2 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 One of the things you do at a 10th anniversary is THIS YEAR MARKS look back. And so we at Inc. did, with your help. We TH THE 10 ANNIVERSARY asked Inc. 5000 multiyear winners to pick the Inc. articles that resonated most with them when they OF THE INC. 5000. were a young company. The chosen stories range from one entrepreneur’s timeless essay about the stress of being the boss—“Entrepreneurial Terror,” by Wilson Harrell in 1987—to the inspiring yarn of an accidental WELCOME entrepreneur who turned her down-and-out city around. That was “Along Came Lolly,” by Tom Foster from 2014. If you missed the full versions of these TO OUR stories when they fi rst ran in Inc., well, your fellow Inc. 5000 winners recommend you read the edited versions of them here. YEARBOOK We hope that you, too, will look back at all you’ve accomplished over the past 10 years—the company F COURSE, INC. HAS been recognizing you’ve grown, the jobs you’ve created, and the obsta- fast-growing companies like yours cles you’ve overcome along the way. The journey for more than 10 years. The whole you’re on as a business owner isn’t measured in yearly thing started in 1979 with a list of or even decade-long chunks, but the 10-year mark is a 100. That leapt three years later to chance to look back, with justifi ed pride, at how far 500. By 2007, with the economy you’ve come. It has been our privilege to accompany twice as large and more than 25 you along the way. million private businesses afoot in the United States, there was room to grow again. OMake no mistake—it is damn hard to join the Inc. 5000. The companies on the list represent the top hundredth of 1 percent of private businesses by growth rate. Repeating once on the list is even harder, of course, and each successive repetition gets exponen- tially harder still. This yearbook profi les a few of the Eric Schurenberg [email protected] handful of companies that have made the list year after year after year—three of them have done so 10 times or more. To put that achievement into perspective: A company that grew at the list’s median annualized growth rate for the past decade would today be grow- ing by an amount equal to its entire 2007 sales every two weeks. That’s simply amazing.
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 1 04 11
16
01 Editor’s Letter Welcome to Our Yearbook 03 Dynamic Systems Inc. Designing Solutions for the Long Term 11THE RE-EDUCATION OF JIM COLLINS FROM THE ARCHIVES October 2013
13 Purchasing Power 04ELON MUSK WANTS A Better Way to Buy TO COLONIZE MARS 15 American Specialty Health Incorporated FROM THE ARCHIVES December 2007 America’s Health Is Their Specialty
06 StarTech.com Hard-to-Find Made Easier
16THE STARTUP THAT CONQUERED FACEBOOK SALES 07ENTREPRENEURIAL FROM THE ARCHIVES TERROR June 2014 FROM THE ARCHIVES February 1987 17 Integrated Project Management “Get It Done” Is a Mantra 09 InVision and a Business Model An Experience Like No Other 19 Tellennium 10 MAQ Software Getting a Handle on Telecom Bills Making Marketing More Eff ective ’87 ’96 ’07 ’13 ’14
• BEST IN CLASS We’ve edited down some of the best stories from the pages of Inc. For the full read, check out Inc.com. 20TIME FOR NEW THINKING FROM THE ARCHIVES May 1996 For more information on company profi les and other advertising opportunities, please contact Pete Franco at [email protected]
2 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 HONOREE SPOTLIGHT
Designing Solutions #4538 for the Long Term Dynamic Systems Inc. Dynamic Systems Inc. works with government agencies 8 YEAR HONOREE to manage their IT needs today and for the future. 2017 ONE OF THE HALLMARKS One of its fi rst clients was the of any successful com- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the � BY THE NUMBERS pany is the ability to national research facility that operates adapt and evolve as the NASA’s Deep Space Network. Working competitive landscape with JPL, says Norman, introduced the changes. That’s especially true when it company into the intricacies of gov- % comes to technology, and it’s one of ernment bidding, and convinced her 50 the core strengths of Dynamic Systems that focusing on the public sector Inc. This El Segundo, California-based could lead to a robust business. company has been providing federal, “You have to win the privilege to bid WOMEN state, and local government agencies on government contracts, so there’s a IN SENIOR MANAGEMENT with leading Information Technology natural barrier to other competitors security services, managed cloud that doesn’t occur in the commercial offerings, hardware, software, and sector,” she says. professional services since 1991. A NEW VISION During its nearly 26 years, President The company has not been without and CEO Mardi Norman says the com- its challenges. In 2010, when Oracle pany has grown to $125 million in bought Sun Microsystems, Dynamic 50 Systems was forced to re-evaluate its annual revenue by quickly responding PERCENT future. The company had long been a FIVE-YEAR to changing market conditions with EMPLOYEE new strategies and even a new busi- hardware partner of Sun, but soon GROWTH ness structure. The one thing that has had to decide whether to move over remained constant: its laser focus on to Oracle or align with additional OEM being long-term partners and advisors vendors. Norman says she decided to to its government customers. go “full force” with Oracle, but not fi rst without changing the structure of “We’re not a startup looking to get in the company and making signifi cant for a quick hit,” says Norman, who < % fi nancial investments in building a 5 joined the company in 1992, shortly technical service practice and later after graduating from California State building a specialized data center to 2016 Polytechnic University with a degree in support expansion of secured man- EMPLOYEE industrial management. She took over aged cloud services. TURNOVER as president and CEO in 1999. “Our cli- RATE It was an expensive transition, but ents know we’re in it for the long game one that better positioned the com- and that we’re going to be with them pany for the growth that’s come in as partners and advisors for years.” % the years since. In fact, Norman esti- 48.5 Dynamic Systems’ entry into the world mates revenues will be up 10 percent FIVE-YEAR of government contracts, including this year. “Every day our attitude is: REVENUE GROWTH those for the Defense Department and do the right thing by our customers,” various branches of the military, she says. “There’s a trust that’s been started in its earliest days when it was built over the years, and we never a reseller of Sun Microsystems products. take that for granted.”
