Boom or Bust? 11 Big Bets on the Future of Boston Tech

Wayfair (fka CSN Stores)
HQ: Boston, MA
Founded: 2002
CEO: Niraj Shah
Amount raised: $165M
Investors: Battery Ventures, Spark Capital, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners.
What it represents: The future of retail, not just e-retail.
Why it wins: Already a bootstrapped success; no other big players are doing “Ikea online” (or “Amazon for the home”).
Why it loses: Who needs another Amazon-like site? What’s the exit for investors, an IPO or big acquisition? Either way, things will change.
Photo courtesy of Wayfair

 

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Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.