Red Herring
Red Herring is a company.
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Leadership Team
Key people at Red Herring.
Red Herring is a company.
Key people at Red Herring.
Key people at Red Herring.
Red Herring is a technology media and events company best known for its influential magazine covering the "business of technology" during the 1990s dot-com boom and its ongoing Red Herring Top 100 awards program, which recognizes promising startups worldwide.[1][2][5] Originally a print and online publication focused on venture capital, startups, public markets, and technology's societal impacts, it evolved into a leaner operation emphasizing startup discovery events in North America, Europe, and Asia, run from La Jolla, California, under Chairman Alex Vieux.[2][4] Its awards have spotlighted future giants like Alibaba, Google, Skype, Spotify, Twitter, and YouTube, cementing its role in the startup ecosystem by providing visibility, networking, and validation to entrants judged on innovation, financials, strategy, and market traction.[5]
Today, with around 19-89 employees and reported 2025 revenue of $79.6 million, Red Herring maintains a minimal editorial presence while prioritizing impartial awards funded by high entry fees to avoid VC conflicts.[2][4] It influences the ecosystem by surfacing high-potential tech firms across sectors like FinTech, Security, IoT, and Marketing, helping winners like Intersec scale to $100M+ milestones through peer connections and exposure.[2]
Red Herring was founded in 1993 as a skeptical tech magazine before "tech-talk" mainstreamed, deliberately avoiding early Internet hype and publishing critical pieces like the 1997 editorial "There Is No New Economy" and the 1999 book *The Internet Bubble*, which predicted the dot-com crash.[1][3] It launched amid the digital revolution, growing from 30 staff in San Francisco's Hamm’s building in 1996 to hundreds across three cities by 2000, producing massive monthly issues, events, and a pioneering daily news site with a jokey, insider tone evangelizing tech entrepreneurship.[1]
The dot-com bust ended its peak in 2001-2003, leading to bankruptcy amid ad market collapse and publisher IDG's withdrawal; it relaunched in 2004 under Alex Vieux (former Le Monde journalist and ETRE conference founder) and editor Joel Dreyfuss, shifting to online-only by 2007 and skeleton operations by 2011, now headquartered in San Mateo or La Jolla with Vieux as CEO/Chairman.[1][2][3][4] Key early figures included editors like Jason Pontin, Joanna Pearlstein, Peter Rojas (Gizmodo/Engadget founder), and designers like Roger Black, with pivotal moments in its awards legacy sustaining it post-print.[1][2]
Red Herring rides the perpetual wave of tech innovation and startup emergence, timing its awards to cut through hype much like its 1990s magazine pierced dot-com exuberance.[1][3][5] Market forces favoring it include the explosion of global VC funding, AI/FinTech/IoT booms, and demand for credible validation amid thousands of new ventures yearly, allowing it to spotlight scalable outliers from diverse verticals.[2][5] It influences the ecosystem by democratizing discovery—winners gain credibility, partnerships, and momentum, echoing how early coverage boosted 1990s entrepreneurs, while its post-bubble resilience underscores media's pivot to events over print in a digital-first world.[1][2]
Red Herring's next phase likely amplifies its awards amid rising global startup density, potentially expanding virtual/hybrid events or AI-driven judging to handle volume while leveraging its brand for premium networking. Trends like decentralized funding, climate tech, and Web3 will shape its selections, evolving its influence from dot-com chronicler to enduring startup oracle. As it ties back to its origins, Red Herring remains the insider's guide to tech's next big bets, proving skepticism and discovery endure beyond any bubble.[1][5]
