Revenue is probably a popular metric. But that discounts a startup with a rabid user base that is still searching for a revenue model.

Number of users is good, but it’s hard to get reliable numbers publicly. Plus, user numbers often end up being apples and oranges comparisons. Different companies will have different types of users and count users in different ways.

Pageviews, which would roughly equate to the traffic, have all sorts of problems, including those mentioned above.

BUT, I wouldn’t want this ranking to disappear. Without it, I’d have never heard of Discogs, and I love discovering new and cool companies from Portland (or The Beav’ in this case, but we’ll take ‘em).

Not my list. But you’re absolutely right.

As I mentioned the last time they published this list, it’s really apples and oranges. My favorite examples are Stikkit and I Want Sandy which are listed as separate “companies,” even though they’re both from one company, Values of n.

However, considering the exclusion of AboutUs and Jive, can we even trust the source? I say no. How you one be informed enough to put together a list and not know about Jive or AboutUs?

Using Alexa and Compete only works for web based companies! So even if Jive were listed, they’d probably fall down near Kriptiq. Both are great companies that should probably be #1 and #2 on the list.

I think there is an opportunity here to put together a more trusted list and become the ‘BCS’ of Oregon/Portland startups.

I would personaly like to see the rankings include at least some of the following components: angel/venture investment, years in business, founder experience, annual sales, etc.

It has got to be more than Compete/Alexa and there is probably no other single metric that works. Thats why you need a BCS list calculation.

Exactly. And part of the reasoning behind my caveat.

I see a number of products on the list that suffer from a similar “undercounting” based on these results. Cliq, for example, is a widget, too. Attensa is an installed app. And, I’m willing to bet that I Want Sandy gets the bulk of its traffic through its SMTP port, not its Web port.

This is more of a “popularity of product promotional offerings” than use of the products, themselves.

And I’m still wondering if there is value in compiling another Portland startup index, based on a wider variety of metrics.

Hope that helps,
Rick

One important note about SplashCast: we are not a destination web site, we are a distributed widget network. SplashCast widgets are embedded on over half a million web pages currently and get over a million views per day. None of this widget traffic is accounted for by Alexa or Compete; they rank sites solely based on desintation site traffic (which is a tiny. tiny subset of our overall traffic).

Thanks,
Mike