Market Gap Startups

Livepeer is a decentralized video transcoding and live streaming platform built on the Ethereum blockchain. It solves the problem of centralized video streaming services failing in censorship-prone environments by allowing users to earn tokens as miners and stake in the network. The platform incentivizes participation through token economics, where participants benefit from network growth similar to early Bitcoin or Ethereum adopters.

Duetto Research, founded in 2012 by Patrick Bosworth and two co-founders (including Craig Weissman, former CTO of Salesforce), is a hotel pricing optimization SaaS platform serving over 3,000 hotel properties across 98 countries. The company has achieved remarkable unit economics with $17,000 annual ACV per property, ~$50M ARR run rate, 14-month payback periods on $20K CAC, zero customer churn in five years, and improved gross margins from 30% to 75% through operational efficiency.

Truebill is a free subscription management tool launched in January 2016 that helps users track, manage, and cancel recurring payments by connecting to their bank accounts. The company monetizes through affiliate partnerships and commission deals with companies like Spotify and Plated, earning money when users click recommendations or sign up for offers. By the time of this interview, Truebill had reached 50,000 total users with 10-15,000 new signups monthly, raised $1.75M in funding, and grew from $500 in first-month revenue to $4,000 in the second month.

Ad Quadrant is a performance marketing agency founded by serial entrepreneur Warren Jolly in April 2014. The company specializes in managing social advertising campaigns for brands, taking a percentage of ad spend (typically 20%) or fixed payout per action. In its first year (2014), Ad Quadrant generated $4 million in revenue through careful pre-planning and leveraging Warren's existing network, growing to $15 million in 2015 with 35+ customers and 33 employees.

Loot is a platform helping brands engage customers through incentivized user-generated content at scale, enabling micro-influencer marketing. Founded in 2012 by Nicholas Haas at age 22, the company grew from $200 in first-year revenue to over $500,000 by 2015, using a usage-based pricing model where brands pay a multiple of the rewards given to users. Nicholas also experimented with e-commerce through a side project called Startup Drugs, which generated mid-five figures in monthly revenue through Facebook ads.

Alex Skatell bootstrapped Independent Journal Review from a Charleston apartment in 2012 to become a top 50 U.S. website reaching 20-25 million monthly unique visitors. The company operates as a media holding company (MGA) with three branches: a newsroom (50+ reporters), a technology division building internal tools, and an agency providing audience building and analytics services. Funded by $2.5M in friends and family capital, the company remains profitable and focuses on owned distribution channels (email list of 700k, social media) rather than relying on viral traffic.

Ministry of Supply is a performance professional clothing company founded by MIT graduates in 2012 that blends technology into workwear. The company achieved massive validation with a Kickstarter launch that beat its goal by 14X, raising $429,000 in the first month. By 2015, they had shipped over 100,000 units to approximately 50,000 unique customers, doubled revenue year-over-year since inception, and raised $7 million in funding while maintaining strong unit economics and focusing on repeat customer rates.

AMP Live, founded by Eddie Vaca in 2014, is a live video distribution platform that connects broadcasters with audiences in real time. The company generated $1.3M in revenue in 2015 and was on track to reach ~$3.9M in 2016 by selling audience delivery services to major brands like Microsoft, Salesforce, Martha Stewart, and Home Depot. Eddie bootstrapped the company with a small $100K friends and family round and built it into an enterprise direct-sales operation using outbound sales tools.

Bridgecrest Medical is a B2B SaaS company founded by 25-year-old Nathan Clair that uses wearable technology and IoT analytics to predict worker fatigue and prevent accidents at heavy industry sites like mining, trucking, and oil and gas operations. Launched in late 2015 after raising $1.3M, the company has grown to 10-20 employees with 10-20 enterprise customers paying five to six figure annual contracts with zero churn. The business demonstrates strong product-market fit with multi-year contract commitments and partnerships with industry majors like Barrick Gold.

Select is a premium membership community founded by Carlo Cisco that provides access to exclusive events, savings, and perks at thousands of premier partner locations globally. Launched around 2013, the company charges $250/year per member and reached just over 9,000 paying members by March 2016, generating approximately $700,000 in 2015 revenue with a 75% annual retention rate. The company was projecting $2.5-3 million in revenue for 2016, demonstrating strong year-over-year growth.

