Of the top 100 companies in the 1955's Fortune 500, only 12 percent remain in the coveted list today; a testament to our country's dynamic and constantly changing consumer-based market. Since the explosion of the Internet in 1995, some new and rather unorthodox companies have changed the way we spread news, travel and communicate.
The last decade in particular has given birth to a new and rather interesting trend--a trend that is proving that owning allowing popular virtual spaces to become more valuable than owning estate or commodities themselves.
The following tech-savvy companies have thrived over the past decade by providing services to a consumer base that prefers digital transactions over traditional ones:
5. Your Art Gallery
The limited space and accessibility to brick-and-mortor galleries created the culture where art directors and curators decide what art constitutes being displayed or available to the buying market. Your Art Gallery, the first online art gallery of its kind, is now flipping the script on how art is being interpreted as quality work and how it is being sold.
With a focus on fine art photography and digital captured imagery of original work, Your Art Gallery represents amateurs and enthusiasts alike as well as attracting celebrated photographers such as Spencer Tunick and Peter Guttman. Whatever the level of expertise, users simply upload, describe and price their work. A crowd-sourced methodology brings democracy to the process of what gains the most exposure to gallery visitors, buyers, collectors, and designers.
For buyers, every work is given the same expert quality in production by Your Art Gallery enlisting Duggal Visual Solutions, who was referred to by the Washington Post as a "legendary Manhattan custom lab," for custom printing and framing services.
In 6 months Your Art Gallery has attracted over 1500 artists from 60 countries, providing global access to serious buyers, and being recognized as a refreshing change to an archaic wall art market that has hasn't evolved for 100's of years.
4. AirBnB
AirBnB is an accommodation service that doesn't actually own any accommodations. The popular new alternative to booking a hotel, AirBnB is a website and app that allows home or apartment owners to rent out their residence to savvy travelers. Valued at $24 billion, the rapidly growing company is used by more than half a million users per night worldwide.
3. Uber
It's no secret that vehicular transportation brokered through the Uber mobile phone application has all but eliminated the need for the traditional taxi cab. Uber has provided over a billion rides since its inception five years ago--without owning any of the vehicles being driven. CEO Travis Kalanick said the company adds over 50,000 drivers per day. Their employees get to make their own schedules, use their own vehicles, and more or less work for themselves.
Perhaps the most attractive trait of Uber is their versatility. At the touch of a button, smartphone owners can summon the nearest Uber driver to pick them up, at prices typically cheaper than a taxi. Uber also offers multiple tier upgrades such as "Uber Black," which allows image-conscious users the option to be picked up by luxury cars instead of the usual mustard-yellow taxis of their competitors.
2. Alibaba
Whether you need electronics, home goods, pet apparel and accessories or clothing, users of the Chinese internet consumers go almost exclusively to their Alibaba application for all of their day-to-day needs. The company's numbers are stunning; they account for over 86 percent of all of China's mobile shopping, and have more active users than the entire population of the United States and Canada combined.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Alibaba is the world's most popular virtual online shopping space, within the world's most rapidly growing e-commerce market. Their transactions far surpass competitors eBay and Amazon, leading to Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma becoming the richest man in all of China.
1. Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook first appeared as a scrappy competitor for the then-popular social website Myspace, with both sites being dominated by younger generations. But Zuckerberg and his team outlasted the competition, and today Facebook has exploded into a social media giant that transverses all age gaps. They have become the world's most popular media owner, despite creating no original content for itself. It's also the easiest way to keep up with everyone you've ever known, without having to actually talk to them, which is a true testament to the virtual takeover.
Its popularity is further reflected by recent reports that their $306 billion value has allowed them to eclipse the top 7 most valuable market values for all S&P500 stocks, an exclusive club that includes companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Zuckerberg and Co. have stayed ahead of the curve by buying out apps they believe to be future competition, such as their purchase of Instagram, WhatsApp, and their attempted purchase of Snapchat. With over a billion daily users, it looks like Facebook has become the undisputed kings of cyber information sharing.