A billion dollar software tech company is founded every 3 months *in U.S.
Ron Conway once said: “There’s a billion company created every 3 months. Now, it is every 2 months”. I finally got the chance compile “The Billion Dollar” list. I tried to limit this list to only software tech companies. I also included a couple of near billion dollar companies (~0.7 B and above).
Update: I should clarify that in the context of the quote, he was mostly talking about mostly software tech companies founded (or for the most part operated) in US. There will be plenty of companies outside US (especially China) that will make the list much longer.
He was mostly right. Kind of.
There are about 4 billion dollar software tech companies founded every year, with the exception of 2000-2002.
There was a drought in 2000-2002 because of the dot-com bubble crash. Things started picking up again in late 2003 (Skype in Aug). 2004 became the return of the dot-com era (Facebook, Palantir, Yelp, Evernote).
Update: After the new additions, it seems that 2002 was the drought year.
Look around you. A billion dollar company was born within the last 3 months.
This means that there are about 8 companies in 2011 and 2012 that will become the next big thing. They are not big yet, but we will realize their value in years to come. I have included some companies founded in 2009 and 2010 that I think have the potential. It is much harder to hedge my bets on companies founded in 2011 and 2012.
Update: Google Docs to update new companies. Thanks phreeza (HN)
| Company | Founded | Market Cap/ Valuation*/ Acquired value^ |
|---|---|---|
| SolarWinds | 1998 | 3.9 B |
| NetSuite | 1998 | 4.3 B |
| VMware | 1998 | 37 B |
| OpenTable | 1998 Jul | 1 B |
| 1998 Sep | 210 B | |
| Rackspace | 1998 Oct | 8 B |
| PayPal | 1998 Dec | 1.5 B^ |
| Zappos | 1999 | 1.2 B^ |
| SurveyMonkey | 1999 | 1 B* |
| Opsware | 1999 | 1.6 B^ |
| SalesForce | 1999 Mar | 19 B |
| Shutterfly | 1999 Dec | 0.9 B |
| Netezza | 2000 | 1.7 B^ |
| ArcSight | 2000 | 1.5 B^ |
| ExactTarget | 2000 | 1.3 B |
| BillMeLater | 2000 | 0.9 B^ |
| Pandora | 2000 Jan | 1.3 B |
| TripAdvisor | 2000 Feb | 4.8 B |
| SuccessFactors | 2001 | 3.4 B^ |
| Guidewire | 2001 | 1.5 B |
| DealerTrack | 2001 | 1.1 B |
| Jive | 2001 Feb | 0.8 B |
| Kiva Systems | 2000 | 0.8 B^ |
| 2002 Dec | 10 B | |
| ServiceNow | 2003 | 3.7 B |
| Skype | 2003 Aug | 8.5 B^ |
| Glam Media | 2003 Sep | 0.7 B* |
| Palantir | 2004 | 2.5 B* |
| Splunk | 2004 | 2.6 B |
| Kayak | 2004 Jan | 1.8 B |
| 2004 Feb | 41 B | |
| Evernote | 2004 Sep | 1 B* |
| Yelp | 2004 Oct | 1.1 B |
| Palo Alto Networks | 2005 | 3.5 B |
| Box | 2005 | 1.2 B* |
| Zillow | 2005 | 0.7 B |
| Bebo | 2005 Jan | 0.85 B^ |
| HomeAway | 2005 Feb | 2 B* |
| YouTube | 2005 Feb | 1.1 B^ |
| Workday | 2005 Mar | 7.7 B |
| Millennial Media | 2006 | 1.2 B |
| 2006 Mar | 8 B* | |
| Demand Media | 2006 May | 0.7 B |
| Nicira | 2007 | 1.2 B |
| Gilt Groupe | 2007 | 1 B* |
| Tumblr | 2007 Feb | 0.8 B* |
| Hulu | 2007 Mar | 2 B* |
| Dropbox | 2007 Jun | 4 B* |
| LivingSocial | 2007 Jul | 2.9 B* |
| Zynga | 2007 Jul | 1.6 B |
| Github | 2008 Feb | 0.8 B* |
| AirBnb | 2008 Aug | 2.5 B* |
| Yammer | 2008 Sep | 1.2 B^ |
| Groupon | 2008 Nov | 1.8 B |
| 2008/09 | 1 B* | |
| Square | 2009 Feb | 3.2 B* |
| Storm8 | 2009 Mar | 1 B* |
| Quora | 2009 Jun | ~ |
| GetAround | 2009 Sep | ~ |
| Fab | 2010 Feb | 0.7 B* |
| 2010 Mar | 1 B^ | |
| Stripe | 2010 Jun | ~ |
| Skillshare | 2010 Nov | ~ |
Market cap as a public listed company (Nov 2012)
*Rumored valuation based on “word on the street”
^Acquired value is the last acquisition value of the company (e.g. Skype was acquired multiple times)
~Included startups that I project to have a chance to be a billion dollar company
I cannot find all the exact founding dates for all the companies
Let me know if I missed any companies.
Updates: Added Github, Nicira, Workday, Splunk, ServiceNow, DealerTrack, Guidewire, SuccessFactors, ExactTarget, ArcSight, SolarWinds, VMware, Netezza, Millennial Media | Removed Vente Privee, Rovio, Spotify
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