For making itself useful even when you’re not job searching Linked In 3 0
Four companies on our 2011 Most Innovative Companies list went public in the last year: Groupon, LinkedIn,
Pandora, and Zynga. But only LinkedIn remains well above its offer price, boosted by new initiatives. LinkedIn
Today lets members curate daily news roundups to showcase their expertise, transforming the professional
network into a must-visit hub of information sharing. “Everybody wants to be better informed, better at their
job,” says LinkedIn SVP Deep Nishar. Metrics show users now follow links on LinkedIn more than via Twitter.
Bug Agentes Biológicos
2. 5
FACEBOOK RULES SOCIAL SHARING BU T LINKEDIN IS
NOWAPLAYER.(AVERAGEVISITSTOAPOSTEDLINK)
2. 25
2.0
1. 75
1. 5
1. 25
1.0
0 FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
For going deep in ocean monitoring
Liquid Robotics 31
For less than $3,000 a day: ( 1) BP can get data on
water quality in the Gulf of Mexico, a job that used to
require multimillion-dollar buoys; ( 2) government
scientists can track the effects of acidification on
ocean species, without using expensive ships, crews,
and fuel; and ( 3) the U. S. Navy can stealthily monitor
waters for suspicious activity. Liquid Robotics, creator of the surfboard-size Wave Glider robot, makes
this possible. The robots harvest sunlight to power
sensors and electronic equipment, and use wave-motion energy to propel themselves long distances.
“When you give this tool to a scientist or an educator,
the possibility of innovation is unbounded,” says CEO
Bill Vass. “Things you never thought were possible
have now become economic.”
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
SOURCE: CLEARSPRING
NOV
For delivering first-class entertainment
to the coach-bound masses
32 Gogo
Every time someone on Twitter brags, “I’m on a
plane!” a Gogo engineer’s ears pop. The Illinois
startup commands the market for in-flight Wi-Fi: It
now serves more than 1,300 commercial flights and
controls 85% of Wi-Fi–equipped planes. In the first
nine months of 2011, Gogo reported $113.8 million in
revenue, and the company is now taxiing to a 2012
IPO. It will use the funds to upgrade its network and
in-flight platforms.
ENTERTAINMENT
In lieu of drop-down screens with shoddy reception,
Gogo’s platform—now on some 600 Delta and American planes—lets travelers rent from a library of more
than 200 TV shows ($0.99 each) and movies ($3.99).
GAMING
Gogo’s link-up with Electronic Arts will let fliers have
access to Pogo, its casual-gaming site whose hits include Plants vs. Zombies, Monopoly, and Bejeweled.
SHOPPING
Gogo is building a roster of retail partners such as Zappos and Gilt Groupe, and offering exclusive in-air deals.
TRIPPLANNING
Beyond basics such as destination weather and arrival
time, Gogo offers access to Open Table and StubHub,
so passengers can plan activities for when they land.
FOR BREEDING A NATURAL
ALTERNATIVE TO HARMFUL
AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES
Killer wasps! Fear not—this isn’t the
movies. These predatory insects are the
good guys, programmed to target only
their natural enemy (which is not your
scrawny behind). Bug Agentes Biológicos
mass-produces wasps to combat larvae
and stinkbugs that threaten sugarcane
and soybean plants, two of Brazil’s
largest cash crops. This past year, Bug
perfected a way to spray its wasps onto
soy fields, just as pesticides are spread via
airplane. “We can liberate the insects in
the right dose, at the right speed, and
with the right protection so they can be
effective,” says Francisco Jardim, a Brazilian VC who has invested in Bug and sits
on its board. Wasps, for example, need to
be protected until their wings grow big
enough for flight, or else ants present a
threat. (Isn’t nature grand?)
Bug’s timing feels right. Brazil is the
world’s third-largest agricultural exporter
(behind the United States and EU); it
recently passed the U.S. as the largest
consumer of pesticides. Yet the country
has begun to phase out the more noxious
chemical pesticides Brazilian farmers
use despite diminishing effectiveness.
Bug has the only alternative approved
by Brazilian agricultural, health, and
environmental ministries. It’s currently
at 100% capacity with plans in 2012 to
double the acreage it covers.
Bug describes its wasps to farmers as
a preventative solution that eliminates
pests as eggs, forestalling full-blown
infestations. It also eschews selling to
small organic farmers in favor of Brazil’s
agribusiness giants, such as global sugarcane producers Royal Dutch Shell. “Our
potential,” says Jardim, “is Brazil’s entire
$7 billion pesticide market.” —DaviD LiDsky
