为卓越而战

    杰里米•斯托普勒曼（和他的爱犬达尔文）是美国商铺点评网站Yelp的CEO，通过该网站，网民可对所有商铺——从美食到瑜珈课程——进行点评。

    在经历了数年的萧条之后，美国的首次公开募股（IPO）市场现在终于重现生机。人们的冒险精神再次复苏，再加上对社交媒体和其他互联网行业兴趣浓厚，所有这些都使得投资者愿意再次试水。

    根据金融研究机构复兴资本（Renaissance Capital）的调查，今年，美国市场的IPO已融资260亿美元，比2010年同期相比上涨约150%。今年已经上市的公司（如职业社交网站LinkedIn）以及即将上市的公司（和团购网站Groupon）中，许多公司都是名声在外。

    那么，其他的小型创新公司情况如何呢？《财富》杂志（Fortune）精选出了收入不足2亿美元、已经注册申报上市，或行业专家认为有可能在未来半年至一年内上市的13家公司。这些公司提供的产品或服务都领行业风气之先：如美国无线设备制造商Jawbone已创新性地生产出可供智能手机使用的蓝牙耳机；普瑞光电股份有限公司（BridgeLux）生产LED节能灯具。以下内容是对他们的详细介绍。

商铺点评网站Yelp

公司收入：不详

公司总部：旧金山

所属行业：在线点评

成立时间：2005年

员工人数：750人

    六年前Yelp成立之初，只有旧金山的时尚人士在网站发表有关酒吧和餐厅、代表个人观点的点评信息。如今，它在九个国家经营着63个城市网站，每月吸引5，300多万访客。针对教堂、水管工和宠物狗美容在内的所有商铺，众多Yelp点评者在线义务发表评论，他们骄傲地称自己为Yelpers。最近，Yelp发布了它的第2，000万条评论——对洛杉矶一家名为Joan's on Third饭店的评论。（点评人称它为“艾玛阿姨的超级厨房”。）Yelp获得了5，600万美元的天使投资和风险投资，现在尚未盈利。当然，Yelp也躲不过争议，比如，有人指责它为迎合广告商弹压负面点评。Yelp的创始人兼CEO杰里米•斯托普勒曼（右）否认了这些指控，他更愿意向前看：“我们将成为本行业内无法忽视的存在。其他任何公司都不可能像我们一样，提供如此具有深度的内容。”

    ——理查德•麦吉尔•墨菲

Yelp

Revenue: Not available

Headquarters: San Francisco

Industry: Online reviews

Founded: 2005

Employees: 750

    When it launched six years ago, Yelp was a site where San Francisco hipsters posted attitude-laden reviews of bars and restaurants. Today it operates 63 city sites in nine countries and attracts more than 53 million unique monthly visitors. Yelpers, as the company's myriad unpaid reviewers proudly call themselves, opine on everything from churches to plumbers to dog groomers. The network recently published its 20-millionth review, a write-up of an L.A. eatery called Joan's on Third. (The reviewer described it as "Auntie Em's kitchen on steroids.") Yelp has raised $56 million in angel and VC funding and is not currently profitable. It has attracted its share of controversy, including allegations that it has suppressed negative reviews to please its advertisers. Yelp founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman (right) dismisses the complaint, preferring to look ahead: "We'll be the 3,000-pound gorilla in this space. Nobody else generates our depth of content."

