Seattle 2.0 Blog

December 3, 2007

MON 3 DEC 2007

Seattle Startup Index for December By Marcelo Calbucci

 

    Another edition of the Seattle Startup Index below. These are the Seattle-based startups order by their usage rate according to Alexa and Compete.

 

    This month we have a very unusual event. Two of the top 10 startups are new to the list: SEOmoz and ActiveRain. In total we have 29 new companies bringing the list count to 228 startups.

 

 

#	Company	Alexa Rank	Compete Rank	Average Rank	Index Change
1	Intelius	3,585	106	1,845	-
2	iLike	2,962	785	1,873	+1
3	Zillow	3,031	802	1,916	-1
4	43 Things (Robot Co-op)	4,078	1,605	2,841	-
5	SEOmoz	1,517	4,640	3,078	(new)
6	BuddyTV	4,967	2,348	3,657	-1
7	Wetpaint	5,024	4,738	4,881	-1
8	ActiveRain	6,875	4,730	5,802	(new)
9	PayScale	14,872	2,068	8,470	-2
10	BlueDot (now Faves.com)	8,204	9,905	9,054	-1
11	SWiK	8,283	10,028	9,155	-3
12	WidgetBucks	6,374	12,054	9,214	(new)
13	Farecast	18,622	1,742	10,182	-3
14	Shelfari	5,677	17,122	11,399	-
15	Jobster	20,734	3,242	11,988	-4
16	Mpire	24,577	1,569	13,073	-4
17	Picnik	12,709	15,832	14,270	-4
18	GarageBand.com	30,055	7,643	18,849	+3
19	Judy's Book	33,087	4,799	18,943	-3
20	Jamglue	23,940	15,153	19,546	+2
21	Redfin	21,239	18,911	20,075	-2
22	SnapVine	34,667	5,614	20,140	-7
23	ImageKind	19,199	21,628	20,413	-6
24	Bag Borrow or Steal	39,930	7,087	23,508	-6
25	ProgrammableWeb	18,843	28,835	23,839	-5
26	Urban Spoon	38,412	15,722	27,067	-3
27	BigOven	51,888	10,817	31,352	-
28	3Guppies	55,396	14,430	34,913	(new)
29	Ohloh	21,251	48,834	35,042	-4
30	43 Places (Robot Co-op)	49,571	23,571	36,571	-6
31	Sampa	34,313	40,894	37,603	-3
32	Trailfire	44,411	33,068	38,739	-6
33	Jott Network	50,317	30,314	40,315	-2
34	Trumba	84,653	9,152	46,902	-4
35	nuTsie.com	48,732	53,545	51,138	-6
36	Menuism	89,419	16,491	52,955	-2
37	FEEDJIT	42,998	74,441	58,719	(new)
38	Yapta	102,434	15,730	59,082	-1
39	Atomic Moguls	108,900	11,056	59,978	-7
40	Findory	75,079	47,704	61,391	-5
41	Lists Of Bests (Robot Co-Op)	86,063	39,299	62,681	-5
42	LiveMocha	30,485	108,734	69,609	-
43	Popshops	57,116	83,027	70,071	-5
44	MerchantOS	99,415	43,816	71,615	+6
45	Broadband Sports	102,255	56,837	79,546	-6
46	LandWatch (SecondSpace)	143,717	15,954	79,835	-6
47	RealSelf	134,130	34,632	84,381	-4
48	Earth Class Mail	76,843	93,074	84,958	+37
49	GotVoice	171,807	1,479	86,643	-3
50	MyTypes	68,519	105,336	86,927	+2
51	All Consuming (Robot Co-Op)	115,479	58,572	87,025	-10
52	NewsCloud	95,757	84,630	90,193	-8
53	Walk Score	114,654	68,784	91,719	(new)
54	Pluggd	106,919	88,667	97,793	-9
55	Biznik	72,642	135,887	104,264	-7
56	AdReady	160,820	62,132	111,476	+12
57	RescueTime	97,974	128,066	113,020	+14
58	Konnects	127,867	109,256	118,561	+26
59	43 People	126,645	114,779	120,712	(new)
60	Healia	236,452	27,707	132,079	-13
61	Cozi	240,692	34,419	137,555	-12
62	Zoji	112,162	165,733	138,947	+3
63	Avvo	179,401	98,885	139,143	-12
64	Should Do This (Robot Co-Op)	100,512	189,516	145,014	-10
65	TripHub	220,994	71,935	146,464	-12
66	nPost	188,490	108,278	148,384	-8
67	Treemo	161,858	150,222	156,040	-12
68	Etelos	199,017	130,763	164,890	-6
69	Mercent	301,264	43,583	172,423	-8
