10 Startup Trends That Will Be Huge In 2012. In his inauguration speech, President Obama paid homage to entrepreneurs.
The path to greatness, he rhapsodized, has been paved by "the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things--some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. " Almost three years later, it's clear he was spot on.
Entrepreneurship has been one of the precious few bright spots in a terribly gloomy economy, and this new generation of entrepreneurs, both intentional and accidental, has taken it upon themselves to keep things chugging along. At the same time, starting a business gained serious cool cred. 6 Startups to Watch in 2012. An Olympic games, a U.S. presidential election and the end of the world are already planned for 2012, but we're more excited about the startups.
Here are six of them (in no particular order) that we expect to help define the coming year. We chose companies based on the momentum they gained in 2011, promising new takes on old problems and, in one case, the possibility of an IPO. Did we look at every startup in the world before compiling this list? Nope. Did we overlook some of the startups speeding toward 2012 definition-dom?