Guidewire Group Celebrates ‘Downturn Startups’

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Guidewire Group, Inc. salutes the early-stage companies launching products and promoting new ideas this week at DEMOfall. These companies – like many market leaders who have come before them – had the courage and tenacity to start up in an economic downturn, a market situation that, counter intuitively, does not have a significant negative effect on their business success.

“History shows that companies created in down economies are just as likely to be successful as those started when times are good,” said Chris Shipley, Chairman and CEO of Guidewire Group. “Equally important, startups can have a broad impact on the economic recovery and growth by stimulating innovation, and creating new industries and new jobs.”

According to research done by the Kauffman Foundation(1), 51% percent of companies on the Fortune 500 list between 1929 and the present were started during a recession, a bear market, or both. Nearly half the companies listed on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in 2008 were founded during an economic downturn.

“Now is a great time to start a company,” said Shipley. “It’s possible that one of the companies on stage at DEMO this week will be a Fortune 500 company 20 or 30 years from now. And even if they’re not, there will be many successes among these companies and among many others started in 2008 and 2009.

This week, Shipley is serving her last stint as Executive Producer of DEMOfall, a role she has filled at all 24 DEMO conferences over the past 13 years and that has included choosing which companies get six minutes to demonstrate their latest innovations from among of the thousands who seek the honor every year. Over the years, Shipley has selected nearly 2,000 high-potential startups and products to publicly launch their new products at DEMO. Among the DEMO companies introduced during the downturn early in the decade are five outstanding companies whose founders are receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards at DEMO this week: Atheros Communications, Danger, Inc., iRobot Corp., Salesforce.com, and Handspring.

While the recession of the past 12 months has damaged many larger institutions and businesses, it has created an attractive opportunity for entrepreneurs.

• A large pool of highly talented people are available to work in startups, due to cutbacks and layoffs of large organizations
• Larger established companies have slowed the pace of spending on development and marketing and as a result mitigated their competitive threat
• Having faced cuts in large organizations, many entrepreneurs see greater control of their work and future in starting their own companies
  

“This is my last DEMO as executive producer, but my passion for startups doesn’t end,” added Shipley. “Starting now, Guidewire Group will devote all of its time and energy to helping entrepreneurs, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports them, find their paths to business success while the nation finds its way to economic recovery and economy growth. We’re working on new offerings, one called Studio G, as well as an expansion to our successful Innovate! program, that we’ll be launching soon.”

ABOUT GUIDEWIRE GROUP

Based in Redwood City, CA, Guidewire Group, Inc. is a global market intelligence firm passionate about technology entrepreneurship. Our exclusive focus on early-stage companies and emerging technology markets drives insight and opportunity to our clients and community.

Our analysts meet with hundreds of innovative companies each year – from startups in stealth mode to established technology leaders – to assess their market potential and understand the impact these companies and their innovations will have on the markets they serve. This broad and deep view of the technology landscape, combined with years of experience and a deep respect for entrepreneurs and early adopters, allows us to develop a rich and unique perspective on key trends in global technology innovation.

(1) Stangler, Dane, “The Economic Future Just Happened,” Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, June 2009.

CONTACT: Carla Thompson, +1-214-924-6066

SOURCE Guidewire Group, Inc.