Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Seattle 2.0, and imported to GeekWire as part of our acquisition of Seattle 2.0 and its archival content. For more background, see this post.

By Andy Sack

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:
  1. Cheezburger,
  2. Zillow,
  3. Picnik
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.
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