    --Richard McGill Murphy

普瑞光电股份有限公司

公司收入：4，000万美元

公司总部：加州利弗莫尔

所属行业：LED灯具

成立时间：2002年

员工人数：250人

    从亚洲到美洲，从新德里到丹佛，全世界每年所有电器的用电开支高达2，340亿美元，包括台灯和交通信号灯。LED（发光二机管）技术有望将这一数字减半。生产LED灯具的普瑞光电股份有限公司的CEO比尔•沃特金斯表示，2010年，LED灯具行业的收入达到8.8亿美元，并有望在今年达到30亿美元。他说：“这是一项革命性的技术，其全球产值将达到1，000亿美元。”LED灯具的工作原理是，当电流经过微芯片上的材料时，LED灯管将发出光亮（右）。而该公司面临的问题：LED灯具的售价高于其他灯具。相对于白炽灯25美分或30美分的低廉价格，一个60瓦的LED灯售价高达20美元。目前，普瑞光电股份有限公司尚未盈利，今年收入预计将增长一倍，达到8，000万美元。同时，它还面临着来自美国通用电气公司（GE）和飞利浦公司（Philips）等行业巨头的竞争。这家初创公司目前得到优点资本（Vantagepoint）及其他风投公司的支持，公司称，LED灯具的价格在迅速下降。同时，借助新技术发出的灯光与传统白炽灯一样柔和。通过调光，还可以创造不同的氛围——这对零售商店来说，无疑是一个福音。沃特金斯认为，即使一只LED灯泡售价高达20美元，它的成本也能在两到三年内收回。

    ——布莱恩•杜梅因

Bridgelux

Revenue: $40 million

Headquarters: Livermore, Calif.

Industry: LED lighting

Founded: 2002

Employees: 250

    From Delhi to Denver, we spend about $234 billion a year for electricity to power everything from our table lamps to street signals. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a high-efficiency lighting technology, promises to cut those costs by half. Bill Watkins, the CEO of Bridgelux, which makes LED lights, says his industry, which posted $880 million in revenue in 2010, is on track to hit $3 billion this year. Says he: "This is a disruptive technology that will turn into a $100 billion global market." LEDs emit light when electrons excite material layered onto a microchip (right). The challenge: The lights are expensive. A 60-watt LED costs $20 and up, compared with 25¢ or 30¢ for an incandescent. And Bridgelux, which is not yet profitable but expects its sales to double this year to $80 million, has to go up against big rivals like GE and Philips. The startup, backed by Vantagepoint and other VC firms, says prices are dropping fast, however, and its technology can produce light that's as warm as an incandescent's, is dimmable, and can be adjusted to create different moods -- a boon for retail stores. Watkins argues that even at $20 a bulb, LEDs can pay for themselves in two to three years.

    --Brian Dumaine

亮源能源公司

公司收入：不详

公司总部：奥克兰

所属行业：电力

成立时间：2006年

员工人数：350人

    人们通常指责太阳能的普及速度不够快，对解决美国面临的能源短缺问题作用有限。亮源能源公司（BrightSource）希望能够改变这种局面。该公司目前正斥资21亿美元，在莫尔韦沙漠建设一座392兆瓦的太阳能热电厂。艾文帕发电厂能为14万户家庭提供电力，将于2013年投入使用。太阳能光电板被广泛应用于大型公共项目中， 而该公司的新技术与此有所不同。亮源能源工厂使用35万块镜子，通过不断旋转，跟踪太阳的运动，将太阳的热能反射到450英尺的高塔上。太阳的热能将高塔上水罐中的水烧热，产生蒸汽，从而使发电涡轮机运转。顾问咨询机构IDC能源观察（Energy Insights）研究部经理杰伊•霍尔曼表示，该工厂产生的电力比燃煤或燃气发电站产生的电力价格要高。但是，该公司相信，它能在2015年提供具有竞争性价格优势的电力供应。

    ——布莱恩•杜梅因

BrightSource

Revenue: Not available

Headquarters: Oakland

Industry: Power generation

Founded: 2006

Employees: 350

    The rap on solar is that it can't scale up fast enough to make much difference in solving our nation's energy challenges. BrightSource aims to help change that with its $2.1 billion, 392-megawatt solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert that will generate enough electricity to power 140,000 homes; the Ivanpah facility will go online in 2013. The technology is different from photovoltaic panels, which are also used in big utility projects. The BrightSource plant employs 350,000 mirrors that rotate to track the movement of the sun and reflect its heat onto a 450-foot tower. The sun's heat boils a tank of water in the tower, which creates steam, which runs a turbine that generates electricity. Jay Holman, a research manager at consulting firm IDC Energy Insights, says the electricity this plant generates will be more expensive than that from coal- or gas-fired electric plants. The company believes it can get its prices competitive by mid-decade.

    --B.D.

