Top Ten of the Past Ten: Top Performing New Companies of the 2010s

Welcome to the 2010s in America. Marijuana use gained more popularity as Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use in 2012. Millennials born in the 70s and 80s entered the labor force. The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 with the unjustified acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murderer. In 2015, same-sex couples were legally able to tie the knot after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriages, legalizing it in all 50 states. Donald Trump, a celebrity and businessman, was elected as President in 2017. Without further adieu, here are the ten top-performing new companies of the 2010s.

1) Instagram

Going to document that memorable night out with the pals? Instagram is the place to post those photos, and well, all your photos, to be exact. Instagram is a free photo and video sharing social media mobile app that is exclusively a visual platform; unlike, Facebook and Twitter that rely on photos and text. Instagram rose to become one of the world's most popular social media apps, with roughly one billion monthly users. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, both Stanford University graduates, co-founded Instagram, launching the mobile app in 2010 in San Francisco, California. After Instagram's success, in 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion. Though Instagram doesn't sell services to its users, it does sell advertisement space to companies. Between 2015 and 2019, Instagram reportedly made around $34.4 billion in advertisement revenue.

James Smythe from Mighty Gadget reports that Instagram has become so popular because of the amount of exposure its users have excesses to; by using hashtags, following other users, and staying active, anyone with something to sell can reach millions of potential buyers all around the world. Space Coast Daily reports, "By commenting and liking the pictures, one can create a laid-back social community [with] . . . a friendly environment . . . Many home-based businesses rely on Instagram and other social media apps for marketing and customers."

"To capture and share the world's moments."
Mission Statement
Instagram

2) Lyft

Getting to that perfect, "Instagramable" location by ordering a Lyft ride can make arriving at your site a breeze. Lyft is a ride-sharing app that connects passengers to drivers who have a car in a given area. Lyft, similar to Uber, as Life Wire puts it, is more casual and Uber is more corporate. Lyft, based in San Fransico, California, had roughly 23 million active users nationwide in 2019. Co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer, both computer programmers, launched their ride-sharing app in 2012. Green says the inspiration for Lyft came from a trip to Zimbabwe, where he noticed the locals making use of crowdsourcing carpool networks as their main means of transportation. Green reportedly said, "Public transportation is broken (in America). We're trying to create the next form that works." Soon after the Zimbabwe trip, Green created Zimride, a ride-share program at Cornell University. After teaming up with John Zimmer, the two launched Lyft.

Between 2016 and 2019, Lyft reportedly brought in around $7.2 billion in revenue. Simon Mainwaring from Forbes reports, "Lyft's dedication to operating an environmentally and socially responsible business while cultivating human-to-human connections has set the brand on a road to success. According to Brain Chen from The New York Times, Lyft's competitor Uber is very similar. Chen stated that customers appreciate Lyft's ". . . greater transparency. Its receipts break out details like duration of the trip and distance traveled, which helps riders better understand overall costs." Something that Uber does not offer, as they solely provide their customers with a "fair price."

"To improve people's lives with the world's best transportation."
Mission Statement
Lyft

3) Stitch Fix

Image by StitchFix.com
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Lyft will provide the ride, but what will you wear? Stitch Fix is an online fashion-based subscription service that recommends clothing items for women, men, and children. Its clothing recommendations are based on the user's size, budget, and style, and the company sends these items directly to the customer's home for a fee. Stitch Fix's headquarters is based in San Fransisco, California. Stitch Fix reported 3.4 million customers in 2020. Katrina Lake, a Harvard graduate, founded Stitch Fix in 2011. According to The Business of Business, Lake started Stitch Fix as a personal shopping website; she would deliver new clothes to customers' at their homes for a fee, using SurveyMonkey to keep track of her customers' preferences. In 2012, Lake was introduced to Eric Colson, the former vice president of data science and engineering at Netflix. The two created an algorithm that helped the company store customers' data and allowed for the algorithms to pick out garments based on the customers' preferences.

