One of the biggest trends I’m noticing in entrepreneurship right now focuses on access. Innovators are taking what was once costly, time-intensive, or otherwise beyond reach and efficiently offering it to consumers. Whether it’s learning new skills, inspiring a new interest, or tapping into formerly cost-prohibitive markets, entrepreneurs are finding new ways to bring the unique and specialized to a more mainstream market. We started to see this with collaborative consumption business models and I predict we’ll continue to see an influx of ‘access-based’ business models in the year ahead.
目前我在创业领域中所关注的大趋势之一是“接触或获得的权利”。创新者们正在将曾经昂贵的、耗时的，或是不可能获得或效率极低的产品带给消费者。无论是学习新技能、激发新兴趣，亦或是叩开此前成本高昂的市场，创业家们正在寻找全新的方式来将独一无二且术业专攻的产品带向更为主流的市场。我们开始看到合作消费商业模式中出现了这个趋势，而我预测，我们将在未来几年看到“基于接触或获得的权利”商业模式的潮涌。
The below are 5 companies that stand out from the rest and are startups to watch in 2014.
以下是五个脱颖而出的、值得在2014年加以关注的初创企业。
As computer programming is being hailed as the untapped opportunity in the American economy, New York Code and Design Academy is making it easier to speak code. By 2020 there will be 1.5 million computer science jobs with only 400, 000 computer science graduates. Moreover, computer science jobs are growing at twice the national average as other positions. But what if you didn’t graduate with a computer science degree, and have no plans to go back to college? New York Code and Design Academy is making it easier to learn web design and development by offering both night programs and intensive workshops — where it’s not uncommon for someone to walk out of the program having built a new website or setting sights on a new tech-based position at work. From where Founder Jeremy Snepar sits, you can’t afford to not know how to code in today’s digital economy. He sees coding as a technical skill that can and should be easier to learn, and New York Code and Design Academy is filling an important gap for anyone who’s ever said “if only I knew how to code.”
鉴于计算机编程被冠以“美国经济中尚未开垦的处女地”称号，纽约编程及设计学院正在努力让“谈论”代码变得更简单。到2020年，美国市场上将会有150万个计算机科学相关岗位，而计算机科学专业毕业生则仅有40万人。此外，计算机科学相关岗位在全美的平均增长率是其他职位的两倍。但是如果你并没有计算机科学专业学位，也没有计划重返校园又该如何呢？纽约编程及设计学院通过提供夜校课程和密集型研讨会的方式正在令学习网络设计和开发变得简单——从该项目毕业后，创建一家全新的网站，或是着手寻找技术相关的职位，并不是什么稀罕的事情。正如创始人杰瑞米•司乃帕（Jeremy Snepar）所言，在当下的数字化经济中，你不能不懂得怎样编程。他将编程看做是一种技术能力，一种能够也应该以更为简单的方式学习的能力，而纽约编程及设计学院正是为那些曾经感慨过“如果我懂怎样编程就好了”的人填补了一个重要的空白。
Goldie Blox:
Goldie Blox：
Goldie Blox is a toy company on a mission to redefine the “pink aisle” in toy stores. Men dramatically outnumber women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and careers, with girls largely losing interest in these topics by age 8. Goldie Blox toys are designed to inspire future engineers by engaging girls in a way that draws on their strong verbal and storytelling skills — while still offering opportunities to build the skills that can later translate into an interest in engineering. And speaking of opportunity, how does a start-up toy company stand out against the big names that have been dominating the toy space since the beginning of time? In a savvy move, Goldie Blox recently released a video that went viral with their take on the Beastie Boys song “Girls.” Though the video was ultimately taken down, Goldie Blox did an excellent job raising awareness of the need to get more women and girls interested in STEM … and of the Goldie Blox toys.
