A year ago, few expected Angry Birds or Groupon to be among 2010's stars, but the underlying trends that powered their success were plain enough. So picking individual companies to rise or fall this year isn't worthwhile. What is? Identifying the trends that will move them all.
The idea may seem somewhat silly, but location-based services, such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and others, are likely to become an enormous market. And investors are racing to get a piece of the action, which will escalate valuations.
Social shopping site Groupon has garnered fast success and a dizzying valuation of $1.35 billion. Its new hyperlocal and reward-plan features help illustrate why the startup has such a sky-high price tag.