Find out more about Dynamic Systems Inc. and all of the other 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 3 FROM THE ARCHIVES DECEMBER 2007
more than a decade. He co-founded PayPal, the online payment processor that eBay bought in 2002 for $1.5 billion, as ELON MUSK WANTS well as Zip2, a dot-com media company that was sold for $307 million when he was just 27. TO COLONIZE MARS Meanwhile, Musk’s wife, Justine, a Electric sports cars. Solar power. Space travel. Finally, an novelist, gave birth to triplets last year. entrepreneur who’s not afraid to think really, really big. That means Musk now has five children BY MAX CHAFKIN under the age of 4, in addition to three companies to run. Perhaps that explains why it’s so rare to see Musk talk to some- one on the phone without simultaneously doing something else: pecking out an e-mail, scanning invoices, mulling over a spreadsheet, shopping for computer equipment, fiddling with his BlackBerry. He often does several of these things at once. The only tasks that seem to com- mand the entirety of his attention are technical discussions related to SpaceX’s soon-to-be-launched rocket, the Falcon 1, and job interviews. (Musk personally vets all of SpaceX’s employees, and he’s in the midst of a frantic—but so far fruitless— search for a CEO for Tesla.) To get through the day, Musk relies on two stimulants: caffeine and a desire to help humanity colonize Mars. The goal of putting people on Mars is ATCHING ELON MUSK AT generally speaks in complete, precise no joke. Musk believes that over the work is an exercise in sentences, rarely telling a joke or even 4.5-billion-year history of planet Earth, a controlling your urge cracking a smile. dozen or so events have truly mattered. to buy a man a drink. It’s not that Musk is an unpleasant Edging forward in his chair, he ticks off a MakeW that several drinks. Musk is 36 guy. He just happens to be really, really few: “There was the advent of single- years old, wicked smart, worth several busy. Musk is CEO, majority owner, and celled life, multicelled life, the develop- hundred million dollars, and built like a head rocket designer at SpaceX, an aero- ment of plants, then animals,” he says. tight end—thickset through the middle space start-up in El Segundo, California, “On this time scale, I’d put the extension and well over six feet tall. Yet he never that by 2011 plans to be hauling astro- of life to another planet slightly above the looks quite comfortable. Sitting in front nauts to and from the International Space transition from life in the oceans to life on of the oversize computer screen on his Station. And that’s just his day job. Musk land.” If there’s something insane about a desk, he rolls back and forth in his chair, has two more wildly ambitious start-ups CEO who thinks his company’s mission is slouches and unslouches, rubs his tem- in play—the electric-car maker Tesla more important than any accomplish- ples, raps his fingers, and plays with his Motors and the solar panel installer ment in all of human history, there’s also wedding ring. When he sighs, which he SolarCity; in both cases, he serves as something irresistible. does frequently, his chest heaves, and chairman and controlling shareholder. In Musk has distinguished himself by his eyes widen, like someone confront- fact, the South African native has been attempting things that most people who
ed with news of his own death. He building big, ambitious companies for care about avoiding personal bankruptcy JILL GREENBERG MUSK BY OF ELON PHOTOGRAPH
4 | TEN YEARS OF 5000
2007 december Striking Back at iP Pirate
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MuskCo-founded PayPal. Buılding “Really freaking smart” Elon Musk is the brains the coolest behind Tesla Motors, car ever. SolarCity, and SpaceX. Ready to colonıze
• VISIONARY Mars. The Handbook of the American Entrepreneur American the of Handbook The
Keeping up with Musk’s December 2007 $4.99 US $5.99 Canad a Blogger of the+Year Marc Andreessen Wonderboy of the Year businesses is no easy task Mark Zuckerberg Soul Searcher of the Howard SchultzYear
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would not even consider. Yet his bets tario; Kimbal joined him a year later. hicle. Meanwhile, Musk is struggling to seem to be paying off . In March, SpaceX, He transferred to the University of fi nd a CEO. “We need someone who into which Musk has poured $100 mil- Pennsylvania on a scholarship and can build Tesla into the next great car lion, launched a rocket 180 miles above completed a bachelor’s degree in fi - company,” he says. Earth. That was farther than any private- nance and one in physics. After gradu- A half hour’s drive south of the So- ly developed rocket in recent history. ating, in 1995, he moved to Palo Alto, larCity work site is another construction Meanwhile, Tesla Motors has gone from a California, having been accepted into project, a new headquarters for SpaceX. half-baked idea about a battery-powered Stanford’s physics PhD program, where The rocket company, which occupies sports car to a rare bright spot in the he planned to study a variety of energy fi ve large warehouses in El Segundo, is otherwise troubled American auto indus- storage device called capacitors. ready for a home becoming of its grand try. Finally, SolarCity, a mere 12 months after its founding, is one of the country’s largest installers of home solar panels, If there’s something insane about making the often-cumbersome process of a CEO who thinks his company’s switching to renewable energy as easy as buying a Dell. mission is more important than any If simultaneously shepherding three accomplishment in all of human history, disruptive companies sounds tough, it’s business as usual for Musk. As a 12-year- there’s also something irresistible. old growing up in the South African city of Pretoria with divorced