As a computer software securities analyst for investment banking firm Canaccord Genuity, Richard Davis spends 200 days a year on the road going to businesses. Hegoes to public firms such as Oracle and Salesforce.com, but he also visits up-and-coming software companies he thinks will go public in the near future.
ChannelAdvisor: Aiding on-line retailers
I’ve identified this business for many years, and in the course of that time I’ve watched the firm mature and evolve. Numerous years ago, ChannelAdvisor was tightly focused on the eBay eco-method. Because then, the firm has emerged as a international aid for on-line retailers, helping them effectively reach prospects.
This indicates ChannelAdvisor aids firms manage multi-channel outreach, no matter whether that is down the street or on the other side of the globe. In 2010, the firm managed $ two.8 billion in gross merchandise value from top retailers like Saks, Dell, and Brookstone, and 30 percent of Web Retailer Magazine’s Leading 500 online retailers. It seems to us that Channel Advisor is a firm on the move. We plan to pay much closer focus to this firm over the subsequent handful of years.
Approximate size: $ 50-100 million in revenues.
Chegg: Digital textbooks, book rentals, and a lot more
Chegg is a lot much more than textbook rentals. The firm provides e-textbooks, course information, evaluations and in some instances notes from a few dozen colleges. In addition, the company offers homework support. Fundamentally, the firm is emerging as a go-to source of content material (books, notes, comments, grade distribution, and so on.) and coursework aid. That appears like a viable strategy for a large enterprise to me.
I caught up with a Chegg board member recently and we spoke a bit about how the firm is single-handedly saving students millions of dollars on egregious textbook expenses. I know this is true from individual expertise with my children at college textbook prices are way too high for the quantity of updating that occurs year to year.
Approximate size: >$ 100 million in revenues.
Gift Side Story: Helping guys acquire gifts
I arrived at Buck’s in Woodside a couple of minutes early for my breakfast with a extended-time buddy. I saw one more fellow advance to the door at the restaurant, which was locked. He circled back, came up, and mentioned hello. “Hey, I’m meeting some VCs about here for the initial time and I was wondering if I ought to be wearing a suit or not?” I said no, unless he was a economic services software program firm or he was going up to San Francisco appropriate where some men and women wear sport coats. He thanked me and I asked him what the name of his company was. “Gift Side Story,” he stated. His name was Ankur Jain.
Jain said his firm was a internet site that helped guys figure out what gifts they must get for their wives or girlfriends. You fill out a brief questionnaire about your substantial other’s preferences and the software offers you with recommendations. It has a self-understanding component that is created to formulate better outcomes based upon the more info that is put into it in terms of questions and responses to actual orders. There is also a real-time chat function readily available if you get truly stuck, which is a nice touch.
You choose an item from the recommendations and it takes you to the site’s checkout page. Input your credit card info and presto, the gift wrapped item is on its way! The rates looked excellent with discount banners indicating 10-50 percent off offers.
Richard Davis is managing director of enterprise software for the brokerage firm Canaccord Genuity. Before joinging Canaccord, he spent ten years as a senior analyst at Needham & Company. Previously, Davis was at Tucker Anthony, where he launched the firm’s Web and enterprise software coverage.
Filed below: Entrepreneur Corner, VentureBeat 