Lake said during an interview with The Cut, "Searching online for jeans is a ridiculously bad experience. And I realized that if I imagined a different future, I would create it." Between 2015 and 2019, Stitch Fix pulled in around $5.5 billion in yearly revenues. Kristin Corpuz from Glamour details her shopping experience with Stitch Fix, "You try everything on at home, buy the pieces you like, and send back the ones you don't . . . [Stitch Fix] has since completely changed the way people shop." In another review for Stitch Fix from A Little Insanity, a stay-at-home mom says, "It's convenient, exciting, & much like ordering a present for yourself . . . Although it's a lot more than I usually spend, the prices weren't as bad as I expected."

"It's our mission to change the way people find clothes they love by combining technology with the personal touch of seasoned style experts . . . We're here to help you save time, look great, and evolve your personal style over time."
Mission Statement
Stitch Fix

4) Stripe

Image by Stripe.com
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Any online payment you make could be using a payment processor by Stripe. Stripe is a mostly online payment processor that allows business owners to accept payments from customers in-person or anywhere globally. Stripe reportedly has over two million customers (business owners) with headquarters in San Francisco, California, and Dublin, Ireland. According to Kate Rooney from CNBC, "Thousands of companies, including Amazon, Slack, Glossier, Shopify and Under Armour, use Stripe's software tools to accept payments from anywhere in the world." John Collision told CNBC, "We're seeing the creation of new businesses, or businesses that previously traded solely offline, starting to move online."

Stripe was founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick and John Collison. Patrick Collison won the 41st Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 when he was only sixteen. John Collison was the youngest self-made billionaire in 2016. According to Derek Andersen from Start-Up Grind, the Collison brothers began working on Stripe when, through other side projects, the brothers "...debated why it was so difficult to accept payments on the web. They sought to solve the problem and see if it was possible to make it simple." Patrick reportedly dropped out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work on Stripe. Reported revenue between 2016 and 2019 showed Stripe grossing more than $5 billion in revenue.

"We say our goal is to increase the GDP (gross domestic product) of the internet--we want to bring more businesses online worldwide. In everything we do, we put our users first."
Mission Statement
Stripe

5) Snapchat

Another social media giant like Instagram, Snapchat is a social media app that, according to Maggie Tillman from Pocket-lint, is a private, person-to-person photo, video, and messaging app; where the content sent is only available to the receiver for a short time before the content becomes inaccessible. This feature, according to Tillman, is designed to encourage a more natural flow of interaction. Snapchat reportedly has 332 million daily active users worldwide. According to Brain O'Connell from The Street, Snapchat was founded in 2011 by Standford University graduates Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown, and Bobby Murphy, with headquarters in Santa Monica, California.

In an interview with Telegraph, Evan Spiegel told Matt Warman, "Snapchat changed that perception of deleting something as bad. Online, typically you delete something it's bad or if it's really embarrassing . . . Snapchat said that if we try to model conversations as they occur, they're largely ephemeral (temporary)." Like Instagram, Snapchat monetizes its platform by selling advertisement space to businesses. Between 2015 and 2019, Snapchat reportedly made $4.2 billion in revenue. According to Maryam Mohsin from Oberlo, ". . . Snapchat offers a fresh and unique way of interacting with others . . . Snapchat mirrors how people interact with each other face-to-face. The interactions are temporary and not stored anywhere, much like real life."

"Snapchat is an app that empowers people to express themselves, live the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together."
Mission Statement
Snapchat

6) Tinder

Chatting with friends was reinvented with Snapchat; Tinder reinvented dating. Tinder is another social media app designed to meet new people in your area and worldwide. Tinder, self-proclaimed, ". . . is the world's most popular app for meeting new people. It's been downloaded more than 340 million times." Tinder has 6.2 million subscribers and 75 million monthly active users. Tinder has reported more than 65 billion matches worldwide. Tinder was founded in 2012 by Sean Rad, Justin Mateen, Whitney Wolfe, and Jonathan Badeen, with headquarters in West Hollywood and Los Angeles, California.