parents, Musk Musk poured his energy into a com- ambitions, and Musk has picked out an created a video game, Blaster, and sold it pany he had founded called Zip2, which absurdly large one. The building, a giant to a computer magazine for the ungodly Compaq bought with cash for $307 shed right next to the Hawthorne air- sum of $500. About a year later, Elon and million. At the time, it was the largest port, takes up 11.4 acres and once his younger brother Kimbal, who has sum ever paid for an internet company, housed the factory that made fuselages long been Musk’s closest friend and chief making Musk a rich, but surprisingly for Boeing 747s. co-conspirator, drew up plans to open an unhappy, young man. The place is still under construction arcade near their school. “It was a very I fi rst spoke with Musk in the fall of when Musk shows me around, but you compelling proposition when you’re 13 2006, back when the Tesla Roadster can see that it will be special. Musk and you love video games,” Musk says, was still just a pretty prototype. “I’m a designed the building’s interior. Bob letting out a rare chuckle. They gave up Silicon Valley guy,” Musk said at the Reagan, who is supposed to be in charge when a city offi cial informed them that an time. “I just think people from Silicon of SpaceX’s manufacturing operation, adult’s signature would be required to Valley can do anything.” has been detailed to duty as construction obtain a permit and instead sold home- But Musk’s companies don’t look foreman. After pausing briefl y to urge made chocolates to their classmates. In much like the internet companies Reagan to make sure Scotchguard is his teenage years, Musk parlayed his Silicon Valley churns out these days. applied to the new cubicles, Musk points small entrepreneurial fortune into several Tesla Motors, like SpaceX, is an ambi- to some glimmering metal on the ceiling. thousand dollars of stock market gains. tious gamble aimed at an established “You’re never going to see ducts like that Just before Elon’s 16th birthday, and market. Tesla’s business plan calls for anywhere else,” he says, grinning. “Look without telling their parents, the broth- developing a less expensive sedan, code at those contours.” As we stroll onto ers took a bus to the Canadian embassy named White Star, over the next few what will become the factory fl oor, he and applied for passports. (Their moth- years, as well as opening a network of again looks up. “Those are 60-foot ceil- er, a Canadian national, now lives in dealerships and service centers. The ings with catwalks,” he says. “If there Manhattan.) A year later, Elon bought a company is also working to strike a were people walking up there, they’d be plane ticket to Canada and, over the deal with a major car manufacturer tiny.” There’s something strange and objections of his father, left South (which Musk declines to name) to touching about a man this intent on Africa for good. Musk enrolled in become a supplier of chassis and drive reaching the heavens who can pause to
PHOTOGRAPH OF ELON MUSK BY JILL GREENBERG MUSK BY OF ELON PHOTOGRAPH Queen’s University in Kingston, On- trains for a mass-market electric ve- marvel at a really high ceiling.
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 5 HONOREE SPOTLIGHT
Hard-to-Find Made Easier #4788 StarTech.com developed a niche by manufacturing all those IT connectivity parts that are needed but di cult to fi nd. StarTech.com
11 YEAR HONOREE WHEN PAUL SEED into a USB port. And though dial-up 2017 describes the earliest modems have essentially gone the days of StarTech.com, way of cassette players and manual a technology manu- typewriters, StarTech.com still sells � BY THE NUMBERS facturer specializing about 1,000 56k modems each year in hard-to-fi nd connectivity products, to folks that need them for specialized he likes to say the company was VC- applications. “We’re pretty much funded. “That’s Visa card, not venture known as the go-to place for all those capital,” he quickly adds with a laugh. things you can’t easily fi nd,” Seed says. DOUBLED Seed and co-founder Ken Kalopsis The company is doing well with this REVENUE started the company in 1986 after piv- formula. Seed says by the end of this OVER PAST oting from an earlier business that FIVE YEARS year annual global revenues will have delivered rented movies and VCRs to doubled to more than $225 million peoples’ homes. Seed says they soon since 2012. In 1996, the company 400 realized that the video rental business expanded into the U.S. from its home EMPLOYEES was about to get wildly competitive, base in London, Ontario, Canada, with and they wanted a product they could 200EMPLOYEES a 109,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacture and differentiate in the distribution center. It manufactures market. They had purchased a com- nearly 4,000 products and sells into puter for their video business, along 17 countries on four continents DOUBLED with a dust cover, and noticed that the through a network of 75,000 distribu- WORKFORCE plastic cover wasn’t very well made. OVER PAST tors and resellers. To support its “We fi gured we could do a better job FIVE YEARS growth, StarTech.com has doubled its and decided to start sewing them our- workforce over the last fi ve years and selves,” he says. That didn’t last long, now has approximately 400 employ- so they found a manufacturer that could do it better and sold the covers ees worldwide. “Having a dedicated 500 to small computer shops. Soon the pair team all focused around the same NEW PRODUCTS added anti-glare screens, anti-static goals and strategies has been critical LAUNCHED THIS to keep our growth momentum YEAR mats, and a suite of other offi ce prod- ucts. By 1990, Seeds says they were going,” says Seed. selling 85,000 dust covers a year. The chief says one of the biggest chal- As technology advanced, so too did