旅游搜索引擎Kayak

公司收入：1，710万美元

公司总部：康乃狄格州诺瓦克市

所属行业：旅游网站

成立时间：2004年

员工人数：130人

    在线旅游搜索是一个竞争非常激烈的商业领域。Kayak.com对阵艾派迪公司（Expedia）和旅游城（Travelocity），打造出了一个热门品牌，通过提供精准的搜索结果，不断发展壮大。Kayak首席技术官和联合创始人保罗•英吉利（右）说：“很多公司从事和我们相同的业务。用户选择Kayak的原因很微妙——包括我们如何设计和组织页面，以及我们把哪些酒店排在搜索结果的首位。”考虑到在线旅游在电子商务业务中所占比例高达40%，它的潜在收益将是巨大的。2010年，Kayak的收入比2009年增长了51%。目前，它在苹果应用程序商店（Apple’s App Store）推出的免费旅游应用程序已成用户首选。利空消息：近期，谷歌公司（Google）收购了旅游软件公司IDA，正式进军在线旅游搜索行业。美国市场研究公司Opus Research的分析师格雷格•斯特林是行业专家，他说：“如果谷歌创办旅游网站，这必将给Kayak带来不良影响。”Kayak确实需要全力以赴才能保住对这个互联网巨头的领先优势，但是英吉利看起来似乎不以为意，他说：“创新总有生存空间。”

    ——理查德•麦吉尔•墨菲

Kayak

Revenue: $ 171 million

Headquarters: Norwalk, Conn.

Industry: Travel website

Founded: 2004

Employees: 130

    Online travel search is a viciously competitive business. Kayak.com, which goes up against Expedia and Travelocity, has thrived by creating a hip brand and offering accurate search results. "Lots of companies do what we do," says Kayak CTO and co-founder Paul English (right). "Users gravitate to Kayak for subtle reasons -- how we paint and organize the page, which hotels we show you first." The potential rewards are huge, considering that online travel represents 40% of all e-commerce. Kayak's sales last year grew by 51% over 2009, and it now provides the No. 1 free travel app in Apple's App Store. The bad news: Google recently entered the space by acquiring travel software company ITA. "If Google builds a great travel site, it will definitely impact Kayak," says Opus Research analyst Greg Sterling, an expert on the search industry. Kayak will indeed need to paddle hard to keep ahead of the Internet giant, but English seems unperturbed: "There's always room for innovation."

    --R.M.M.

安霸公司

公司收入：9，500万美元

公司总部：加州圣克拉拉市

所属行业：视频芯片

成立时间：2004年

员工人数：400人

    如果你曾在视频网站YouTube上观看高难度滑雪或越野赛视频，其中的有些视频可能是由装有安霸（Ambarella）芯片的微型便携式摄像机拍摄的。安霸公司向那些希望获得高清图像的摄像机生产商（如GoPro），和监控系统生产商（如博世（Bosch）供应视频图片处理芯片（右）。安霸公司的低耗电技术使便携式摄像机的电池寿命更长。此外，安霸公司还生产向高清电视提供清晰图像的芯片。目前，该公司已经实现了盈利，并获得了标杆资本（Benchmark Capital）及其他公司的3，900万美元风险投资。互联网传播视频的重要性在日益增加，无疑使这家公司的发展前景更为看好。现在，它面临着来自卓然（Zoran）、富士通（Fujitsu）和其他竞争对手的激烈竞争，但是总部位于马萨诸塞州弗雷明汉的市场情报机构IDC的研究部经理克里斯•舒特表示，“这个行业有足够的空间容纳多家公司共同发展。”

    ——伊莱恩•珀弗尔德

Ambarella

Revenue: $95 million

Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.

Industry: Videochips

Founded: 2004

Employees: 400

    If you've ever watched videos of extreme skiing or motocross on YouTube, chances are that some were filmed on tiny wearable cameras containing chips made by Ambarella. The company supplies its video-image-processing chips (right) to camera makers seeking high-definition images -- like GoPro and surveillance-system maker Bosch. Its low-power technology lets pocket video recorders maintain a long battery life. Ambarella also makes chips that help provide sharp images on HDTVs. The profitable company has raised $39 million in venture capital from Benchmark Capital and others. The growing importance of transmitting video over the Internet should improve its prospects. Ambarella does face intense competition from Zoran, Fujitsu, and other players in the arena, but, says Chris Chute, research manager at market intelligence firm IDC in Framingham, Mass., "there's room for several companies in a space like this."

