Viral expansion

Social-networking site Ning is a model of how to create an automagical growth machine, reports Fast Company in its May issue. Founded in early 2007 by former Goldman Sachs investor Gina Bianchini and Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, Ning's "social networks for anything" platform hosts more than 230,000 social networks. About 40% originate outside the USA. Its growth embodies a concept called a viral expansion loop. Every time someone sets up a social network, he or she invites friends, family, colleagues and even strangers to sign up. They in turn create new networks and bring in more members. The company estimates that by New Year's Eve 2010, it will host about 4 million social networks with tens of millions of members, creating billions of page views daily.

Enduring greatness

Fortune magazine published its first Fortune 500 list in 1955, and in the years since, almost 2,000 companies ...