lenges StarTech.com faces is keeping StarTech.com’s offerings. Seed and the company aligned and focused as it Kalopsis saw that the speed of com- reaches different infl ection points. “A puter technology meant that products big part of our success is due to the would go through faster iterations, but fact that we’re a customer company, the demand for small hard-to-fi nd not a computer parts company,” he parts to adapt to all this new equip- says. “We look at the problems our ment remained. So for instance, if customers are facing and design prod- MILLION someone has a serial port on his or ucts to meet those challenges. As long her computer, StarTech.com sells the as we stayed focused on that, we’ll be 9PRODUCTS SHIPPED IN adapter that allows a user to plug able to keep growing.” U.S. OVER PAST 12 MONTHS Find out more about StarTech.com and all of the other 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000
6 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 FROM THE ARCHIVES FEBRUARY 1987
• BE AFRAID Entrepreneurs experience fear others never know
number of times you can join. Now, I realize that I haven’t said a damn thing to help you deal with the terror or make it go away. Unfortunately, I Entrepreneurial don’t have any practical tips to give you. The only technique that I’ve found useful Starting a company? Get ready is to get in my car, all alone, and ride for the most terrifying experience around cursing with every four-letter of your life. BY WILSON HARRELL word in my vocabulary. But cursing aside, Terror let me off er a couple of pieces of advice. WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS A FEW Let me be clear that by terror I do First, never try to share your feelings of words to a particular group of not mean simply an intense kind of fear. terror with a friend. You will only be readers: those of you, young and The two are quite diff erent. Fear is passing along the stuff of which ulcers are not so young, who are starting when you almost get hit by a drunken made. The other person, after all, may your first company. By that act, driver. It’s usually accidental, unexpect- never have been on the roller coaster and you have joined a very special ed, and short-lived. Entrepreneurial may not be a member of the club. The organization. Admission is automatic; terror, on the other hand, is self-infl ict- chances are that he or she won’t be able to Ipermission is neither needed nor ed. It occurs when otherwise normal deal with the feelings you describe. By sought; tenure is indefinite. Welcome people make a conscious decision that sharing the terror, moreover, you are—in to the Club of Terror. carries them over the threshold of fear eff ect—asking the other person to share I myself have been a member of this into a private world fi lled with monsters the blame in case something goes wrong. club, and have known this terror, for sucking at every morsel of their being. That’s against the rules of the club. It is close to 35 years. I can assure you that There can be no sleep in this world, just conduct unbecoming of an entrepreneur. it is unlike anything you have ever wide-awake nightmares. The terror you Above all, don’t take terror home with experienced before. No longer do you feel has its own taste (bile), its own you. No matter how sorely tempted you have to be bothered with such ordinary smell (putrid), and its own gut-wrench- are, do not under any circumstances share feelings as concern, or frustration, or ing pain. And it doesn’t go away as long terror with people you love, unless they even fear. Those gentle things are the as you remain an entrepreneur. happen to be partners in your company. It least of your troubles now. You can put The more I think about it, the more will only make them despondent and them away as a child puts away toys. convinced I am that the terror comes from maybe even sick. They put up with From now on, you will be in the grip of the same thing that leads us to start com- enough just living around an entrepre- a human emotion that the good Lord, panies in the fi rst place—some basic, semi- neur. Besides, you need the experience. or more likely the Lord’s nemesis, conscious need to make our mark in the There is, however, something you created just for entrepreneurs. world, to leave our footprints in the sands can, and should, share with the people Now, I realize that you didn’t bar- of time. What we really fear, I suspect, is you love. I’m talking about the entrepre- gain on this when you started your that we might become another member of neurial high. By all means, take that company. Terror is something that the herd and pass into oblivion. home with you. entrepreneurs don’t expect, can’t es- The important thing, obviously, is to My own belief is that the ability to cape, and have no way of preparing for. get through that fi rst encounter, as some handle terror, to live with it, is the single You won’t fi nd any college course on the of you are trying to do right now. Don’t be most important—and, yes, necessary—in- subject—Handling Terror 101 and 102, alarmed if it seems to be more than you gredient of entrepreneurial success. I also or whatever. Nor are there any on-the- can stand. Recognize the terror for what believe that it is the lonely entrepreneur job training programs. To my knowl- it is, and get used to it, because it could be living with his or her personal terror who edge, nothing has ever been written yours for life. Learn to look it squarely in breathes life and excitement into an about entrepreneurial terror, either, the eye and spit on it. If you don’t, you otherwise dull and mundane world. From and few people even talk about it. As a probably won’t make the club, at least not that perspective, the Club of Terror is a result, it remains a deep, dark secret. this time. Of course, there’s no limit to the very exclusive one. Welcome.