    --Elaine Pofeldt

Teavana

Revenue: $35 million

Headquarters: Atlanta

Industry: Specialty tea stores

Founded: 1997

Employees: 448

    The idea is so obvious it's surprising someone hasn't pulled it off before now -- a Starbucks for tea. After all, tea is praised for its health benefits, is more eco-friendly than coffee, and is one of the most economical beverages around. No one knows that better than Teavana, a chain of tea stores that sells 110 varieties of premium loose-leaf teas and tea-related merchandise. CEO Andrew Mack opened his first store in 1997, pledging to create "the only place in America where you can get a decent cup of tea." Now the company has 161 locations in 35 states -- and plans to expand to 500 by 2015, including 19 franchised stores in Mexico. Since 2006, Teavana, which is profitable, has watched its sales grow 73% to $125 million. In April the tea retailer registered for an IPO and is expected to go public in July. It's easy to see why. The specialty-tea industry could grow as much as 8% a year. One challenge ahead is that Teavana plans to sell franchises internationally, and it's hard to do that without sacrificing the company's high standards and brand image. Even so, specialty tea is a $1.3 billion global market ready for disruption, which is just the way CEO Mack likes it.

    Update: Teavana had its IPO last week, and shares soared more than 60% on their first day of trading.

    --Betsy Feldman

美国无线设备制造商Jawbone

公司收入：不详

公司总部：旧金山

所属行业：移动耳机

成立时间：1999年

员工人数：200人

    在战场上，战士们面临的一个难题是，在嘈杂的噪音中接听电话。因此，当斯坦福大学（Stanford）的两名毕业生亚历山大•阿塞利和候赛恩•拉赫曼带着降噪技术进入国防部（the Defense Department）时，国防部如获至宝。当然，这已是十年前的事了。今年，他们的Jawbone公司利用这一技术生产出的耳机（右），使电话使用者无需手扶，便可轻松接打电话，而且，这一技术还能降低街道和周围背景中嘈杂的噪音。耳机中的传感器感受脸颊的振动度，微型麦克风清理和消除背景中的噪音。目前，这家私营公司仍由当初的两名斯坦福大学毕业生经营。（该公司不对外公开财务数据。）今年7月，该公司获得了摩根大通资产管理公司（J.P. Morgan Asset Management）7，000万美元的注资。此前，它曾获得了风投公司霍洛维茨基金（Andreessen Horowitz）和红杉资本（Sequoia）的数轮投资。投资方希望Jawbone利用这些资金，生产更加智能的耳机。目前，这家公司生产最新产品可以通过耳机和声音，把智能手机连接到Twitter上。当然，Jawbone也面临着来自缤特力（Plantronic）等小公司和三星（Samsung）等大公司的激烈竞争。它面临的最大挑战在于：技术升级的速度要快于其他竞争对手。

    ——贝琪•费尔德曼

Jawbone

Revenue: Not available

Headquarters: San Francisco

Industry: Mobile headseats

Founded: 1999

Employees: 200

    One problem soldiers face is hearing their phones over the din of battle. When two Stanford grads, Alexander Asseily and Hosain Rahman, approached the Defense Department with their noise-canceling technology, the military jumped on it. That was about a decade ago. Today their company, Jawbone, has morphed that tech into headsets (right) that let phone users talk hands-free while cutting down on street buzz and other annoying background noise. A sensor in the Jawbone unit picks up vibrations in the cheeks, while tiny microphones sort out background noise and cancel it. The duo still run the private company. (It won't reveal financials.) In July the firm received a $70 million equity infusion from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, on top of earlier rounds from VC firms Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia. The money guys like that Jawbone headsets are getting smarter. The latest model lets you connect to Twitter on your smartphone, using your voice. Jawbone does face stiff competition from small players like Plantronics and giants like Samsung. Its big challenge is to keep the improvements coming faster than the other guy.

    --B.F.