70	EyeJot	164,391	180,489	172,440	-3
71	LexBlog	221,860	136,194	179,027	-12
72	PeepCode	137,726	221,847	179,786	-15
73	Crush or Flush (IceBreaker)	267,271	96,843	182,057	-10
74	Wishpot	167,714	198,298	183,006	-5
75	SmartSheet	241,129	125,899	183,514	-19
76	PhoneSherpa	267,979	99,831	183,905	-16
77	Blist	267,729	125,268	196,498	+4
78	Thrift Books	350,679	56,812	203,745	-12
79	Estately	237,846	198,499	218,172	-4
80	Peppers and Pollywogs	410,725	43,085	226,905	-10
81	Faves (ex-BlueDot)	8,204	513,154	260,679	(new)
82	Dashwire	362,909	202,813	282,861	(new)
83	Robot Co-op (43 Things)	369,859	200,835	285,347	-7
84	Movaya	192,854	385,139	288,996	-5
85	Others Online	231,758	349,930	290,844	-21
86	ReelTime	114,988	501,512	308,250	-9
87	ZooDango	262,597	367,232	314,914	-14
88	Wishlisting	303,093	337,903	320,498	+2
89	goChongo	144,268	514,694	329,481	-
90	ResortScape (SecondSpace)	503,493	161,001	332,247	-12
91	Jambool	254,712	410,964	332,838	+65
92	YourSports	584,137	150,698	367,417	+69
93	ActiveWords	544,050	206,096	375,073	-
94	FlowPlay	390,850	359,877	375,363	-14
95	SecondSpace	414,418	337,705	376,061	-13
96	GridNetworks	373,608	385,218	379,413	+2
97	Noonhat	577,713	238,184	407,948	+15
98	PhotoSleeve	375,652	448,999	412,325	(new)
99	Instacalc	463,538	410,291	436,914	-7
100	Versionate	337,575	538,422	437,998	-13
101	Ripl	496,833	392,706	444,769	-15
102	SportsUltra	646,289	253,041	449,665	-14
103	Down2night	407,352	509,365	458,358	-31
104	Jackson Fish Market	367,097	551,137	459,117	-8
105	PixPulse	352,108	571,190	461,649	-5
106	TeachStreet	540,162	439,047	489,604	-
107	Linebuzz	617,437	371,102	494,269	-10
108	SimplifyThis	546,495	448,697	497,596	-17
109	PrestoGifto	585,499	418,623	502,061	-2
110	HomeMovie	700,579	306,962	503,770	-16
111	MixPo	359,254	652,277	505,765	-28
112	Postacrime	874,387	137,993	506,190	+15
113	Athleon	265,331	778,663	521,997	-11
114	SNAPforSeniors	852,401	275,083	563,742	-4
115	They're Beautiful	558,987	571,246	565,116	-2
116	CalendarData.com	896,904	252,044	574,474	(new)
117	Melodeo	877,890	283,761	580,825	+5
118	TrenchMice	752,182	412,007	582,094	-10
119	Scriptovia	758,423	410,248	584,335	-20
120	Jookster	448,666	725,930	587,298	-25
121	Bill Monk	284,797	938,222	611,509	-7
122	Bus Monster	800,963	461,252	631,107	-3
123	Openomy	469,358	801,366	635,362	-8
124	Medio Systems	801,835	507,153	654,494	-20
125	Inrix	797,785	525,962	661,873	-20
126	OwnYourPhone	904,975	421,525	663,250	-10
127	LiquidPlanner	696,134	653,778	674,956	-1
128	FeedWhip	674,975	681,169	678,072	-10
129	Pelago	504,607	861,790	683,198	-9
130	Cocktail builder	849,637	567,360	708,498	(new)
131	The Phrogram Company	866,758	567,880	717,319	(new)
132	Just Cause	785,719	727,072	756,395	(new)
133	Zeenami	837,113	806,441	821,777	-16
134	Fyreball	973,832	671,700	822,766	+31
135	TalentSpring	1,123,447	580,647	852,047	-12
136	Synapse	956,376	807,295	881,835	-8
137	ClayValet	1,257,235	714,508	985,871	-7
138	SongSlide	1,366,510	621,085	993,797	-2
139	FinancialJoe	1,309,443	678,478	993,960	-8
140	Catch the Best	1,540,278	520,683	1,030,480	-16
141	Formotus	1,656,751	428,850	1,042,800	+32
142	Overcast Media	1,551,030	603,451	1,077,240	-13
