AlwaysOn Network was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in early 2003 featuring a stock market-moving interview with Sony Chairman Nobuyuki Idei and inside coverage of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's address on Iraq to the WEF General Assembly. The new AO site stood out because all its editorial posts were open to unfiltered, public reader comment and opinion. AO also was applauded for focusing on the sweet spots in high-growth markets where technology innovation is disrupting behavior and creating new entrepreneurial opportunities for both big businesses and startups. Today, bloggers interacting with readers on a wide variety of topics have become accepted and often trusted alternative sources of valuable insights and information. Back in 2003, AO was just among a few fledgling media brands trying to borrow from the early blogging practices and create a more open and merit-driven editorial world.

AO’s Editorial Mission
AO’s editorial mission has remained the same: an obsession with being the first media brand to identify the sweet spots in the market, where technology innovation is disrupting behavior and creating explosive new entrepreneurial opportunities for both startups and big businesses. The centerpiece of AO's editorial efforts is researching and publishing its annual Top Private Company lists: The AO Global 250 (previously the AO100, our overall top list), the OnMedia 100 (advertising & marketing), OnHollywood 100 (entertainment), GoingGreen 100 (greentech). At the Stanford Summit 2007, the 451 Group conducted an independent analysis of the AO100 companies and found that of the 254 unique companies named since the list was launched in 2003, 11 went public, and 73 were bought for an average multiple of 3x the average for comparable sectors (13.9 versus 4.5). The biggest buyers of AO100 companies have been Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Qualcomm and Motorola.

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