Laura Stampler from TIME magazine reports that Mateen and Rad had met at the University of Southern California in 2004 and decided to team up to make an app; Rad said, "Computers are going extinct, and I thought mobile is the future. I wanted to build platforms through there (Apple's iOS format)." Tinder is a part of the parent company Match Group Inc., which owns other dating apps like Match, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, Pairs, PlentyOfFish, and OurTIme. Tinder's revenue, gained by offering paid subscriptions to its users between 2015 and 2019, was reportedly around $2.6 billion.
Stampler states, "Users are shown photos of nearby potential matches and can swipe right to 'like' and left for 'nope' . . . It (Tinder) has also revolutionized the technology-assisted matchmaking process. While traditional dating sites require extended periods of time in front of the desktop writing and browsing long bios, Tinder can be played in short bursts on the go."

"Tinder makes being single more fun and rewarding by connecting people who may not have otherwise met in real life. We celebrate that being single is a journey."
Mission Statement
Tinder

7) DoorDash

Tinder made finding the perfect date quick and easy, but DoorDash made ordering out for that date really easy. According to Dave Johnson from Business Insider, "DoorDash is an on-demand food delivery service that partners with local restaurants to deliver food to homes and businesses." Brain Dean from Backlinko reports DoorDash has more than 20 million customers. Doordash was founded by Stanford graduate Tony Xu, in 2013, with co-founders Andy Fang, Stanley Tang, and Evan Moore, former peers of Xu's at Standford. DoorDash's headquarters is located in San Francisco, California. Forbes reports DoorDash as America's largest food delivery service, delivering meals from more than 390,000 restaurants and other merchants. Ivan De Luce from The Business of Business wrote that former co-founder Evan Moore, who attended Standford with Xu, remembers the "lightbulb moment" for the business came from the question, ". . . why couldn't businesses send things across town, on-demand. There should be an on-demand FedEx!"

Kenn Anthony Mendoza from South China Morning Post magazine says Xu describes his story as the classic immigrant success story. Xu wrote on his Twitter, "One of our goals of starting DoorDash was to promote even more entrepreneurship locally." Between 2017 and 2019, DoorDash brought in $1.51 billion in revenue. Brett Helling from Ridester describes DoorDash as styling, " . . . itself as a solution to the modern problems of too little time and too much work." Dave Johnson states, "Using the DoorDash website or mobile app, you can search for local restaurants, browse the menu freely, and track the order as the driver picks it up and brings it to you."

"DoorDash was founded with a mission to grow and empower local economies . . ."
Our Commitment to You
DoorDash

8) Casper

Casper Original Hybrid Mattress - $1,100 to $1,780
Image by Casper.com
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After your belly is full, it's time for a nap, and Casper can provide one of the best mattresses to get some shut-eye. Casper is an e-commerce company that sells sleep products online and in retail locations, with headquarters in New York City, New York. According to Melia Russell from Business Insider, "Casper started selling mattresses online and shipping them to customers in boxes in 2014. It's a direct-to-consumer model . . . The company delivered mattresses to more than 1. 4 million customers and opened 60 retail stores where customers can try out the beds." Casper founders Philip Krim, Neil Parikh, T. Luke Sherwin, Jeff Chapin, and Gabe Flateman reported wanted to disrupt the traditional brick-and-mortar mattress business model and became the first mattress company to transition to e-commerce sales, sending their mattress directly to the customer and allowing them to try out the new bed for 100 days, money back, guaranteed.