Nexar is an AI-powered dash cam app that uses smartphone sensors and machine learning to detect driving behavior, capture license plates, and create driver scores. Launched 9 months prior to this interview, the app had already captured approximately 80,000 license plates daily across Tel Aviv, San Francisco, and New York. The company raised $4 million in Series A funding led by Olive VC and is building a valuable crowdsourced road mapping data asset that surpassed Google Street View's coverage in just nine months.

Bitfusion is an enterprise SaaS company founded in January 2015 by three ex-Intel/Dell/Samsung engineers that pools idle compute resources in data centers to create supercomputer-level performance. After raising $1.5M in seed funding through Y Combinator's SAFE framework in April 2015, they launched their product in November 2015 and acquired 6 pilot customers and 2 signed contracts within 3 months by strategically targeting enterprises with short sales cycles. With 9 total employees and customers ranging from cloud service providers to Shell, they generate between $100k-$500k in annual revenue per customer.

Mojio is a connected car platform launched in 2012 and backed by Deutsche Telekom and Amazon that enables existing cars to connect to the internet. Kenny Hawke, who previously took iGo public in 1999, took over as CEO in fall 2015 and has landed major contracts including rollouts with Deutsche Telekom in Europe and a North American carrier. The company operates on a revenue-share model with telecom operators and projects to have millions of units installed within 2-3 years.

Boost and Co. is a venture debt fund founded by Lance Myserbo-Witch that finances early-stage high-tech companies in Europe through loans rather than equity investment. The firm has completed 25 deals totaling $120 million in capital deployed, sitting between traditional bank lending and venture capital with 8-12% interest rates, 1-2% fees, and warrant packages. With $150 million in assets under management backed by pension fund LPs, Boost and Co. offers entrepreneurs a way to preserve equity while accessing growth capital.

AstroPrint is an IoT platform for the 3D printing industry, often called the "Android of 3D printing." Founded in 2013 and pivoted in 2014, the company makes 3D printers easy to operate and connects them to a cloud-based app store ecosystem. With $150,000 in 2015 revenue and $400,000 raised, they're pursuing a B2B licensing model targeting printer manufacturers and major brands, projecting $500,000 in 2016 revenue.

BrewPublic is a craft beer curation and delivery service founded in 2014 by 26-year-old Charlie Mulligan. The company uses an algorithm to match customers with personalized beer selections from 3,000+ craft beers, serving both offices and consumers across Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, and San Francisco. In 2015, BrewPublic generated $275,000 in revenue with 35% net margins, and projects $1-2 million in 2016 after raising $500,000.

Cellink is a Swedish bioprinting company founded in 2015 by Eric Gattonholm and Hector Martinez that manufactures affordable 3D bioprinters and provides custom tissue printing services. They've sold 40 bioprinters at $5,000 each with 87% gross margins, and project $4 million in total 2016 revenue by combining printer sales with high-margin services for cosmetic and pharmaceutical testing. The company aims to democratize bioprinting technology globally while working toward their long-term vision of bioprinting functional human organs for transplantation.

Venture Pact is a SaaS platform launched in 2012 that helps businesses source and manage vetted software development teams. Founded by Randy Reyes, a former private equity analyst at Silver Lake Partners, the company operates on a hybrid model combining transaction fees (basic plan) and monthly subscriptions (premium plan). By 2015, Venture Pact had over 100 customers, was bootstrapped with 31 employees, and generated revenues in the seven figures.

RJ Metrics is a business intelligence SaaS company founded by Robert Moore in 2008 that helps mid-market companies make data-driven decisions. The company grew profitably from its attic-based origins to $1M in revenue by 2012 with just 8 employees, and has since raised $22M across multiple rounds. With approximately 400 customers paying $10K-$100K annually, RJ Metrics generates at least $4.8M+ in annual recurring revenue with customer lifespans of 3-4 years.

Vincenzo Villamina left private equity in 2009 during the financial crisis and moved to South America, where he discovered an untapped market: US expatriates needing tax preparation services. He built Online Taxman to serve this niche with expertise in expat-specific tax rules and compliance. By January 2016, the business was generating $20-30k monthly during tax season and was on track to do nearly $1 million in annual revenue.