The Hottest Companies On This Year's Inc. 500

PREV 1 | 2

StubHub (No. 8) 2005 revenue: $199 million
"I'm not bullish on standalone e-tailers selling hard goods online--given that, I like StubHub. It's a market for tickets, which are basically an information product. They're now printed at home, so you don't have to manage logistics. This is a fragmented group of buyers and sellers, and it has a big reseller market."

Alternative Energy Store (No. 440) 2005 revenue: $5.7 million
"From a consumer perspective, there's a growing awareness of environmental responsibility, but consumers still don't understand the options [for solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources]. There's nothing better than a person at a retail store to explain something and help you buy."

Raj Kapoor is a managing director of Mayfield Partners, a Silicon Valley VC firm that funds early-stage tech companies.

Daniel Eisenstadt

Learning Annex (No. 379) 2005 revenue: $36.5 million
"There's an opportunity to invest in education companies, and this model is portable and scaleable. The founder sold it, then bought it back, so he is experienced--the kind of guy we might like to back."

Partsearch Technologies (No. 453) 2005 revenue: $49.8 million
"We generally get nervous about distributors--low barriers to entry, little differentiation--but we like Partsearch. It sources a huge number of parts for its customers, the CompUSAs of the world. It also has a virtual inventory, which means it has created a network where it doesn't hold inventory on its books yet can source it quickly."

Hudson & Keyse (No. 99) 2005 revenue: $11.8 million
Resurgence Financial (No. 28) 2005 revenue: $11.7 million
"Heading into a higher interest-rate environment, banks want to get distressed debt off their balance sheets for regulatory and accounting reasons. So there are nice opportunities for businesses, like these two, that buy distressed debt."

Daniel Eisenstadt is the director of private equity at CMS Companies in Philadelphia. It invests in small and midsize companies.

PREV 1 | 2

Try a RISK-FREE Issue of Inc. Today!

Renew | Contact Us | Current Issue

Select Services