Boston Business Journal has a “most admired” companies list that they compile, sort of a “people’s choice awards” of the business world.  I thought I would share who I voted for and some of the reasons why.  (You can vote today if you want.  Please do, and please consider HubSpot for your vote.)

Most Admired CEO

• Brian Halligan (HubSpot) – The results of the company speak for themselves, and it is always a good idea to vote for your boss!
• Gail Goodman (Constant Contact) – I have had a chance to get to know Gail, and I have been impressed with how she has turned Constant Contact from a one trick pony into a company with multiple products, which has driven big performance in the stock the past 4 months.
• Michael Simon (LogMeIn) – I don’t know him, but the stock more than doubled in 2010, and the company is pretty hot in my mind.

Most Admired University

In terms of contribution to the technology and startup community, there is probably a lot of debate, but in my mind it is MIT for 1, 2 and 3, and then a couple other schools might do some startup stuff too.  But I don’t think I can vote for the same school 3 times, so I picked 2 others that I think make some contributions too. J

• MIT
• Harvard
• BU

Most Admired Restaurant / Hotel

These are just some of the cooler hotels I think of around town, I’m not sure I am an expert in hotels.  In fact, I am sure I am not an expert.

• Liberty Hotel
• Intercontinental Hotel
• Hotel Marlowe

Most Admired Public Tech Companies

The list of cool public companies in Mass is unfortunately not huge, so I went with the ones that really stand out in my mind.

• Akamai
• Constant Contact
• LogMeIn

Most Admired Tech Startup

Here there are TONS more companies to choose from.  I’m only going to reveal 2 of my votes, because honestly the third one was really tough and I’ll end up pissing people off if I pick one and don’t vote for others.

• HubSpot – I am certainly biased, but I think growing to 3,900 customers and 200 employees in 4 years and generally out-marketing and out-selling nearly every other software company in the SMB marketing space is pretty cool.  We also have a slushie machine and no vacation policy. :)
• Locately –Location is going to be huge, and not just for non-revenue-generating consumer apps.  Location will be huge for enterprises as well, and (Disclosure: I am an investor and my brother is the CTO.)  but they also won Mass Challenge, so
• My third choice is basically a random selection from a ton of other cool companies: Harmonix, Carbonite, Backupify, Visible Measures, Visible Gains, ZipCar, SCVNGR, Zyrra, Perk Street and many, many others.

Best Brands

I think these startups have done the best job building brand, especially on a budget and in creative or at least clever ways.  Yes, I am mega-biased on this one.  But, hey, it’s my vote, not yours!

• HubSpot
• ZipCar
• Carbonite

You should VOTE too (deadline January 14) and I hope you consider HubSpot for some of your votes.