Mirror, Mirror on the wall -- who is the fairest of them all?

It's only November -- but I wanted to put my prediction in for the fairest web startup of 2010. Currently the top 3 traffic spots on the Seattle Startup Index for Sept. 2009 are:

Now, traffic doesn't make a business - as we all know - because if it did Ben Huh and the Cheezburger Network would win this prediction competition hands down. The Cheezburger guys are off to the races and doing an excellent job!  I predict they'll continue to be on top of the Startup Index for every month of 2010. Yet, while they will undoubtedly do a great job building their business too, there revenues will be behind both Zillow and Picnik.

My real prediction for the fairest startup in Seattle of them all -- is Picnik. This prediction is based on imperfect information. I haven't had coffee with Rich Barton recently -- and he always has got a bunch of smart ideas up his sleeve -- so I don't underestimate him-- but I predict a truly rocking year for Picnik. I believe they'll have the most progress in terms of revenue growth and ultimately exit -- in the next 12 to 24 months. There's no way to measure this publicly -- their revenues aren't public. But I know from coffee with Jonathan Sposato and from using the site that they've got a tiger by the tail and are just beginning to hit stride.  

One interesting note about the top 3 companies on the Seattle Startup Index -- only Zillow has institutional funding. I think that's another one of my predictions for 2010 -- you'll continue to see more companies at the top of the Seatle Startup Index and Startup scene that aren't institutionally funded. 

If you want to hear more predictions of mine -- and others -- be sure to come to WTIA predictions for 2010 on Wed., November 18 at 5PM at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle (721 Pine Street). Should be a fun event.