New Enterprise 50 for dot-coms
The organizers of the annual Enterprise 50 (e50) list are planning another e50 list for Singaporean dot-coms
SINGAPORE, 11 July 2000 - Andersen Consulting and The Business Times have today announced their intentions to start another e50 list - this one for dot-coms.
The organizers of the annual Enterprise 50 (e50) list will launch a sister list that aims to rank Singapore's most enterprising startups and spinoffs. Called The Enterprise 50 dotcom, the list will honor companies that do business on the Internet.
The original e50 list is already on its sixth year, while the new e50 dotcom list was an idea conceived only two months ago.
The list is also supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB).
"The ranking will serve two purposes - to sift companies with a sustainable business model from those without one, and to encourage the spirit of e-Enterprise."- Willie Cheng
Andersen Consulting
Criteria
There are several criteria for eligibility on the list - companies are required
to either be 'pure play' Internet companies, or have to be doing business primarily
on the Net.
Also, while the original e50 was only open to private companies, the e50 dotcom is open to dot-coms that have not listed publicly for more than two years. Subsidiaries of listed companies are also eligible.
Other eligibility criteria require:
That the company have at least one year full year of audited financial results. (Which they must submit to the judging committee)
The company to have obtained at least one round of funding; for spinoffs, this includes funding from the parent company.
A valuation of the company's business.
The company to have a nexus to Singapore. This includes companies which are incorporated under Singapore's Companies Act of 1984; owned by Singaporean citizens or PRs; or operate in or from Singapore.
The e50 dotcom criteria differ from the original e50, since the candidates have major characterics which are different, said Willie Cheng, country managing partner for Andersen Consulting.
The one-year financials criteria is a much shorter time frame as opposed to the four-year financials that the original e50 criteria stipulate. This is because asking for 4 years of financials would disqualify most of the dotcoms, said Cheng.
The perfomance ratings of the candidate companies would be determined by a set of quantitative (70%) and qualitative (30%) factors, said Patrick Daniel of The Business Times.
The quantitative factors include:
Valuation at the last round of funding
The quantum of funding obtained
The funding as a percentage of valuation
The revenue, revenue growth and revenue per employee
Profit/loss statements
In addition, the qualitative factors include:
The company's business concept - vision, innovation, business model, and revenue model
Market presence and impact
Use of funds
Profile of top three full-time members of the management team
Profile of investors
"We want to make a distinction between the good dot-coms and the not-so-good dot-coms."
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Patrick Daniel
The Business Times
Filling the list
Patrick Daniel, editor of The Business Times, said: "Given our stringent
criteria, we may not find 50 eligible dot-coms in the first year. But even if
the inaugural list starts with 25 dotcoms, or even 10, we believe we should
make a start in this direction. We are confident we will have 50 worthy dot-coms
in our list by Year 3."
"We're looking for quality," he added, pointing out that "we're not out to fill a quota of 50."
"In the swing from hype to pessimism about dot-coms, Internet companies that are building strong businesses are being lumped together with the rest," noted Cheng.
"The ranking will serve two purporses - to sift companies with a sustainable business model from those without one, and to encourage the spirit of e-Enterprise," he added.
The inaugural Enterprise 50 dotcom winners will be honored at the 2000 Enterprise 50 awards together with the Enterprise 50 award winners in November. Both lists will be published in The Business Times, and local press.
Enterprise 50 dotcom companies will also be featured at www.enterprise50.org.