For the Love of Startups
A little love for Outsell’s first podcast on Valentine’s Day
Welcome to Outsell for Startups! Launched last week, it’s something we are so excited about, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to tell you more about it. Why you say?
So much of this industry’s growth is built on M&A. Little companies become the drivers of innovation in our industry, love partnerships or distribution deals, grow to a certain size, and then poof! One of the industry’s largest companies acquires them, seeking growth and innovation that is easier to buy than to create. And so, the virtuous circle continues. Outsell for Startups is focused on the discovery, coverage, and support of startup companies across the globe to provide strategic insight for our clients, help startups succeed, and drive industry growth.
For years, Outsell has covered the industry’s young upstarts and movers and shakers. Remember Bitpipe, AllBusiness, Mendeley anyone? How about Complinet? Or Capterra? Global Spec? How about Data Explorers? I could go on and on and on and on. We’ve advised hundreds about their growth strategy as either members of the Outsell Leadership Community (OLC) or through consultation.
At the beginning of 2017, we launched an emerging company membership for OLC. We wanted to give startups an easy way to join our vibrant and growing CEO community. We built the Outsell 250 — a curated list of top startups in B2B, nominated and ranked by our analysts, selected the top 30 in Outsell’s Information Industry Outlook, raised 8 finalists who competed in our second annual Growth Tank at Outsell’s Signature Event, and … voila!
Congratulations to Yewno, the winner of the Outsell Emerging Company of the Year award for 2017 and Ruth Pickering’s darling. What an amazing co-founder and young company she’s created.
We are taking this coverage and formalizing it in our new interview series where we cover the hottest companies and talented CEOs leading our industry’s startups. Under the leadership of Outsell’s Ben Sampson, we are continuing to formalize our coverage of startups, doing something we’ve done for decades and making sure it’s built into the fabric of the company’s research agenda. You can access our new podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or SoundCloud. Read more about it and the first episode on the Outsell blog.
In 2018, we’re kicking it up a notch — 50 to be exact. The Outsell 300 will be out this spring, and the cycle will repeat: Outsell 300, 30 to Watch, Nominees for the Growth Tank, and one winner will emerge at Outsell’s Signature Event, which will have a full morning dedicated to the needs of startup CEOs this year — almost as an entire event unto itself. All along the way, Ben will keep the interview series going. You won’t want to miss it. Our analysts will continue to write about these upstarts — look soon for a series about the Top 50 Disruptors in each of the industry’s leading sectors. If you want to make a short list of M&A candidates, we have you covered!
And if you are a CEO of an industry startup we’re here to watch your back. The startup community is well served by Outsell. And now it’s even better covered. And when it comes time for young companies to learn from mature ones and when mature ones need to capitalize on the innovation of young ones, the virtuous circle in our industry continues. After all, it’s for the love of startups and there’s no better day to set the mood for some M&A than today.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
P.S. If you haven’t read it, take a look at what drives valuations in our industry. OLC members can read Improving Valuations: A Model of Consistency here, and non-members can buy the report here). It’s the third in a series we’ve published over the years and based on our analysis of many hundreds of deals. Pick up a copy today.
To learn more about Outsell and its solutions, visit us here, or contact us.