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or press kits on X-IT Products, or the X-IT Emergency Escape Ladders™, please email Ramon Madan.
(July 1995, Volume 21, Issue 10 -- Ilan Mochari, Inc. Magazine)
If Fortune 500 companies followed from start-ups as surely as oak trees follow from acorns, then picking which fledgling businesses were destined for greatness would be easy. And where's the fun in that? But happily for the betting folk among us, the annals of enterprise are full of who'd-a-thunk-it success stories. Conversely, even the most promising start-ups can run aground if their technology obsolesces, a market fails to materialize, or a major customer unexpectedly tanks. In each year from 1995 to 1998, an average of 165,000 companies drew their first breath, according to Dun & Bradstreet. And annually from 1995 to 1997, an average of 75,500 gasped their last.
But healthy doubt notwithstanding, some companies are hard not to get excited about--especially those evincing certain early signs of vigor: An idea that makes other people smite their foreheads and cry, "Why didn't I think of that?" A management team with marquee credentials. A well-placed patent. A well-heeled customer. King-size pillowcases full of cash.
What follow are profiles of 10 companies that, judging from their baby pictures, show real promise. All are less than three years old, and all possess some or most of the portents of success mentioned earlier. (Although a few have Internet elements, we chose to swim against the popular current by avoiding companies that hang their hats exclusively on the Web.) We've also thrown in a few interesting resources for entrepreneurs launching companies today. Use them wisely, and maybe in a couple of years you'll be giving us something new to get excited about.
(Click on the link below to read more on this story and X-IT Products)
Inc. Magazine Cover Story: Hot Start-Ups -- Ten ideas for businesses you'll wish you'd thought of first -- #8 A Winning Exit Strategy