143	CoolToors	1,463,438	715,522	1,089,480	-3
144	SnapTune	1,394,772	869,159	1,131,965	-10
145	Cdigix	1,382,173	954,746	1,168,459	-2
146	iMedExchange	1,638,401	723,085	1,180,743	+21
147	PhoneMyPhone (KeenScreen)	1,697,185	740,435	1,218,810	-14
148	Bioscreencast	1,748,576	778,695	1,263,635	-10
149	AlphabetLane	1,776,698	802,983	1,289,840	(new)
150	Weedshare	1,960,327	644,243	1,302,285	-15
151	Ontela	1,912,409	752,757	1,332,583	-19
152	Conenza	2,044,021	623,906	1,333,963	-5
153	Appature	1,941,322	815,324	1,378,323	-12
154	Metafos	2,206,776	553,981	1,380,378	+16
155	You Just Get Me	2,035,156	866,593	1,450,874	(new)
156	EmptySpaceAds (KeenScreen)	2,170,926	785,513	1,478,219	+12
157	Minecode	2,211,166	780,735	1,495,950	-18
158	PilotOutlook	2,336,438	713,139	1,524,788	-12
159	TrustedWord	2,802,424	484,868	1,643,646	-10
160	Knouen	2,758,509	810,972	1,784,740	-9
161	Frigy	2,858,639	862,735	1,860,687	-9
162	Audiosocket	3,586,655	690,772	2,138,713	(new)
163	Trendi	3,423,175	876,825	2,150,000	+25
164	Style du Jour	3,327,129	988,497	2,157,813	+28
165	NimbleBee	8,075,248	950,373	4,512,810	-1
166	Investment Yogi	361,527	?	-	-9
167	InfiniteHoops	437,962	?	-	-9
168	UberSquare	511,192	?	-	-9
169	DreamBox (SchoolSoft)	735,787	?	-	-7
170	ExtraHop Networks	?	741,092	-	-10
171	Invitastic (Jackson Fish Market)	744,018	?	-	(new)
172	Zumobi	931,162	?	-	(new)
173	Diffen	1,103,294	?	-	(new)
174	Limeade	1,149,714	?	-	-
175	GeoJoey	1,387,706	?	-	-50
176	PageForest	1,532,346	?	-	-13
177	Trusera	1,620,233	?	-	-11
178	Yodio	1,634,858	?	-	-57
179	Biego	2,022,160	?	-	-10
180	Zumende	2,232,702	?	-	-36
181	Spoken	2,237,875	?	-	-6
182	XoomPad	2,401,383	?	-	-40
183	GoGoMo	2,403,728	?	-	-11
184	Digini	2,412,158	?	-	+3
185	EVRI	2,514,081	?	-	(new)
186	Tesly	2,672,664	?	-	-15
187	Nearlyweds	2,799,776	?	-	(new)
188	Altus Networks	2,800,249	?	-	-38
189	CampusChai	2,956,358	?	-	-10
190	CellTell	2,999,791	?	-	-14
191	Instant Journalist	3,045,095	?	-	(new)
192	Goose Networks	3,254,516	?	-	-44
193	Illumita	3,369,880	?	-	-48
194	Entering Startup	3,573,774	?	-	-12
195	Collab-O-Matic	3,970,394	?	-	-40
196	SynerG Software	4,061,499	?	-	-2
197	Beyond Wine & Cheese	4,223,285	?	-	(new)
198	GimmeNow	4,365,259	?	-	-12
199	Beet Inc.	4,552,839	?	-	-18
200	MergeLab	4,712,451	?	-	(new)
201	DigWorks	4,717,651	?	-	+9
202	SiteScout	4,955,065	?	-	-19
203	Smart Desktop	4,981,999	?	-	(new)
204	izzyMe	5,154,265	?	-	-15
205	Phrasetrain	5,299,747	?	-	-52
206	Jakoba	5,433,344	?	-	+3
207	Lilipip	5,433,687	?	-	-7
208	AudioFuse	5,525,184	?	-	(new)
209	Icebreaker	5,721,400	?	-	-24
210	iCultur	6,234,287	?	-	-20
211	HyBlue	6,960,845	?	-	(new)
212	Human Proxy	6,991,026	?	-	-19
213	Super Oyester	7,728,228	?	-	-18
214	TravellingWave	7,736,829	?	-	-34
215	Interrelativity	8,195,294	?	-	-10
216	imaPodHead	8,424,027	?	-	-32
217	Accelerated Pictures	9,949,838	?	-	-20
218	VoxPixel	?	?	-	-20
219	Grads Wanted	?	?	-	-17
220	Fremont Forward	?	?	-	-21
221	Limber Media	?	?	-	-17
222	Grouped.com	?	?	-	-21
223	SwitchGear	?	?	-	-15
224	N2uitive	?	?	-	(new)
225	Zeebits	?	?	-	-22
226	Joingle	?	?	-	-19
227	MobIncentive	?	?	-	-21
228	Positive Motion	?	?	-	-32

