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发帖数: 8232 | 1 http://www.7x7.com/WorldDomination#/0
Obvious bias aside, the San Francisco Bay Area is one bad ass region. We
embody ingenuity and create products that people around the world love and
enjoy on a daily basis. You're all very welcome.
Though nothing more than a pen-sized dot on your average globe, a lot goes
down here. Brilliant engineering minds, vibrant recruiting teams, and young
CEOs are becoming a staple in the city—seriously, when else in history has
running a multi-million (sometimes billion) dollar company before turning
the big 3-0 been this common?
We've partnered with fellow local brand Hangar 1 Vodka, quickly establishing
itself as an industry leader, to recognize other Bay Area startups making
California proud. Google, Twitter, and Facebook need no introduction. Cheers
to small companies doing big things that you may or may not have known are
locally grown.
1 | AdRoll: Ever been online shopping for a new pair of boots and the next
thing you know that same pair of boots is in every advertisement no matter
what website you're on? Some call it fate, but those who know better call it
AdRoll. At the ripe old age of seven, AdRoll boasts the most widely used ad
-retargeting platform in the world, calling household names like Google and
Facebook partners. With a 97% retention rate, this team of young people
connects brands with their "most likely to succeed" customers.
2 | Afterlight: If you're an avid Instagramer (#WhoIsntTheseDays), you've
noticed more and more photos with thick white borders, light beams, and
filters that go above and beyond the average X-Pro II and Hefe. This
Sacramento-based company of two (yes two) people is taking over the photo
editing market, establishing a new style that competitors are mimicking all
around the world. Simplifying professional-level photo editing tools for the
average person to turn iPhone pics into decent looking works of art--making
ordinary people, places, and things look extraordinary.
3 | AGOGO: Who are the all stars of the 2014 NBA season? Is the Ukraine on
the brink of civil war? Do animals like music? Pretty much anything you ever
wanted (and didn't want) to know about is now in one place, ready for your
ears. AGOGO brings together top news, music, and entertainment platforms to
produce one go-to place for people to hear their favorite things, all the
time. Listen to what both Fox News and NBC have to say about the same
subject matter in one click. Catch multiple ESPN interviews on a single
player in one channel. Time to listen up.
4 | Airbnb: For the longest time, there was no reasonable middle ground
between an expensive hotel and a dirt-cheap hostel when it came to world
traveling, unless of course you knew someone who knew someone with a spare
room wherever it was you were going. Now people can input their destination,
budget, travel dates, and number of guests in exchange for a plethora of
detailed, photographed listings of available housing options. On the flip
side, people all over the world are uploading their homes, lofts, and yes,
even castles, for their fellow humans to choose from and enjoy. With 600,000
+ worldwide listings, Airbnb continues to change the way the human
population explores the world.
5 | CreativeLive: Technology is continuously allowing people to learn about
the world and connect with one another, more so now than ever before. In a
time where education is an expectation and tech degrees become outdated in a
matter of years, CreativeLive presents a plausible solution. Introducing
industry experts in a classroom setting to people in the comfort of their
homes is quickly becoming a new reality. Now you can learn the latest
version of Photoshop, get professional tips on launching an online business,
and even find out how to market yourself on YouTube, all without putting on
pants. (Please consider pants before your YouTube debut.) Isn't technology
great?
6 | Evernote: For the sake of explanation, take a moment to imagine the last
project you worked on, whether it be personal or professional, and
everything that went into it's conception. Maybe you jotted a phone number
down on the back of a receipt, communicated through a long stream of emails,
snapped iPhone photos of inspiration during your morning jog, and
bookmarked related websites to use as references. Now imagine streamlining
all of that into one place that you can reach on any device at any time. Yes
, it's possible thanks to another boss-ass Bay Area business. Evernote, that
"personal assistant that you never could justify the cost of because you
should be able to organize your own life, but it's just so hard to keep it
all together" app. Take a deep breath and download.