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 7 SM
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©2017 Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. *Starting at price refers to base model Metris WORKER Cargo Van. Excludes all options, taxes, title, registration, transportation charge, and dealer prep fee. **$25,000 tax deduction for qualifying vehicles based on current Section 179 of U.S. tax code and maximum deduction permitted for such vehicles under Section 179. Vehicle must be purchased for business use. Please consult your tax professional for more information on applicability of deduction and whether you qualify for the maximum amount available. ***$8,750 tax savings based on 35% federal tax rate and eligibility to claim full $25,000 Section 179 vehicle deduction. Your tax rate and eligibility may vary. Please consult a tax professional for more information on your federal tax rate and potential tax savings available to you for qualifying purchases. 1. Valid only on 2016 or 2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Metris Vans (excluding Sprinter Cab Chassis and 2016 Sprinter Passenger Vans). Qualifi ed commercial customers only. 0.0% APR fi nancing for 24 months at $41.67 per month, per $1,000 fi nanced and 0.0% APR fi nancing for 36 months at $27.78 per month, per $1,000 fi nanced. 0.0% APR fi nancing on 2016 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Metris Vans (excluding Sprinter Cab Chassis and Sprinter Passenger Vans) up to 48 months at $20.83 per month, per $1,000 fi nanced. Excludes leases, balloon contracts, and National Fleet customers. Available only at participating authorized Mercedes-Benz Vans dealers through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS). Must take delivery of vehicle by January 2, 2018. Specifi c vehicles are subject to availability and may have to be ordered. Subject to credit approval by MBFS. Actual rates, terms, down payment, and program eligibility will be determined by the MBFS Credit Team based upon the creditworthiness of the customer. Program rates or terms may be changed, or the program may be terminated at any time, at the sole discretion of MBFS. Rate applies only to Mercedes-Benz Commercial Van vehicles. To qualify, the total amount fi nanced cannot exceed 110% of MSRP. See your authorized Mercedes-Benz Vans dealer for complete details on this and other fi nance offers. Offer valid through January 2, 2018. 2. 2-year complimentary scheduled maintenance services available on Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Metris Vans, excluding Sprinter Cab Chassis, Sprinter WORKER, 2016 Sprinter Passenger Vans, and Metris WORKER models. Services include one A Service and one B Service. 1-year complimentary scheduled maintenance services available on Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Cab Chassis, Sprinter WORKER, and Metris WORKER models. Services include one A Service. Customer will receive a voucher coupon in the mail for the 1-year scheduled maintenance8 | TEN offer. YEARS Offer excludes OF fl 5000eet vehicles. Must take delivery of vehicle between April 1, 2017 and January 2, 2018. See your authorized Mercedes-Benz Vans dealer for complete details on maintenance. Sprinter is the 2017 ALG Residual Value Award winner in the Fullsize Commercial Van segment. Metris is the 2017 ALG Residual Value Award winner in the Midsize Commercial Van segment. ALG is the industry benchmark for residual values and depreciation data, www.alg.com. Edmunds.com logo is a service mark of Edmunds.com. All rights reserved. ©2017 Edmunds.com HONOREE SPOTLIGHT
An Experience #4909 Like No Other InVision InVision helps clients get their message out while giving back. 8 YEAR HONOREE 2017 THE NEXT TIME YOU HELPING CLIENTS SUCCEED attend a user conference This emphasis on hiring talent that’s or splashy product in sync with InVision’s culture is one launch at a fancy hotel of the reasons why turnover is low. � BY THE NUMBERS or convention center, Mickels says 50 percent of staff has look around. It takes skillful planning and military-like precision to pull off such an been with the company fi ve years or event. Just ask the folks at InVision. more. Another big driver of growth They’ve been doing it for 26 years. has been learning how to stay ahead of what clients need. For instance, in DOUBLED Co-founders Rod Mickels and Drew its earliest days, InVision simply REVENUE Hagen started the company in 1991 OVER PAST staged a “company’s presentation in SM FIVE YEARS after working for a large national engagement and event company. Like the ballroom and made sure the ¨ many entrepreneurs, they thought slides they gave us were in the right 2016 Best Retained Value® Award they could take the concept and order,” Mickels says. improve upon it, and so with about Today, InVision is more strategically % $4,000 between them, they set out to involved, meeting with most clients 50 start InVision Communications. Today, months and even years in advance of the Walnut Creek, California-based an event in order to align with their company designs, manages, and pro- objectives. During these discussions Powerful. Capable. Deductible. OF EMPLOYEES duces corporate conferences, key- HAVE BEEN WITH notes, employee engagement with senior leaders, they’ll defi ne key THE COMPANY messages the client is looking to Purchase a Sprinter or Metris Van for your business before December 31 for up to a $25,000** tax deduction FIVE YEARS campaigns, and product launches for OR MORE companies such as Oracle, Coach, communicate to their audiences 1 on your Section 179 tax allowance, which means up to $8,750*** tax savings. Factor in the impressive 0% APR Genentech, Amway, and Microsoft, to before, during and after their events. and Complimentary Maintenance2 offers, and you’ll be saving big for years to come. Visit MBVans.com name a few. InVision has 130 employ- Then, they’ll execute the plan and ees and should reach $68 million in bring it to life. revenue by year end. STARTING AT “Giving back to the community THE 2017 $ * CEO Rod Mickels says their goals is another core value of InVision, MERCEDES-BENZ when starting the company were to dating back to its founding,” Mickels 25,995 create a culture that valued employees, says. Employees are given two paid FAMILY OF VANS Visit MBVans.com 10 treated clients well, and gave back to PERCENT days each year to go off and volun- society. “Drew and I just thought ‘How AVERAGE teer at their favorite causes. The ANNUAL would we want to be treated, and company also stages annual fund- EMPLOYEE what kind of people would we want to GROWTH raising events for at least 10 non- work with every day?’” he says. They answered that question by hiring folks profi ts each year, free of charge. who best exemplifi ed the kinds of “We don’t do it to get something in traits “that are taught in grade school,” return. Giving back to the commu- Mickels explains. “I can teach you nity is just the right thing to do for % Excel, but I can’t teach you how to be our staff and our clients in the areas 2 nice or treat others with respect.” that need it most. Everybody wins.”