Amy Lamare from The Business of Business reports that the Casper founders put up their own money to support their new company; with the help of celebrity endorsement from Kylie Jenner, Nas, 50 Cent, Ashton Kutcher, Tobey Maguire, Adam Levine, Scooter Braun, and Leonardo DiCaprio, the business was a complete success. Soon Casper partnered with Target, which Casper allowed the retailer to sell their mattresses and products at their stores, and Casper partnered American Airlines to design a range of sleep products, including pillows and blankets. Between 2017 and 2019, Casper has made over one billion dollars in revenue. As reported by U.S. News & World Report, Casper's Original Hybrid mattress has ". . . two layers of memory foam with a base layer of individually wrapped springs . . . [adding] breathability and helps promote airflow . . . The top foam layer of this mattress also has . . . small holes that add to its breathability. These two cooling features make this mattress a good option for hot sleepers or anyone that lives in a warmer climate."

"To improve the 26 years we each spend in bed and to brighten the days in between."
Mission Statement
Casper

9) TikTok

As Kylie Jenner boosted Casper sales by posting about the company on her Instagram, one might find the same sponsorship on another social media platform called TikTok. Werner Geyser from Influencer Marketing Hub describes TikTok as "a short-form, video-sharing app that allows users to create and share 15 [to 60]-second videos, on any topic." Web Wise describes TikTok as an app that "is used by young people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing." Geyser states in, ". . . 2018, it was the most-downloaded photo and video app in the Apple store, globally . . . [with] over 500 million monthly active users." Tiktok founder Zhang Yiming launched TikTok in 2015. According to TikTok's website, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, a technology company, operates ". . . a range of content platforms that inform, educate, entertain and inspire people across languages." Global Leaders Today said ByteDance, ". . . began in a four-bedroom Beijing apartment where the team lived and worked . . . Zhang had the vision to push relevant content to users by generating recommendations by artificial intelligence that eventually led to the birth of ByteDance." Which lead to the birth of TikTok.

Like Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok accrues its revenue by selling advertisement space; between 2017 and 2019, TikTok brought in around $563 million in advertisement revenue. According to The Cold Wire, TikTok's endless scrolling, the ability to use copyrighted music, current weekly trends, collections of like-minded communities, and algorithms have pushed TikTok's popularity among millennials and Gen-Zs. The Cold Wire reports that TikTok's "algorithm finds a stream of videos that are based on your interests in order to help users find the kind of content and content creators they want to see." John Herrman from The New York Times says TikTok is "a bit like a greatest hits compilation, featuring only the most engaging elements and experiences of its predecessors,"

"Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy."
Mission Statement
TikTok

10) Dollar Shave Club

Image by DollarShaveClub.com
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Much like Stitch Fix, Dollar Shave Club offers monthly subscription boxes, but instead of personalized clothing picks, Dollar Shave Club sends razor blades and bathroom grooming products to a customer's door. Dollar Shave Club reportedly has over 4 million customers. Dollar Shave Club, based in Venice, California, was launched in 2011 by former co-founders Mark Levine and Michael Dubin; in 2016, the founders sold Dollar Shave Club to Unilever for one billion dollars. According to Joe Lazauskas from Convince and Convert, during a Christmas party in 2010, Michael Dubin discussed helping a family friend sell 250,000 razor blades the friend acquired wholesale; this sparked Dubin's idea for a startup that delivered razor blades for a dollar each, right to the customer's door. Between 2011 and 2019, Dollar Shave Club has made over $494 million in sales.

Vermont Business Magazine reports that "Dubin identified two problems--razors were overpriced, and razors and blades often were locked behind cases in stores." The magazine reports that Dubin said, "For us, solving that problem was getting really affordable great razors and making them really easy to buy." According to Beau Hayhoe from The Manual, "Dollar Shave Club is known first and foremost for its highly effective six-blade razors, plus its beloved Prep Scrub, Shave Butter, and Post Shave Dew, along with Shave Gel. Brady Dale, from Observer, Dollar Shave Club, Dr. Carver's Daily Shave Butter is a gel that really does seem to soften my scraggly bear up better than any other whisker lubricant . . . Its (Dollar Shave Club) prices are all clear and unambiguous . . . (and) their customer service is top-notch."

"Our goal is to make sure you always have everything you need to look, feel and smell your best."
Mission Statement
Dollar Shave Club