Journalists are usually pretty secretive about the stories they’re planning to write. The fear is that if we give away what we’re working on, some other outlet will jump on the story and beat us to it.
To be honest, that prospect doesn’t bother me, because the truth is that very few others will make the effort to write an Xconomy-type story. We’re obsessed with high-tech entrepreneurship, and with singling out the ingredients that make innovators successful. So we tend to ask questions and put in time that others don’t.
For that reason, I don’t see any harm in giving Xconomy readers a preview of coming attractions. In fact, there may even be a few side benefits to this sort of transparency. For one thing, readers who have special insight into the companies I’m writing about or their competitors may want to reach out to offer added context before I sit down to write. I’m always open to such conversations, as it can be a great way to flesh out our coverage. You can write to me at [email protected], DM me on Twitter at @wroush, or call me at 415-796-3024.
So, without further ado, here’s a look inside my pipeline. These are stories that are in my notebooks, waiting to be written, and that I’ll be publishing over the coming weeks as time—and the inevitable interruptions from breaking news—allow. They’re in alphabetical order, not the order in which they’ll be published. A caveat: I’ve got quite a few other stories up my sleeve—after all, I didn’t want to give away everything the first time out. And, obviously, I reserve the right to publish stories about companies that aren’t on this list, and to spike stories about the companies that are.
Adioso—A flight search interface that helps travelers string together connections and low-cost fares that don’t turn up on other flight search engines.
Blinkx—A video portal with unique technology for understanding and searching both professional and user-generated video content.
GinzaMetrics—Another Y Combinator company, out to disrupt the business of search engine optimization.
Nominum—The company that employs the inventor of the Domain Name System, which translates human-readable URLs into numerical IP addresses.
oDesk—Software that automates the process of managing and paying remote workers such as contract software engineers.
OhLife—A Y Combinator-funded startup with a radically simple online, private diary tool.
Ruckus Wireless—A maker of specialized Wi-Fi access points that could eventually help cellular operators offload much of their 3G traffic to Wi-Fi.
Tibion—A medical device company with a “bionic knee” that vastly speeds up the rehabilitation process for stroke victims.
Vindicia—Helping online businesses manage subscription-based payments and reduce customer churn.
Zoho—Cloud-based office productivity and busines applications that give companies a low-cost way to get rid of all their old desktop software.
