I think these companies will have a real breakout year and at the end of 2011 we will say these companies did something really important for their industries. Warning: it’s a very short list. These are companies I observed pretty early on and loved from day 1 using the service.
foursquare: (we have some tricks up our sleeves. For me personally, these next months will be the most exciting yet. Stay tuned!)
square: (the incumbents are going to aggressively try to catch up but square is going to move insanely fast. I haven’t been so bullish for a company in a long time)
path: (I may not get popular points from readers but I truly think these guys are on to something. I see an entirely new kind of “graph” emerging. We saw/see the “social graph”…now the “location graph”…but I think the “experience(s) graph” is starting to emerge. Collecting moments, much in the same way I use foursquare to collect places I’ve been, for example. Huge fan)
quora: (1. Quora has assembled one of the best teams in tech and it shows. Just an impressive technical feat and they deserve the highest accolades. 2. Quora is quite possibly the only site I go to, spend 1-2 hours reading the great content and contributing and then wonder why the hell I just spent so much time on the site! …and then I do it again, every day. I’ve been lucky to hang out with members of the team there since their office is down the street from my apartment and I remember telling Charlie, co founder, and Rebekah, designer, on number occasions why I use the service and evangelize it as much as I do. It does a great job separating the experts from the cheerleaders/troll haters. There is something delightfully egalitarian about the service as well. Everyone is given the chance to show his expertise. This is the year brands and celebs start figuring this thing out and I think quora will be just fine. I have a few ideas about what brands should be doing on the service today, but that’s for another post)
fitbit: (quite frankly, I think the only reason this company hasn’t had a blowout year is do to all of their operational/customer service problems. I think they figure it out this year. It is such a fantastic product and I really think it’s something folks would enjoy. Ofcourse, there are some things I’d like to see them work on…see: http://b.qr.ae/frHw2g)
p.s. Just getting started on this blogging thing. Would love any feedback positive or negative you guys have!
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