Xconomy.com editor Gregory T Huang explains "I would argue that the most compelling players are in the middle... It’s subjective, of course, but you know it when you see it."
Originally posted on xconomy.com
Huang goes on to say:
EMC. TripAdvisor. Akamai. Bose. Digital. Polaroid. Plenty of others. Each defined an industry. Each is known nationally. Each became a tech icon and had impact on lots of people. If not a true household name, at least you know what it does, or did.
Something tells me the next great Boston company is one I haven’t mentioned yet. Great successes often seem to come out of the blue and are notoriously difficult to predict. Yet they are right there under your nose, toiling away for years, if only you knew what to look for.
Here are five candidates (plus a wildcard) to keep an eye on, based on recent conversations with entrepreneurs and investors. This was not an exhaustive survey, and there’s some of my own opinion in it. What’s most informative is not the particular companies I’ve listed, but rather their fields, stages, and approaches. All were founded in the past five to six years...
4. GrabCAD
Cloud-based collaboration is starting to change how physical products are designed, made, distributed, and sold. Computer-aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) might be ready for their second coming in Boston, and this is one of the companies in the lead.
