Archive for the ‘Industry News’ Category

On the road again…

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

The fall conference season is officially here and we’re going to be all over the place in the next several weeks… If you’re going to any of the conferences listed below and want to meet up, just let us know – info (at) vindicia.com is the best way. Our networking and learning tour begins starts in New York and Santa Clara, swings through Austin and ends up back here in SF & LA.

We’re always happy to talk about payments, billing and the impact on each industry – see you all there!

Up & to the Right

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

On Tuesday, Inc. Magazine revealed their 4th annual list of the 5000 fastest growing private companies based on three-year sales growth. Vindicia was recognized as #1068 with a growth rate of 282% over the last three years. We are very honored to have been selected and our growth is a testament to not only the strength of our team and products, but the growing need for consumer billing around digital goods and services. We can’t wait to share the growth rate next year!

Our profile on the list can be found here and many of our neighbors and customers can be found on the San Francisco or San Jose lists.

There was some interesting data in the official press release about the overall makeup, geography & revenues of the list as well.

The Hottest Regions for Fast-Growing Companies

California continues to rule the roost by number of companies on the Inc. 500, with 92, up from 84 last year and 78 in 2008. The Golden State is followed by Texas (52), Virginia (46), New York (36), and Florida (29). These five states place in the same order as last year, and each of them has more companies on the 500 than last year. They now account for more than half of the companies on the list.

The New York City and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas both gain companies this year, and New York has catches up with Washington, with each of them boasting 48 Inc. 500 companies. (Washington had 42 last year; New York had 36.) San Francisco moves up from fifth to third place, with 29 companies (up nine from last year) Los Angeles drops from third to fourth place, with 27 companies (down nine from last year); and Dallas joins the top five, with 23 companies. Chicago drops out of the top five.

The Inc. 500 at a Glance

Computer Hardware is by far the fastest-growing industry on this year’s Inc. 500, with a total growth rate of 7,194 percent. (That’s thanks to the fact that the category contains just two very fast-growing companies.) Logistics & Transportation is second, with a rate of 2,783 percent, and Security is third, with a rate of 2,299 percent.

In total, the companies on the Inc. 500 employ more than 45,000 people. Government Services is the top employer, with 7,011 jobs, followed by Business Products & Services  (5,289), Consumer Products & Services (4,804), IT Services (4,355), and Advertising & Marketing (3,533).

Advertising & Marketing has the most companies on this year’s Inc. 500 list, with 60, followed by Government Services (59), Business Products & Services (45), IT Services (41), and Software (36).

The top woman-run company is Lexicon Consulting (No. 4 overall), based in El Cajon, California. Lexicon creates mock Iraqi and Afghan villages used to train military personnel. The firm, founded by Jamie Arundell-Latshaw in 2005, recorded revenue of $17.9 million in 2009 and a three-year growth rate of 14,018 percent. The top minority-run company is WDFA Marketing (No. 5 overall), a San Francisco–based firm that specializes in guerrilla, grass-roots, and micro-marketing. WDFA, founded by Raj Prasad, posted revenue of $38.4 million in 2009 and a three-year growth rate of 13,350 percent.

The Inc. 500 posted aggregate revenue of $11.3 billion, down 39 percent from last year. Median three-year growth is 1,231 percent, up almost 40 percent over last year. The top five industries by total revenue are Consumer Products & Services ($1.9 billion), Government Services ($1.4 billion), Advertising & Marketing ($1 billion), Business Products & Services ($872 million), and Energy ($661 million).

Direct Payments Are Just The Beginning

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

The social developer summit, hosted by the Inside Facebook network, is in full swing in San Francisco today. The constant events and news around social applications underline the importance and future of the industry. Social applications are leading the charge and are driving the evolution of online technology and digital commerce. However, they are still new and correspondingly, the ways in which they monetizeare all over the map. Matters are further complicated by the impending restrictions on the social platforms – the most prominent example being Facebook Credits. This makes it tough for developers to optimize or simplify their business models as they’re constantly scrambling to stay in sync with Facebook.

For a developer to bring an app to market and successfully monetize, several things must occur.

  1. Find a market
  2. Deliver value
  3. Charge for value provided
  4. Analyze & iterate product to meet demands
  5. Reinforce customer relationships

Facebook credits simplify the ability to charge users as they offload all of the operational logistics of processing payments and storing customer’s payment information. However, they are more expensive than they first appear. In addition to the hidden costs, they also hamper the ability to control the customer relationship, analyze customer trends and choose the right business models.

The trend that we are seeing in response to Facebook’s moves is for developers to hedge their bets by developing external sites and their own relationship with users. Also, several networks are aiming to be the alternative platform and focusing on segments like social gaming. This trend should only accelerate as the industry matures and the platforms move to take even more control. In the meantime, feel free to ping us with monetization ideas – we’d be happy to give our outlook and suggest best practices. In fact, if you’re heading up to Seattle in a few weeks for Casual Connect, we’d be happy to sit down and talk through any payment or billing issues.

E3 2010 Summary

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Ah, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, colloquially known as E3. This is the event of the year for almost all stripes of gaming. Where else is an industry-insider-only event covered by the likes of G4tv, The Wall Street Journal and The Christian Science Monitor?

This was my second year of attending the show, and it was as intense as ever. Booth babes and costumes were in full effect, celebrities were wandering the floor and you can’t help but feel like a kid in a candy store. (I’ve included a few images below the fold in an attempt to show a snapshot of what E3 is like.)

That feeling was well justified by the sheer scope of presentation & announcements. The quick glimpse of what’s coming in the next few years is quite impressive. This list from MediaKick gives you a nice summary and trailer links to help you experience (or re-live) the pandemonium.

The big takeaways for me this year were:

  1. It’s good to be in a growing industry & online gaming is growing even faster than other segments
  2. Innovation and technology are continuing to “change the game” and are right around the corner, especially motion control and 3D.

The industry is definitely doing well, judging by the dollars spent on elaborate booths and crazy parties. Microsoft had Cirque-du-Soleil perform for the their press announcements, Activision had a concert with artists like Usher, Rihanna, Eminem & Jane’s Addiction. Also, in addition to the growing presence of online gaming publishers on the show floor, analysts have noticed that they have been underestimating the industry’s size, and that it now accounts for 25% of the overall industry revenues. This trend was reinforced with more talk around gaming-as-a-service. Onlive, one of the leaders in this space, came out of beta and officially launched as E3 wrapped up, while Sony shared an interesting announcement that Portal 2 and Steam from Valve would be available on the Playstation Network.

Consoles are nowhere near dead though, with the addition of Microsoft Kinect and Sony Move, everyone has an interesting story around motion control interfaces. Nintendo is not resting on their laurels, but launching a new wave of games on the Wii to expand beyond the causal player market. Additionally, there was a big emphasis on 3D visualization, with Sony promising to have 20 3D titles in 2011 and Nintendo introducing the handheld 3Ds with glasses-free 3D technology.

E3 always amazes and reinvigorates with the potential of what’s to come, this year was no different and it is most definitely a great time to be in the gaming industry, especially online.

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