美国高功率半导体激光器制造商——恩耐公司

公司收入：不详

公司总部：华盛顿州温哥华市

所属行业：激光技术

成立时间：2000年

员工人数：450

    灵活和坚韧不拔是创业家最重要的特质，而斯科特•金尼两者兼备。他曾在麦肯锡（McKinsey）担任顾问。2000年，他募集了大量风险投资，成立了恩耐公司（nLight），生产用于改善光纤电信网络的激光器。一年之后，全球电信市场崩溃。金尼辞退了员工，开发出了半导体激光二极管（右）的新用途。目前，半导体激光二极管主要用于激光脱毛的应用程序和战斗机，用于干扰红外线跟踪式导弹。虽然恩耐公司没有披露收入情况，但是，金尼称，他的公司目前处于盈利状态。而且，他还预计，销售收入今年将上涨50%。市场研究机构Strategies Unlimited的分析师汤姆•豪斯金称，全球激光技术每年的产值约为9亿美元，尽管市场趋于饱和，但还在以超过15%的速度增长。他认为，恩耐公司可以通过销售更综合的激光器系统和组件来不断发展壮大。

    ——理查德•麦吉尔•墨菲

nLight

Revenue: Not available

Headquarters: Vancouver, Wash.

Industry: Laser technology

Founded: 2000

Employees: 450

    Flexibility and tenacity are key entrepreneurial traits, and Scott Keeney has both in spades. In 2000 the former McKinsey consultant raised a boatload of venture capital to launch nLight, which made lasers designed to improve the performance of fiber-optic telecom networks. A year later the global telecom market collapsed. Keeney laid off employees and developed new uses for his semiconductor laser diodes (right), which today are employed in applications like laser hair removal and on fighter jets to confuse heat-seeking missiles. Though nLight doesn't disclose revenue, Keeney says his firm is profitable, and he expects sales to rise 50% this year. It competes in a crowded, roughly $900 million annual market, but one that's growing at more than 15%, according to analyst Tom Hausken of Strategies Unlimited, a market research firm. Hausken thinks nLight can expand by selling more complete laser systems as well as components.

    --R.M.M.

Metabolon公司

公司收入：2，000亿美元

公司总部：北卡三角科技园

所属行业：医疗卫生

成立时间：2000年

员工人数：100人

    对某个癌症患者有效的药物对其他患者可能并不奏效，这一点很奇怪。但是通常情况下，医生无法预测哪些病人可能受益。Metabolon公司希望能够改变这一现状。这是一个新兴的行业，被称为个性化医药行业。专门针对每个病人的身体情况对症下药。它可以检测出血样中和尿液的小分子，从而判断病人对药物或疾病的实时反应。Metabolon公司成立于2000年，拥有一个阵容强大的科学家咨询委员会，包括基金染色体科学家J•克雷格•文特尔和大约300家企业客户——其中，默克公司（Merck）和诺尔公司（Novartis）在临床试验中就采用了Metabolon的实验。该公司面临的难题是：说服医生使用其工具。CEO约翰•瑞尔斯（上）承认：“我们的产品在诊断中的使用率通常无法确定。”去年，Metabolon公司的销售增长了43%，目前尚未赢利，不过，这应该不会影响它的发展速度。

    ——伊莱恩•珀弗尔德

Metabolon

Revenue: $20 million

Headquarters: Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Industry: Health care

Founded: 2000

Employees: 100

    Oddly, a drug that helps one cancer victim may not work on another -- but doctors don't always have the tools to predict which patients will benefit. Metabolon aims to change that. The company works in an emerging field called personalized medicine where treatments are designed to fit an individual's physical makeup. It can test the small molecules in samples of blood and urine to see how an individual responds to a drug or disease in real time. Founded in 2000, Metabolon has a high-powered scientific advisory board, which includes genome scientist J. Craig Venter and about 300 clients -- among them Merck and Novartis, which use its tests in clinical trials. One challenge Metabolon faces is that it could be hard to persuade doctors to use its tools. "In diagnostics, the adoption rates are always uncertain," admits CEO John Ryals (above). That, however, doesn't seem to be slowing this yet-to-be-profitable company, whose sales grew 43% last year.

    --E.P.