December 4, 2007

TUE 4 DEC 2007

What it takes to add a company to the list By Marcelo Calbucci

 

    Every time I publish the Seattle 2.0 Startup list I get a few emails asking to include this or that company. I've been pretty open and flexible about the criteria to be on the list, which include being less than 5 years old, not a public company, about technology and from the Puget Sound area.

 

    For each company suggestion I receive I have to validate all those items. Why? Lots of companies want to be on the list. Lots of consultancy and service providers consider they meet all the criteria. Some don't even bother to check and send me a request.

 

    So, every time I got an email I go through several steps to validate a company, which can take between 3 and 15 minutes.

 

Step 1: Is it from the Puget Sound?

 

    That is relatively easy to check. I go to the website and click on the "Contact Us" link. Most companies do list their addresses. If that is not present I try the "About Us" page. Lastly, I try the WHOIS database to see if the domain is registered around the Puget Sound. If all fails, I email the founder/CEO and ask.

 

 

Step 2: Is it a startup?

 

    The 5 year criterion is much harder than it looks. I usually start by checking the "About Us" page, but very few companies list date of foundation, so then I go to the WHOIS database again to see when the record for that Domain was created. A lot of domains were created more than 5 years ago, but were transferred to the new company so that won't help. I also check LinkedIn to see since when the founders have been working on the company. This is very trustworthy because it is unlikely founders would lie on their LinkedIn profile. Finally, if all else fails I try to contact the founder/CEO or an investor.

