Week 7 returns to the technology that pundits have called “over-hyped,” “nothing new,” “an old technology in a new wrapper,” and so forth. Critics may dismiss cloud computing as little more than a new spin on an old tech, and recent outages such as the Google Docs blackout just last week don’t help, but we at Startup50 disagree.
Vehemently.
Cloud computing has already fundamentally changed how organizations handle everything from content creation to storage to mobility. In fact, one of our cloud startups helps distributed companies communicate with branch offices as if they were on the same LAN.
The 5 cloud startups featured this week include everything from cloud-based SD-WAN to cloud-based enterprise search to “self-driving clouds” to cloud storage. First up is a startup that automates how businesses manage cloud servers, allowing users to “park” non-production ones until needed.
How these startups made it into the Big50-2017
To recap, the Big50-2017 competition started with more than 160 startups.
Through three rounds of challenges, the Startup50 team whittled that down to the 55 startups we are featuring in the Big50-2017. (Yes, there are 55 startups in the Big50. Yes, we’re as bad as college football conferences. Noted.)
The first obstacle Big50 startups had to pass was the fundamentals test. Have they raised sufficient funding, attracted a solid team, developed a viable business idea that tackles a real-world problem? Do they have on-the-record customers, are they targeting a viable market niche, and have they launched an MVP that’s moved the needle?
Next, if the fundamentals were in order, startups had to fight their way through the Online Voting and Social Media challenge.
Those still standing, then had to face the Content Challenge. Startups pitched the Startup50 team their best story ideas for a forthcoming podcast.
The 55 startups featured in the Big50-2017 startups excelled in each of those three challenges.
Come back in fifteen minutes or so, and you’ll see the first of our cloud computing startups, one that uses automation to help businesses save money on their public cloud investments. Stay tuned. . .