©2017 Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. *Starting at price refers to base model Metris WORKER Cargo Van. Excludes all options, taxes, title, registration, transportation charge, and dealer prep fee. **$25,000 tax deduction for qualifying vehicles based on current Section 179 of U.S. tax code and maximum deduction permitted for such vehicles under Section 179. Vehicle must be purchased for business use. OF ANNUAL Please consult your tax professional for more information on applicability of deduction and whether you qualify for the maximum amount available. ***$8,750 tax savings based on 35% federal tax rate and INCOME eligibility to claim full $25,000 Section 179 vehicle deduction. Your tax rate and eligibility may vary. Please consult a tax professional for more information on your federal tax rate and potential tax savings DONATED TO Find out more about InVision and all of the other available to you for qualifying purchases. 1. Valid only on 2016 or 2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Metris Vans (excluding Sprinter Cab Chassis and 2016 Sprinter Passenger Vans). Qualifi ed commercial NONPROFIT 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000 customers only. 0.0% APR fi nancing for 24 months at $41.67 per month, per $1,000 fi nanced and 0.0% APR fi nancing for 36 months at $27.78 per month, per $1,000 fi nanced. 0.0% APR fi nancing on 2016 ORGANIZATIONS Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Metris Vans (excluding Sprinter Cab Chassis and Sprinter Passenger Vans) up to 48 months at $20.83 per month, per $1,000 fi nanced. Excludes leases, balloon contracts, and National Fleet customers. Available only at participating authorized Mercedes-Benz Vans dealers through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS). Must take delivery of vehicle by January 2, 2018. Specifi c vehicles are subject to availability and may have to be ordered. Subject to credit approval by MBFS. Actual rates, terms, down payment, and program eligibility will be determined by the MBFS Credit Team based upon the creditworthiness of the customer. Program rates or terms may be changed, or the program may be terminated at any time, at the sole discretion of MBFS. Rate applies only to Mercedes-Benz Commercial Van vehicles. To qualify, the total amount fi nanced cannot exceed 110% of MSRP. See your authorized Mercedes-Benz Vans dealer for complete details on this and other fi nance offers. Offer valid through January 2, 2018. 2. 2-year complimentary scheduled maintenance services available on Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Metris Vans, excluding Sprinter Cab Chassis, Sprinter WORKER, 2016 Sprinter Passenger Vans, and Metris WORKER models. Services include one A Service and one B Service. 1-year complimentary scheduled maintenance services available on Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Cab Chassis, Sprinter WORKER, and Metris WORKER models. Services include one A Service. Customer will receive a voucher coupon in the mail for the 1-year scheduled maintenance offer. Offer excludes fl eet vehicles. Must take delivery of vehicle between April 1, 2017 and January 2, 2018. See your authorized Mercedes-Benz Vans dealer for complete details on INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 9 maintenance. Sprinter is the 2017 ALG Residual Value Award winner in the Fullsize Commercial Van segment. Metris is the 2017 ALG Residual Value Award winner in the Midsize Commercial Van segment. ALG is the industry benchmark for residual values and depreciation data, www.alg.com. Edmunds.com logo is a service mark of Edmunds.com. All rights reserved. ©2017 Edmunds.com HONOREE SPOTLIGHT
Making Marketing #3968 More E ective MAQ Software MAQ Software uses data to help sales and 9 YEAR HONOREE marketing teams improve their campaigns. 2017 PRIOR TO STARTING Like all companies, Agarwal says MAQ MAQ Software in 2000, Software’s customers are looking to � BY THE NUMBERS Rajeev Agarwal worked increase sales by either selling more to for Microsoft for nearly their existing customers or fi nding new seven years. During his customers. Recently, the company’s time at the software giant, he was software solutions helped one large % involved with product marketing, customer fi nd sales opportunities with 90 including pricing, packaging, advertis- its installed base of users. MAQ Soft- ing, and the positioning of Microsoft’s ware analyzed past product purchases products. One of the things he realized and product use patterns and com- CLIENT RETENTION over time was that there was a lot of pared them with their industry, geog- RATE ineffi ciency when it came to how sales raphy, and company size. Based on the and marketing budgets were spent. information gleaned from very large, disparate databases, MAQ Software “At the time, and to a large extent helped focus the efforts of the cus- even today, return on marketing tomer’s sales teams and increase investments was diffi cult to quantify,” revenue opportunities. says Agarwal, who has a mechanical engineering degree from the Indian One of the key drivers of the compa- Institute of Technology, an MS in engi- ny’s growth (it has been on the Inc. 16 neering from Iowa State University, 5000 list nine times) is its learning cul- YEARS and an MBA from the University of ture, says Agarwal. “The rapid pace of SALES GROWTH Michigan. He’s also the author of What technological change—and our ability I Did Not Learn in B-School, recently to quickly embrace new technology— published by Penguin. creates new opportunities for us to help our customers leverage the latest That’s why he started MAQ Software. software capabilities,” he says. 50,000 The Redmond, Washington-based SQUARE FEET company delivers innovative software That means MAQ Software employees OFFICE SPACE solutions for large corporations, includ- must have a “learn it fi rst” mindset. WORLDWIDE ing Microsoft, Amazon, and Starbucks, “Learning fi rst puts pressure on team to help their marketing teams analyze members since there are fewer books, and predict how well—and effi ciently— reference materials, and websites to they’re using their marketing budgets. learn from,” he adds. But by being $ The company works with customers in early adopters of new technology, the 1M multiple industries, including technol- company’s own productivity has SPENT ON ogy, retail, energy, and health care, and increased, putting it in a better posi- ENGINEERS’ it uses cloud computing, data analyt- tion to serve customers. Agarwal TECHNICAL CERTIFICATIONS ics, and artifi cial intelligence (AI) to explains, “Team members that choose design its solutions. MAQ Software has to stay in the company are more 100 employees in Redmond and 400 accepting of the rapid pace of techno- employees in India working at three logical change and can adapt to new state-of-the-art engineering centers. environments quickly.”