Goldie Blox是一家玩具公司，使命是重新定义玩具商店中的“粉红走道”。在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育和职业领域，男性数量要大大多于女性，大部分女孩往往在八岁前就对这些领域失去了兴趣。Goldie Blox所设计的玩具则通过吸引女孩发展强大的口头及故事讲述能力的方式——同时仍提供机会来发展日后可转化成对工程学兴趣的技能——来鼓励和启发未来的工程师们。说到机会，一家玩具初创企业如何能在和一开始就统治着玩具行业的大公司的抗衡中脱颖而出呢？Goldie Blox走出了明智的一步：最近，该公司发布了一段视频，采用了Beastie Boys的歌曲《女孩们》（Girls）做背景音乐，该视频得到了病毒式传播。尽管这段视频最终被撤下，但Goldie Blox在提高公众对让更多女性和女孩对STEM产生兴趣——以及对Goldie Blox玩具——的认知上，做了一份相当不错的工作。
Sixty Vocab:
Sixty Vocab：
Despite our global economy, only 20 percent of Americans speak another language. Sixty Vocab is aiming to change that with it’s online foreign language game. Based on the premise that 2000 words equals 60 percent of a foreign language, Sixty Vocab is aiming to make learning essential vocabulary fun. The games teach the words most commonly used in conversation and applies time-based discipline — the faster you guess the word, the more rapidly you move on to the next one. Bridging the gap between your high school classes and a pricey foreign language program, Sixty Vocab is offering a unique option for those who want to learn a foreign language during their morning coffee or commute.
尽管当下是一个全球性的经济环境，但仅有约20%的美国人会说第二门语言。Sixty Vocab的目标就是以其在线外语游戏改变这一现状。基于2000个单词相当于一门外语的六成精髓的假设，Sixty Vocab试图使学习必要词汇的过程变得有趣。这些在线游戏能教你在对话中最为常用的词汇，并辅以限制时间的规则——你在越短的时间内猜出单词，你就能越快地进入到下一个阶段。Sixty Vocab填补了你高中课程和昂贵外语学习项目之间的空白，为那些想要在早餐咖啡或通勤时间学习一门外语的人提供了一个独一无二的选择。
Eleven James:
Eleven James：
Newly launched Eleven James is bringing collaborative consumption to men’s watches. With a membership program offering access to a curated collection of high-end watches, Eleven James is extending the membership model that has previously been associated with private jets, luxury cars and vacation homes. Beyond the watches, members are enrolled in a dedicated loyalty program which includes a concierge service, access to partner benefits and unique experiences like watch-themed events. Sounds a little bit like men’s watches meet a Net Jets experience? Founder Randy Brandoff has deep experience in luxury marketing, having previously served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Net Jets and the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Marquis Jets. Combining his expertise with a watch industry that’s grown year over year and a business model that’s proven successful in other markets, it looks like Eleven James could be hitting the market at just the right time.
新近成立的Eleven James正在男表领域引入合作消费的概念。该公司的会员项目能令你获得亲近一系列精挑细选的高端腕表的机会，这一曾经只和私人飞机、豪华汽车及度假屋联系在一起的会员模式正在Eleven James的手中发扬光大。除腕表外，会员还能注册专享忠诚度项目，其中包括礼宾服务、合伙人利益专享及诸如腕表主题活动等独一无二的体验。听起来有点像男士腕表和飞机租赁公司Net Jets体验的大碰撞？公司创始人兰迪•布兰多夫（Randy Brandoff）在奢侈品营销领域拥有深厚经验，曾经在Net Jets担任高级副总裁和首席营销官、在Marquis Jets担任过执行副总裁和首席营销官。他的专长，加上年复一年增长势头良好的腕表行业，以及一种在其他市场证明行之有效的商业模式——看起来Elven James正是在恰当的时间叩开了市场的大门。
Plum Alley:
Plum Alley：
Despite the overall upward trends in financing, the amount of capital raised by women-owned businesses has historically lagged when compared to men. For example, in the first half of 2013, women made up only 16 percent of businesses seeking funding, with only 24 percent of the women receiving angel funding, Plum Alley, an online e-commerce platform for female entrepreneurs, recently launched a crowdfunding platform specifically focused on helping women innovators get to the next level. And as the first platform of its kind in the exploding crowdfunding space (expected to hit $3.98 billion next year), we can certainly expect Plum Alley to play a big role in the entrepreneurial landscape for women in the year to come.
尽管金融行业整体趋势向上，但相较于男性，女老板执掌的企业筹得的资金历来处于落后状态。例如，2013年上半年，寻求融资的企业中，老板是女性的企业仅占16%，而其中又仅有24%的女性接受了天使资金。Plum Alley是一家为女性创业者提供在线商务服务的平台，最近该公司推出了一个专注于帮助女性创新者推进到下一个事业阶段的众筹平台。作为呈现爆炸式增长趋势的众筹领域（预计明年规模将达到39.8亿美元）中的首个此类平台，我们应该能看到Plum Alley在未来一年中在女性创业领域扮演重要角色。