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Article: The Silicon Alley 100 comes of age

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The Silicon Alley 100 comes of age

"You could say that [1999] was the year the Alley truly arrived," says Silicon Alley Reporter Editor and CEO Jason McCabe Calacanis in the Editor's Letter preceding the 1999 Silicon Alley 100.  At the same time, it could be said that 1999 was the year that the Silicon Alley 100 itself truly arrived as well.  Now in its third year, the annual list of the top Internet players in the New York area has become the authority on who's happening and who's yesterday's news.

Paralleling the industry it covers, the list has come a long way from fairly humble beginnings.  Its previous incarnations bore few of the marks of the established publication that it was to become.  For example, the new edition replaces last year's drab cover design with a clever parody of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, and boasts roughly double the page count.  "People were amazed that we dedicated a page to each person [this year] and that we did really expensive quality portraits," Calacanis told Vault.com.  "Upside had seven people per page in their 100, and The Standard even used press photos - how cheesy!"

In addition to the magazine's aesthetic improvements, its rise to prominence is in part the result of an intense production process.  Says Calacanis, "It took two months to put together.  Getting everyone to come to the photo, researching, editing, and selecting took almost every moment of my life for the past three weeks." His efforts have not escaped the notice of the New York Internet business community: Alley executives clamber to get the first issue off the presses, and then debate the new rankings with all the fervor of basketball fans at NCAA tournament time.

Publishing the list has also imbued Calacanis and co. with a strange kind of power.  Early on, Calacanis's efforts to publicize the Alley as a legitimate entity were reminiscent of a bass player passing out flyers for his garage band.  Now, however, top executives work him like '70s disco divas trying to get into Studio 54.  "People recognize me on the street, I get invited to amazing parties, and there is a high schmooze factor because of the list and its power," boasts Calacanis.  "People have changed their road shows on the way to an IPO to be at the photo [shoot].  How often do you have 80 of the top 100 Internet executives in one room?"

~ That power is not without its downside, however, as it is difficult to tell real friends from those attempting to better their ranking.  Calacanis once even dated an Internet CEO only to find out that she was just trying to make the list.  Now wise to such tactics of ingratiation, he says that no amount of schmoozing will help someone crack the top 100.  "The people who ask to be on the list never make it.  If you have to ask, you're not a player."

According to the editors, five categories are used to determine just who is a player: Vision, Execution, Money, Network, and Presence.  Topping this year's list is advertising network DoubleClick, up from the fourth slot a year ago.  Narrowly edging out StarMedia, DoubleClick is described as "the biggest success story in Silicon Alley." Company president Kevin Ryan did not take the honor lightly.  "We're extremely happy to have been chosen as Silicon Alley's No. 1 company," he said.  "This has been a great for DoubleClick as well as [for] the entire industry." Silicon Alley Reporter also includes a prediction for each player; for DoubleClick, it predicts an acquisition of the No. 26 company, 24/7 Media, "securing its position as the No. 1 interactive advertising player for some time to come."

Of course, with hundreds of companies competing (whether they want to or not) for a precious few spots, some must be left out in the cold.  Several dropped off the list this year, including K2 Design, gURL, and Bigfoot.  After his company placed 61st last year, Crossover Technologies President Eric Goldberg seemed resigned to the relinquishment of player status: "It was nice to be included in '98.  In '99 they said we had become rich and boring.  But I'm neither confirming nor denying the rich or the boring."

Given the list's extensive turnover from last year, some Alley executives have pointed out what they see as the artificial nature of the rankings.  "I don't know the basis," said Goldberg.  "This isn't like the Olympics where it's based on time trials - though Jason Calacanis has a better claim than almost anyone else to know the Alley inside and out.  It's a gimmick that Silicon Alley Reporter has come up with to sell the most copies of a single issue, and it has worked, so more power to them." One Alley CEO whose company fell off the list defended it nevertheless: "It says it's subjective.  I think they should do a different hundred every year," said Jaime Levy, the head of last year's No. 91 player, Electronic Hollywood.  "I asked specifically not to be on it.  I wouldn't have done it if they had asked me, because of all the junk mail we get [resulting from it].  It only causes hardship. Our revenue stream, putting out a quality [product] is important to our company, not the [list]." Well aware of the charge that the list is too subject to the whims of its editors, Calacanis is quick to refute the critics.  "The debate [among the Silicon Alley Reporter editorial staff] is very heated.  It was so heated that at the end I had to have everyone vote on paper, in a sealed ballot, the top five positions."

~ Not surprisingly, it seems that the amount of credence Internet execs lend to the accuracy of the list is based largely upon their place on it.  As with most rankings though, the Silicon Alley 100's accuracy - or lack thereof - is less important than its ability to generate buzz.  In that regard, it is a smashing success.  No matter what industry insiders think of the list, they all read it - and try to figure out how to make it next year.  Still, Calacanis stands by the rankings: "We write cutting-edge editorial," he contends.  "Just because you are in the 100 doesn't mean you're getting a glowing review.  Some of the 'downs' and 'predictions' are pretty harsh.  At the end of the day though, we tell the truth and that is why people read us."