    About being a public company is trivial to verify since public companies have more strict rules about disclosure and the website always mentions they are public.

 

 

Step 3: Is it a technology company?

 

    We said we'd include 4 kinds of technology companies: Hardware companies, Software companies (i.e., you install on your computer/server), Mobile company (either a mobile software/hardware or a web-based for mobile) and web-based service (the product/service is the website). For each one of those I look for different things.

• Hardware: I check the homepage and "about us" to see if there is a description or picture of the hardware.
• Software: I check if the site has a download/purchase link.
• Web-based service: Usually I look for a "sign up" here link and look at the description of the service. The key here is to make sure this is not a content site, like a blog, marketing site, consultancy, etc.
• Mobile: I check for similar content as a web-based service or for software to install.

What about Stealth startups?

 

    Amazingly enough, for a good number of stealth startups I know what they are doing. I know because I've met the founder or exchanged email with him/her, or because one of the investors told me about. Of course, I never blog or write about those companies except to include them on the list. When I cannot validate what the company is doing I take a leap of faith and assume they are about technology if they say they are.

 

 

December 6, 2007

THU 6 DEC 2007

Seattle Startup Index reset list By Marcelo Calbucci

 

    After a lot of feedback from founders/CEO of the startups list, startup aficionados and press/bloggers, I'll be making two changes to the list starting January.

 

1. The list that will be published in January will be called "December SSI" because it reflects the data for the month of December.
2. The list will be published after Compete publishes their updated rank, usually at the second week of the month.

 

    Yesterday, Compete updated their monthly rank and now they contain the data for the month of November, which was not available when I published the list three days ago. So, for us to have a correct baseline to measure Index changes in January I'm publishing a new list today that would be the equivalent of the "November list" using the new standards.

 

 

 

 

#	Company	Alexa Rank	Compete Rank	Average Rank	Index Change
1	iLike	2,773	755	1,764	+1
2	Intelius	3,733	111	1,922	-1
3	Zillow	3,199	850	2,024	-
4	43 Things (Robot Co-op)	4,154	1,548	2,851	-
5	SEOmoz	1,586	5,225	3,405	-
6	BuddyTV	5,054	2,033	3,543	-
7	Wetpaint	4,897	3,840	4,368	-
8	WidgetBucks	5,273	7,313	6,293	+4
9	ActiveRain	7,099	5,699	6,399	-1
10	PayScale	15,064	2,279	8,671	-1
11	SWiK	8,220	11,482	9,851	-
12	Farecast	18,395	1,710	10,052	+1
13	Shelfari	5,182	16,845	11,013	+1
14	Jobster	21,695	3,261	12,478	+1
15	Mpire	22,075	3,042	12,558	+1
16	Picnik	11,764	13,766	12,765	+1
17	Faves (ex-BlueDot)	8,723	16,883	12,803	+64
18	Jamglue	21,259	11,361	16,310	+2
19	GarageBand.com	30,131	4,141	17,136	-1
20	ImageKind	18,111	21,631	19,871	+3
21	SnapVine	34,758	6,017	20,387	+1
22	Judy's Book	35,046	6,758	20,902	-3
23	Redfin	21,363	23,504	22,433	-2
24	Bag Borrow or Steal	43,753	4,679	24,216	-
25	ProgrammableWeb	19,419	30,587	25,003	-
26	Urban Spoon	37,373	14,148	25,760	-
27	BigOven	47,066	5,584	26,325	-
28	Sampa	34,417	31,705	33,061	+3
29	3Guppies	56,713	15,560	36,136	-1
30	Jott Network	48,664	37,507	43,085	+3
31	nuTsie.com	46,194	40,698	43,446	+4
32	Ohloh	22,587	65,765	44,176	-3
33	Trailfire	51,399	37,055	44,227	-1
34	Trumba	87,722	10,956	49,339	-
35	43 Places (Robot Co-op)	54,217	50,258	52,237	-5