在线招聘TheLadders公司

公司收入：不详

公司总部：纽约市

所属行业：在线招聘发布

成立时间：2003年

员工人数：400人

    如果你认为在目前的经济形势下，招聘市场缺乏初级职位，那么试试找一份年薪高达6位数的工作。TheLadders服务于工资为10万美元以上的就业市场。该公司的创始人马克•塞南德尔（右）说：“我的许多同学在求职时都神色紧张，我想帮他们消除这种压力。”该公司未披露其收入情况，已获得760万美元融资，现有500万注册求职者。但是，它面临着来自Linkedln的激烈竞争，后者已经成为求职者在线寻找高端职位时的首选，因此并非所有的猎头公司对TheLeadders感兴趣。Artemis咨询公司招聘主管希瑟•弗兹帕特里克说：“我认为，TheLadders的相关性没有那么强，现在有其他的在线工具可以帮助确定合适的求职者。” 塞南德尔予以反击，称去年在线注册的招聘公司的数量增加了两倍，达到1万家。

    ——理查德•麦吉尔•墨菲

TheLadders

Revenue: Not available

Headquarters: New York City

Industry: Online job posting

Founded: 2003

Employees: 400

    If you think entry-level jobs are scarce in this economy, try scoring one with a six-figure pay package. "I see the strain on the faces of my classmates who are looking for jobs," says Marc Cenedella (right), founder of TheLadders, a job networking site that caters to the $100,000-plus job market. "I want to get rid of that strain." The company, which doesn't disclose revenues, has raised a total of $7.6 million in investment capital and says it now has 5 million registered job seekers. However, it faces stiff competition from LinkedIn, now the go-to site for high-end job seekers, and not all headhunters are enthralled by the service. "I don't think TheLadders is that relevant," says Heather Fitzpatrick, an executive recruiter at Artemis Consulting. "There are lots of other online tools that help identify the right candidates." Cenedella counters by pointing out that the number of recruiters registered on the site has tripled in the past year to 10,000.

    --R.M.M.

oDesk公司

公司收入：2000万美元（估值）

公司总部：加州门洛帕克

所属行业：在线临时雇员

成立时间：2003年

员工人数：60人

    最近，美国的大型公司计划招聘200位自由撰稿人时往往会求助于提供在线招聘服务的oDesk公司。oDesk公司将招聘广告刊登在网站上。一经聘用，撰稿人可登陆oDesk平台开始工作。oDesk公司记录他们的工作时长，对他们的初稿进行截屏，从而使招聘经理确信，他们获得了物有所值的稿件。最后，oDesk公司还代理所有的付款和报税，可获得每笔薪水10%作为佣金。从全球来看，oDesk公司的发展迅速。该公司表示，它现有150万独立签约员工和25万家用人公司，其中大部分都是小公司。职位涉及软件开发、翻译、电话营销、统计分析等各行各业。该公司目前面临的挑战是：寻找足够数量的熟练员工，并使他们乐于通过在线工作，获得合理薪水的。但是，CEO盖理•斯瓦特（上）对此并不担忧，他说：“我觉得我们目前已经达到了上市公司的规模。”

    ——理查德•麦吉尔•墨菲

oDesk

Revenue: $20 million (est.)

Headquarters: Menlo Park, Calif.

Industry: Online temps

Founded: 2003

Employees: 60

    Recently, when a big U.S. corporation set out to hire 200 freelance copywriters, it turned to oDesk, which facilitates online staffing. oDesk posted the job ads on its site. Once hired, the writers log into an oDesk platform to do their work. oDesk tracks their hours and records screen shots of their drafts so that managers can be sure they are getting the work that they pay for. Finally, oDesk handles all payments and tax reporting in exchange for a 10% commission on every paycheck. Globally, the fast-growing company says it has 1.5 million independent contractors in its network and some 250,000 employers, mostly small companies. Job descriptions range from software development to translation, telemarketing, and statistical analysis. The challenge ahead is finding enough skilled workers willing to work online for modest wages. That doesn't worry CEO Gary Swart (above): "We think this is big enough to be a publicly traded company."

    --R.M.M.

