story is far from complete yet — every single day, we ask ourselves ‘Should we do this? Do our readers want this? Is this a FactorDaily story?’ And we love these conversations, because one thing we have learnt from our collective work experience is, when you stop asking these questions, you stop learning.

So, as we looked back on one of the most important years in all our lives, we picked out stories we had done in 2016 that defined us, challenged us, and brought us to together as a team. Over this week, we will showcase these stories in different categories — not because WE are proud of them (we are) but because these deeply reported articles and opinion pieces and videos and interviews and newsbreaks also tell the story that we set out to narrate right at the beginning of our journey with FactorDaily: how technology is changing, and how it is changing us.

Here are the five top picks from what we wrote about entrepreneurship this year:

February, 2016:

Most startups go through at least one near-death experience. And it’s up to the founder to tell the world with a straight face that everything is fine.

http://factordaily.com/inmobi-valuation-future/

July, 2016:

Who was Azim Seth? And how did he become Azim Premji, India’s richest entrepreneur?

http://factordaily.com/hello-azim-seth/

August, 2016:

How to crack the hyperlocal delivery game

http://factordaily.com/dunzo-hyperlocal-concierge-app-killing-bengaluru/

September, 2016:

What happens to a startup when its founder is no more? A long-form narrative on the tragic death of Attune’s Arvindkumar Alagarswamy, and what this meant for the company he had built:

http://factordaily.com/attune-arvindkumar-alagarswamy/

October, 2016:

A behind-the-scenes look at the intense drama that goes into pulling off Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale:

http://factordaily.com/flipkart_big_binny_days/

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