7 | Fitbit: A tight group of NorCal folks have developed a series of
products that show the average person how their daily routine translates
into health and fitness standards, from a wearable wristband to a bathroom
scale. Whether you're sound asleep in your city loft or huffing and puffing
up a flight of stairs, Fitbit tells you how good/bad everything you do is
compared to previous tracked days and industry benchmarks--a constant
reminder that you're either a monumental success or the world's laziest sack
. Sync your Fitbit device to your mobile device for a visual translation
into charts and graphs, all at the touch of a button.
8 | Flipboard: There is something to be said for flipping through a magazine
--that simple satisfaction that you get from turning a page as oppose to
scrolling through cyberspace (at least the 7x7 mag team thinks so). But what
about the ease of clickable links, creating that beloved breadcrumb trail
of related info? Flipboard has seemingly addressed all of the above with
their digital, flippable magazine platform. Mags are no longer limited to
text and photos, but are rather entering an age of multisensory experiences,
incorporating videos, music, and social media into their once one-
dimensional paper pages.
9 | GoPro: Extreme sport meets extreme photography. Thanks to this Bay Area
company, people are documenting their journeys in ways we've never seen
before. Together the world has taken jumps out of planes, dived deep below
the ocean's surface, flipped upside down on snowboards, and climbed the
highest mountains, all through the lenses of tiny cameras stuck to athletes'
equipment. GoPro is a simple invention that allows those of us who have a
harder time channeling our inner daredevil to live vicariously through the
adrenaline-inclined.
10 | Homejoy: You have to admit that a clean home makes you feel a little
better about the other aspects of your life, even if ever so slightly. From
folded laundry to dusted baseboards, these maids do just about anything and
everything you could possibly need, just short of tucking you into your
neatly made bed at night. If for whatever reason, your house isn't sparkling
as brightly as you had imagined, they come back and do it again for free.
Employees go through extensive background checks prior to stepping through
your door, if that eases your mind at all. From SF to Boca Raton, Homejoy is
cleaning this country up.
11 | IFTTT: If This Then That, pronounced "gift" without the "g." If you
like a song on Soundcloud, then it downloads to Dropbox. If it's supposed to
rain in the next hour, then you get a text alert. If your stock drops by 5%
or more, then you get an email. Using the trigger/action recipe, you can
make your apps work even harder for you. It's like all your favorite apps
are best friends and working together to make your life easier. What a happy
thought.
12 | Indiegogo: From spy cams to heart transplants, the amount of things
that require funding in this world is endless. Indiegogo provides deserving
causes with an opportunity to get the world invested in something bigger
than themselves. Even James Franco turned to this Bay Area brand for film
funding.
13 | Jawbone: Once known for its wearable fitness-tracking device, Jawbone
has since released portable speakers controlled by users' iPhones. The Mini
Jambox brings pocket-sized sound to a world full of clucky hardware. It's
not often that one company takes over two entirely separate industries. But
what can we say? They're from the Bay.
14 | Kitchit: It's not every day that you host a dinner party in your home,
or maybe it is. Think The Real Housewives of San Francisco. Whether you're
planning a romantic date night or impressing a group of frenemies, Kitchit
brings top culinary talent into your home for the ultimate personal chef
dining experience. Choose from pre-planned menus and customize as needed to
ensure everything is perfect for your guests, whoever they might be. The
chef grabs the groceries, cooks, and even cleans up! A-freaking-men. This
local startup of less than 20 people is making a huge impact on this niche
in the market, changing the way we do dinner. Now if only there were a hot
waiter app...
15 | Leap Motion: Making the average person feel like the wizard they always
wished to be. Imagine sitting in front of your computer, twirling your
index finger, and making things move on the screen. A world without mouses
and controllers is an amazing thought, one that is slowly becoming a reality
thanks to Leap Motion. Keep up the good work, guys. We're here to offer our
magical hands for any sort of testing you might need!
16 | Lookout: As inconceivable as it may seem these days, nobody used to
believe it was possible for cellphones to be hacked. That is, until the
Lookout founders (and in those days, just a couple of super smart dudes)
built the Bluetooth Sniper and used it to break into celebrities' mobile
devices at the 2005 Oscars. Glad these masterminds are on our side now. This
team of hackers hacks in the name of justice these days and is constantly
finding new ways to protect our privacy, two steps ahead of the bad guys.