Find out more about MAQ Software and all of the other 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000
10 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 FROM THE ARCHIVES OCTOBER 2013
grateful that West Point’s rock-climbing team had turned out to coach him. THE RE-EDUCATION Glancing around the gym, Collins could see numerous other cadets strug- gling with various obstacles; some of them OF JIM COLLINS were not much farther along than he was. The author of Good to Great went to West Point to teach Most of them had at least one or two other leadership. Instead, he was the one who got schooled. cadets standing nearby, coaching, critiqu- ing, and cheering on their compatriots. by bo burlingham That struck Collins as interesting. West Point is a highly competitive place. Every cadet wants to do the obstacle course faster than his or her peers. Every cadet also is extremely busy. Yet these cadets were taking time away from their studies and other duties to help their friends get through the course. Collins had seen the same phenom- enon among his students. And not only were the cadets more collegial, but they seemed to be happier—much happier— than students at civilian universities, including those he had taught during his seven years on the Stanford faculty. Which was odd. After all, West Point cadets lead extremely demanding lives. Nearly every minute of every day is pro- grammed, and every aspect of their lives is T WAS A WARM, LATE-SUMMER AFTERNOON the best-selling business-book author regimented, down to the color of their on the banks of the Hudson who was visiting West Point to hold socks and the way razors must be posi- River, and a large contingent of seminars on leadership. “No, sir,” a cadet tioned in their medicine cabinets. Mean- cadets had gathered in the Hayes said to him. “You don’t want to do it like while, they are constantly being tested GymnasiumI on the campus of the that, sir. You look like an old man, sir. You both physically and mentally—and they United States Military Academy. need to do it this way.” often fall short. This goes on for four years Dressed in gray T-shirts and black “I am an old man!” Collins murmured. with almost no letup, followed by five shorts, they had come to train for the Then, he tried it again. years of active duty. Academy’s grueling Indoor Obstacle Why was the author of such business How, Collins wondered, did such a Course Test, which involves jumping classics as Built to Last and Good to Great burdensome environment produce such through tires, climbing ropes, swinging competing with college students less than a happy, lively, and confident cohort of on monkey bars, leaping over barriers, half his age? For one thing, Collins, 55, is young men and women? In business, running along a balance beam, and an avid climber and seldom shies from a happy cultures tend to be associated sprinting around a track with a medi- physical challenge. But what Collins really with pool tables, foosball, Friday-after- cine ball, among other physical feats. wanted was the opportunity to interact noon beer parties, and dogs in the of- Cadets say it is one of the hardest parts with cadets, to experience what they fice—in a word, fun. A cadet’s life is of a West Point education. experience. With that in mind, he had set anything but fun. And yet these young On one side of the gym, a group of himself the goal of completing the course people seem to get something out of cadets watched an older, gray-haired in the same time required of all male their lives that is missing from the lives man trying to mount a shelf eight feet cadets before they can graduate—three of many of their contemporaries.
PHOTOGRAPH OF JIM COLLINS (RIGHT) BY MILLER MOBLEY (RIGHT) BY OF JIM COLLINS PHOTOGRAPH above the ground. He was Jim Collins, and a half minutes or less. So he was •CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 11 • GOOD TO GREAT Even Jim Collins could learn from West Point cadets
When Collins was off ered West Point’s “No,” they said, more or less in unison. huge and audacious challenges Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Lead- “From the outside, it looks like ev- should we give people that will push ership in the early summer of 2011, he was erything here is diffi cult,” Collins said. “I them hard and make them grow?” in the midst of preparing for the publica- think you can go through most universi- • COMMUNAL SUCCESS, or, “What can tion of his fourth bestseller, Great by ties without ever having a big inadequacy we do to reinforce the idea that we Choice, which would wrap up a quarter- moment. That doesn’t seem possible here. succeed only by helping each other?” century of research into great companies. You keep getting decked. So why do you His time at West Point has also given Although he faced a packed schedule in keep getting back up?” Collins a new appreciation for some the coming year, he couldn’t resist the “It’s better to fail here and have other aspects of leadership that he had not opportunity. For one thing, he was curious people help you get it right than to fail in previously thought much about. The fi rst about the place itself. West Point has been Afghanistan, where the consequences has to do with frontline, or unit-level, turning out “leaders of character” for could be catastrophic,” said another cadet, leadership. “I have come to see how more than 200 years. “I expect that it will Christer Horstman. important it is,” he says. “We tend to transform my thinking in some way,” think that what matters is having out- Collins told me a week before he started. standing leadership at the senior level. “I have this feeling something’s going to “Great leadership But great leadership at the top doesn’t happen to me that will set me on a new at the top doesn’t amount to much if you don’t have excep- trajectory, a renewing path.” tional leadership at the unit level. That’s When I spoke to him again after his amount to much where great things get done.” fi rst seminar, he was even more enthusi- if you don’t have Second, he has realized that great astic than he had been. Back in 2006, he leadership comes in two forms. One form had trained with Tommy Caldwell, a exceptional lead- Collins describes as being the