OPX生物技术公司

公司收入：不详

公司总部：科罗拉多州博尔德

所属行业：可再生化学品

成立时间：2007年

员工人数：47人

    大部分人把大肠杆菌当作是致病细菌，但是OPX公司的视角却与众不同。总部位于博尔德的这家生物技术公司把经过基因方法改造的大肠杆菌与玉米和甘蔗进行混合，生产一系列的农作物化工产品，替代成本高昂的石油化工产品。该公司的首个产品是生物丙烯酸——石油丙烯酸的替代品——广泛应用于油漆、粘合剂和尿片生产。最近，OPX公司获得了3，650万美元的风险投资，并宣布与陶氏化学公司（Dow Chemical）建立了合作伙伴关系。它计划在2014年建成首个规模化工厂。CEO查斯•艾格特称，丙烯酸的全球产值为80亿美元，年增长率为3%至4%。他说：“我们的目标是成为世界可再生化工产品行业的领袖，并涉足多个领域。”即便如此，在这个热门领域，该公司面临着来自生物基化学公司Genomatica和BioAmber公司的激烈竞争。

    ——理查德•麦吉尔•墨菲

OPX Biotechnology

Revenue: Not available

Headquarters: Boulder, Colo.

Industry: Renewable chemicals

Founded: 2007

Employees: 47

    Most people think of e-coli as a yucky bacteria that can make you sick, but that's not how OPX sees it. The Boulder-based biotech blends genetically engineered e-coli with corn or sugarcane to produce a range of plant-based chemicals that replace more expensive petroleum-based compounds. The company's first commercial product is bioacrylic, a sub for petroleum-based acrylic acid, a common ingredient in paints, adhesives, and diapers. OPX recently raised $36.5 million in venture capital and recently announced a partnership with Dow Chemical. It plans to open its first industrial-scale plant in 2014. According to CEO Chas Eggert, the global market for acrylic acid is about $8 billion, growing at an annual rate of 3% to 4%. "We want to be the world leader in renewable chemicals, with a broad portfolio," he says. Even so, the company operates in a crowded field with tough competition from Genomatica and BioAmber.

    --R.M.M.

铃盛公司

公司收入：不详

公司总部：加州圣马特奥市

所属行业：电信业

成立时间：2003年

员工人数：300

    2003年，当弗拉德•史姆尼斯成立互联网电话系统铃盛公司（RingCentra）时，人们提到“云”这个字眼儿时，更多想到的是“雨”，而不是计算机运算。史姆尼斯相信，借鉴财务软件行业Netsuite公司和客户关系管理（CRM）行业Salesforce.com网站的做法，通过实现互联网电话服务的流媒体化，他有能力战胜传统的电话系统供应商。他回忆道：“我觉得，正确的解决方案是把电话系统纳入云中。抛弃电话间或软件许可证之类的东西，把它当作服务来提供就可以了。”现在，基于云计算的电话服务领域市场相当拥挤，铃盛公司的竞争对手不仅包括小公司8X8，还包括行业巨头威瑞森（Verizon）、阿尔卡特（Alcatel）和朗讯公司（Lucent）等。但是，史姆尼斯凭借精准定位已经在电讯细分市场占据一席之地：提供流化服务一揽子解决方案，重点锁定员工人数不足200的企业客户。目前，公司号称拥有20万个企业客户，并已与美国电话电报公司（AT&T）签约，转售后者的服务。市场研究机构Infonetics公司的电信分析师黛安•迈尔斯说：“铃盛公司很清楚自己的潜在客户是谁，并且在保持简单运作方面做的很好。”

    ——理查德•麦吉尔•墨菲

    （翻译 乔树静）

RingCentral

Revenue: Not available

Headquarters: San Mateo, Calif.

Industry: Telecommunications

Founded: 2003

Employees: 300

    When Vlad Shmunis launched Internet telephony startup RingCentral back in 2003, the word "cloud" was more commonly associated with rain than with computing. Taking a page from NetSuite in the accounting software space and Salesforce.com in CRM, Shmunis bet that he could beat traditional telecom providers by streaming phone service over the Internet. "I felt the right solution was to take telephony into the cloud," Shmunis recalls. "Forget the box, forget the software license, just deliver it as a service." Today RingCentral competes in a fairly crowded market for cloud-based telephony, including smaller players like 8X8 as well as Goliaths like Verizon, Alcatel and Lucent. But Shmunis has carved out a distinct niche in the telecom market, offering streamlined service packages aimed mostly at business customers with fewer than 200 employees. Today the company boasts about 200,000 business customers and has signed up AT&T to resell its services. "RingCentral knows who its market is and has done a good job of keeping it simple," says Diane Myers, a telecom analyst at market research firm Infonetics.

    --R.M.M.