By Lou Hoffman
You already know Facebook enjoys the clout of a sovereign state.
It's hard to miss the battle for supremacy in the mobile phone market as Google, Apple and Microsoft knock heads.
We've become numb to the acquisitions from HP, IBM and Oracle as they strive to Detroit-ize the tech sector.
But here's what we're seeing in the tech sector that doesn't necessarily generate headlines, but stands to play a role in shaping the industry in the coming months.
The unglamorous part of innovation – the 18-hour days that go into building a product with the requisite course corrections that come from learning on-the-fly – couldn't be healthier.
Everyone laments that the flow of venture capital will never reach levels achieved in the past. They point to the modest number of new venture-funded startups as exhibit A that the rate of innovation in the tech industry is on the decline.
But these numbers don't show the total picture.
A funny thing happened on the way to startups “enjoying” rejection after rejection in the quest to raise money. Entrepreneurs figured out that venture capital isn't a requirement to starting a company. Bootstrapping has become the new black, which makes sense when you consider two macro trends.
As our lives – both personal and business – increasingly move online, there are enormous opportunities for even a single programmer to help invent this new digital world.
And thanks to “the cloud,” which commoditizes computer processing much like electricity, the infrastructure costs for startups has been reduced to a pittance.
The upshot: Tens of thousands of startups are toiling away in relative obscurity. While venture capitalists make sure their portfolio companies show up on the right lists, there is no “census bureau” that goes to door-to-door capturing the bootstrappers.
Like their venture-backed brethren, these startups also need public relations to build their brands and profiles.
It's not only already happening, but happening on a global scale.
We've supported startups based in Korea, Japan, Singapore, China, the UK, the Ukraine and Canada in just 2010. More than the obvious PR services, these companies need guidance in how to effectively enter the U.S. market. They don't have large marketing departments. Heck, they often don't have a VP of marketing; the CEO serves in this role by default.
That creates new opportunities for PR agencies.
Whether it involves localizing the website to U.S. tastes or making sure the actual product is ready for prime time, someone needs to be taking a holistic approach to communications on behalf of international startups.
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Lou Hoffman is CEO of The Hoffman Agency, a PR agency with offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. An advocate for the art of storytelling, Hoffman blogs on the topic at Ishmael's Corner. |