17 | Lovely: We can't quite think of a better place for an app like this to
be birthed, considering the rental nightmare that is San Francisco. Lovely
takes the best listings from various sites and places them on a map for you
to interact with, bird's-eye-view status. Say you want to live in North
Beach or the Marina, have a max monthly budget of $4.5K (who are you and can
we be friends), need two bedrooms, and have a pet cat. Just fill out the
simplified template and watch the city map populate with available
properties fitting that description. It's like online dating for you and
your dream rental home. Everyone deserves true love. And a cat-friendly
building.
18 | Luvo: If it's good enough for Derek Jeter and Jennifer Garner's
stomachs, it's sure as heck good enough for ours. Even Delta Airlines is
presenting these pre-made meals to their first class flyers. From kale
ricotta ravioli to apple cinnamon flatbread, stuffing your face with this
food is perfectly acceptable because it's super healthy.
19 | Medivation: For anyone who has ever lost a loved one to a disease and
wondered if there was anything more that could have been done, Medivation
has stepped up to offer hope. Bringing promising treatments still in
development to patients of Prostate Cancer specifically, the team hopes to
discover new ways to cure deadly diseases. The scale on which this company
is changing lives is pretty remarkable, and happening in our own backyard!
20 | Pinterest: Binders and bulletin boards are so last decade. For
daydreamers and planners everywhere, there is now a digital space connecting
people to inspiration, pin-spiration if you will. Whether you have a doting
fiancé or you're as single as it gets, it's never too early to plan that
dream wedding you may or may not have someday. "Pin" bridal photos, dress
links, and cake recipes from friends and strangers alike, to a personal "
board" for later use. Do this for any of your obsessions (not limited to
weddings). Pinterest is a veteran in the starup world, the perfect example
of new technology reinventing an age-old concept.
21 | Pocket: You've been stuffing your pockets full of everything imaginable
since your days spent running around the playground, always sure you were
going to need whatever it was you found later. This local company takes that
concept and incorporates it into your everyday life on a digital level. And
you don't even need Internet to do it. Funny videos, fitness inspiration
photos, recipe links, and more can now all be stored in one place for when
you finally run into that friend you wanted to show them to. Genius.
22 | Square: Making phones and tablets that much more useful, Square is
essentially a portable cash register. Nothing more than a tiny, for lack of
a better noun, square that you plug into your digital device and swipe a
credit card through. Transactions are handled through the downloadable
software and customers sign on the dotted line with their finger. Viola!
23 | TaskRabbit: Whether you're the type of person that loves to help or the
kind that needs help (you know who you are), this app is guaranteed to
improve your life. Need an oil change, but never learned to do it yourself?
Need help packing for a big move, but too lazy to do it yourself? Name your
task, price, and when you need it done. Somebody, somewhere nearby is
waiting to give you a hand. Not so helpless? Assist those in need and make a
few bucks. Who says you shouldn't benefit from others' misfortunes?
24 | Uber: Along with a handful of other companies on this list, if you
haven't heard of Uber by now, we're judging you. Mean glares aside, Uber is
popping up everywhere, most recently in California Wine Country. This fleet
of average Joes and their automobiles gets people from here to there at the
tap of a phone screen. Friendly drivers, known to supply complimentary
beverages, snacks, and even Valentine's Day roses, swoop you from your stoop
and drop you at your destination. Choose from standard cabs, slightly nicer
regular cars (mostly Priuses), black cars, and SUVs when determining your
ride options. Rate your driver at the end, but be sure to flash them a smile
because you're being rated on your passenger skills, too!
25 | Zoosk: Dating on your phone, not quite to the extreme the dude in Her
took it to, is the new normal and Zoosk is leading that charge. The app
takes note of your taste in the opposite sex as you click around, promising
to match you with people that you're most likely to find attractive. There's
25 million+ fish in this cyber sea, in 80 countries and 25 languages.
Sometimes scrolling through dating profiles on your phone as opposed to a
desktop computer feels a little less "somebody love me" and a little more
cool, calm, and collected. The things we do for love, right?
Read more at http://www.7x7.com/WorldDomination#klY7Rm7m5towehtD.99 |
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