A Wider Net

Business 2.0 magazine recently featured a list of 25 startups to watch. Among those are some interesting companies for marketers to watch and event planners to use. There are also a few companies that probably shouldn’t be considered “startups”, especially at the current web2.0 business development pace, but forgiving that, here are some examples. Oh, before I go onto the list, can I just say that’s it’s time for a new naming trend? Dropping the last vowel (or all of the vowels) from your name is going to look mighty dated pretty soon. There are a bunch of branding teams who might want to try hardr.

The list:

1. stumbleupon - Find web sites based on your interests and habits
2. slide - creates embeddable photo slide shows
3. bebo - Watch - 30 million users - might be where the fickle myspace and facebook users are flocking
4. meebo - Instant messaging ajax application that gets around firewalls
5. wikia - Watch - user-written magazines might be the next big thing in publishing
6. joost - Watch - founders of Skype and Kazaa have cred and this video network already has viacom
7. dabble - organize videos into playlists you can share
8. metacafe - Use if you’re pushing videos on You Tube
9. revision3 - Use (watch diggnation if you’re trying to stay on top of geek tech)
10. blip.tv - video platform for syndicating serial shows
11. fon - trying to leverage everyone’s wifi routers for common use
12. loopt - Watch - app lets friends keep track of where their friends are - has awesome location-sensitive targetting potential
13. mobio - Watch - speaking of location-sensitive targetting… mobile services like local movie listings.
14. tiny - Try - might be a moblogging event candid miracle.
15. soonr - Try - allows you to find and view stuff on your desktop through your phone.
16. turn - Consider - a new online advertising model.
17. adify - Consider - online ad marketplace with 4,000 publishers.
18. admob - Consider - ad distribution service for mobile phones. I hate the thought of ads on my phone.
19. spotrunner - need a cookie-cutter 30 second TV ad?
20. vitrue - allow your customers to upload videos about your products
21. successfactors - a six year-old company with $100 million in revenue is a startup?
22. janrain - helping you log in once, and access multiple sites with passwords
23. logoworks - The online logo buffet line
24. reardencommerce - also not a startup but worth a look for personal travel and agenda planning.
25. simulscribe - Try - converts voice mail to text emails.