Things Are Looking Up!

Well, I've been taking a little breather from the blog for a few weeks and now it's time to get back in the swing of things!

One reason for the breather - in the last few weeks things have become incredibly busy! While that's good news for me personally after such a quiet year so far, I think it's even more encouraging for the startup community as a whole.

I think we should be encouraged by the apparent stabilization in the business environment, even though problems still abound. It's clear there is improving sentiment and higher confidence and it's showing even for early stage companies. Some examples I'm seeing (I have to avoid using names due to the confidential nature of the information and the fact that I do work for each of the companies mentioned):

• One company is finding significant new interest in it's voice solutions including from a major service provider in Asia
• A software company is engaged in a new customer opportunity that - alone - could increase it's bookings this year by 50%
• A third received a favourable mention in a major trade publication and as a result is getting significant interest from big-name advertisers for opportunities in it's social network
• A fourth just closed it's first revenue deals after launching many trials earlier this year
• A fifth is accelerating it's efforts to ramp up business here in the U.S. on top of it's European successes
• I've just been approached by a company looking for help in evaluating multiple possible acquisition offers

I could not say any of this earlier this year. And it's both refreshing and welcome to be saying it now! Unfortunately this has not yet translated into closing of new funding for these companies - but you know that this kind of progress will get VC attention sooner or later.

Comments

[Philip]

Yes - the ones that seem to be doing better are those where the ROI for a customer is fast and clear. If I spend $X on this product or service can I expect $2X in savings or in additional business in the next Y months/year? So for example Marketo in marketing lead management or MedeAnalytics in hospital productivity are both doing really well. But if its not clear and measurable then its still a hard slog!

[arnold@waldstein.com]

Thanks for the post Phil. Many businesses are having an upswing as the economy moves up generally. From your work are there any sectors or types of business that seem to be doing better?

[Bill Hunt]

Good news is always a good thing!