Its modest recovery in the second half of last year, for example, was export-led, piggy-backing on stronger growth elsewhere.

ECONOMIST: Blaming everyone but themselves

"Piggy-backing on a large U-boat, the Seehund had the capability of reaching the Foyle where there was intense naval and merchant navy activity, " he said.

BBC: Experts to examine River Foyle, Derry, wreck

Simbol Materials, a California-based startup, is piggy-backing on geothermal development in the geothermal-rich Salton Sea field, with plans to extract lithium from geothermal brine for use in innovative battery applications like electric cars.

FORBES: Sleeping Geothermal Giant Stirs

In New York, for example, Bloomberg Business Week, New York magazine, and others have started piggy-backing on newspaper delivery services to get their print product in the hands of readers.

FORBES: The US Post Office Helps The Internet

It used to be that a startup could only get in the door at a big IT shop with significant connections (like a venture backer who golfs with CIOs every week) or by piggy-backing on a partnership with some other, much larger firm.

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