What better way to understand the future of the tech industry than by asking the men and women who built it?
For the past six years, Silicon Valley Bank has conducted a global survey of executives to better understand the dynamics of high-growth companies.
Findings show the business landscape has continued to trend upward since 2008, despite executives' optimism plateauing due to stabilizing market conditions.
Their findings for 2014 showed 76 percent of companies beat their revenue targets and 98 percent maintained or expanded their workforce.
When seeking funding 49 percent of companies successfully raised capital while 81 percent felt as though the fundraising environment was still difficult.
Executives prophesied a huge 2014, with 82 percent believing the business conditions would be better than 2013. That number dropped to 71 percent as they looked forward to 2015, however, only 3 percent believed 2015 would be worse than the year prior.
By aggregating responses from executives of all sizes and sectors, the Innovation Economy Outlook Survey helps policymakers, investors and the business public better understand the issues that companies encounter.
“Because we work with so many startups and innovators around the world — and have been doing so for more than 30 years — we have a great sense of what it takes for high growth companies to succeed,” Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker said. “But nothing beats hearing from our clients themselves. That’s why seven years ago we started surveying entrepreneurs and tech company executives annually. We ask them about things like fundraising, access to talent, their opportunities for growth and what’s standing in their way.”
Your participation helps represent the tech and life science industries in discussions about diverse topics such as patent reform, immigration and business sentiment. If you have a small, medium or large business, take 10 minutes out of your day to fill out the survey here.
