The Killer Companies That Started From Nothing Are Being Snapped Up For Billions

Recently there have been a few success stories in the technology world when it comes to companies that started with a simple idea then selling that idea on for billions of dollars. With the likes of Instagram being sold for 1 billion a few short years after its launch and the most recent sale of Tumblr to Yahoo for 1.1 billion dollars, it’s safe to say the small ideas that become big brands are taking the technology world by storm, but how did they do it and could you do something similar?

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The Success Stories
The most well known company to be sold for huge figures is probably Instagram. The photo sharing site was bought by Facebook earlier in the year for 1 billion dollars. Tumblr has followed in its footsteps when on the 20th of May it was purchased by Yahoo for 1.1 billion dollars. Both these companies started off as humble ideas but they progressed quickly and really took off. These simple ideas eventually turned into strokes of genius that made those who created them a lot of money. Both the creators of Instagram and Facebook recognised the rapid growth of the popularity of social media sites and jumped on the band wagon creating new platforms that offered something the other sites didn’t.

The companies grew rapidly with millions signing up quickly. In three short years Instagram had gained 30 million users and since its launch in 2006 Tumblr now has 108.2 million blogs with 75 million blogs being posted online every day. These are incredibly impressive stats which is what lead to the companies being snapped up by big names in social media for billions.

Making Your Idea A Success
Both Tumblr and Instagram shot to success very quickly. Their ideas being unique and ground breaking had a lot to do with this, but it’s the way they executed these ideas when launching them into the public. To give your idea a fighting chance you will need to do these things-

Internet Marketing
A sure way to get your brand name and product out there fast, internet marketing is a must. Whether it’s social media marketing, SEO or PPC, they all go a long way to promoting your company. PPC and SEO gets your company found on search engines when people search relevant keywords and social media marketing allows you to communicate with the public and become a trusted source in your industry.

PR
Public relations is essential for any new company launching into the technology industry. Using PR you can build on your brand and start to generate a good reputation for yourself. Word of mouth is the best way to spread news. So if ten people have heard good things about your brand soon one hundred people will have heard good things about your brand. Use PR to start to spread the word, build relationships with the public and most importantly get your name out there.

Once you’ve got a great idea make it happen. Unless you make it happen yourself you’ll never know if your idea would have take off like Instagram and Tumblr did. Use PR and intenet marketing to promote your company and start to spread the word.

Eilidh MacRae works for Eclat who are a UK technology PR agency.