right tool in 35-year-old Coloradan who is widely the toolbox at a particular moment in viewed as one of the greatest rock ership at the unit history: “The world needs a Phillips-head climbers of all time. The two had level.” screwdriver, and you are a Phillips-head formed a close bond, so Collins invited screwdriver. You can get exceptional him to participate in the seminar. On the “Here, everybody knows it’s a learning results, but they tend to be less durable night before the seminar, I joined Col- experience,” said Hunkler. because when the world needs a socket lins and 10 cadets for dinner. For a cou- “Yes, and you’ve put yourselves in an wrench, you’re not one.” The other type of ple of hours, they discussed a range of environment where you can’t go through great leader adapts and grows as demands topics, from the qualities of great lead- without failing,” Collins said. change: “When Steve Jobs got booted ers to the risks and rewards of contrari- Indeed, repeated failure was built into from Apple, a lot of people thought he was anism. Then Collins changed the West Point’s culture. Yet that didn’t seem a tool in a toolbox. They were wrong.” subject. “What is the opposite side of to faze the cadets in the least. Third, leaders need to know when to success?” he asked. But Collins, of course, is best known become followers, and followers need to “Isn’t it failure?” one cadet responded. for pondering the secrets of organization- know when to become leaders. “The “Well, let’s talk about failure,” said al, not personal, success. So what do these ability to toggle between leading and Collins. “How many of you have experi- West Point revelations mean for company following is critical,” he says, “because enced failure?” They all nodded or leaders whose shelves are lined with circumstances change.” raised a hand. Collins’s books? Ultimately, Collins says, he has come “Failure is part of life here,” said a He sees a number of useful lessons. away believing more strongly than ever diminutive female cadet, Kiley Hunkler. First, “if you want to build a culture of in the urgent need to learn how to de- “There’s a recurring sense of inadequacy,” engaged leaders and a great place to velop great leaders. “I’m convinced that she says. “For a 200-pound linebacker, it’s work,” he says, “you need to spend time every major problem we face as a coun- having to do a cartwheel. For me, it’s the thinking about three things.” try is a leadership problem,” he says. survival swim in full combat gear.” • SERVICE to “a cause or purpose we “Whether it’s short-term thinking in “Does anyone get through West Point are passionately dedicated to and are business or a problem with government without feeling that sense of inadequacy?” willing to suff er and sacrifi ce for.” performance, every problem requires Collins asked the group. • CHALLENGE and growth, or, “What superb leadership to solve.”
12 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 HONOREE SPOTLIGHT
A Better Way to Buy #4547 Purchasing Power lets employees purchase the things Purchasing they need (and want) through simple payroll deductions. Power
10 YEAR HONOREE NEARLY SIX IN 10 ON-DEMAND BUYING 2017 Americans don’t The other way Purchasing Power sets have $500 in savings itself apart from other e-commerce to cover an platforms is that it doesn’t have to � BY THE NUMBERS unplanned expense— own warehouses or stock inventory. the refrigerator breaks down or the car Scott Rosenberg, president, says that needs new tires—according to a January as a virtual retailer, the company % report from Bankrate. That’s where doesn’t place an order with a vendor 94 Purchasing Power comes in. This until an employee actually makes a Atlanta-based e-retailer enables workers purchase on its site. But just like a at more than 300 compa nies—each of traditional retailer, Purchasing Power CLIENT which has more than 1,000 employees— makes money by buying goods RETENTION RATE organizations, and government agencies wholesale and then conservatively across the U.S. The company allows cus- marking up the price of the 55,000 or tomers to purchase brand-name con- so products it sells. The company is sumer products, online education doing well with this model. Revenue services, and vacation packages through should approach $500 million this pay roll deductions rather than using year, up 20 percent over 2016. In fact, 2.5 cash or a credit card. The deductions are top-line growth has been averaging 15 BILLION made over 12 months, and there is no percent for the past fi ve years. interest or fees on any purchase. DOLLARS One of the other macro-trends driving IN ORDERS CEO Richard Carrano joined the com- Purchasing Power’s robust growth is PROCESSED pany in 2001 when it was fi rst testing corporate America’s increasing inter- SINCE COMPANY INCEPTION the concept and says Purchasing Power est in their employees’ fi nancial well- differs from other online retailers in sev- ness. “The recession that began in eral important ways. First, its offerings 2008 really made companies aware of are available as part of a company’s how fi nancial issues can affect their 1,800+ employee benefi ts program. This cap- employees and the impact that has on BRANDS tures a huge potential audience right work,” Carrano says. By offering cash- OFFERED ON from the start. In fact, today Carrano strapped workers an easier way to WEBSITE says Purchasing Power reaches more make big-ticket purchases without than 7 million workers. The amount that the stress of ballooning credit card employees can spend is based on a interest and potential late fees, he proprietary formula that takes into says companies are offering employ- account how long they have been with ees peace of mind while driving bet- their company and their salary, but ter productivity and retention. The %% generally their total outstanding bal- trend is also giving Purchasing Power 1515 ance is never more than 7 percent to 9 a new way to give back to its custom- percent of their annual income. This ers: In 2014, it launched a fi nancial AVERAGE practice helps employees maintain wellness platform of tools and REVENUE more responsible buying habits. resources free to its customers. GROWTH, 2012-2016
Find out more about Purchasing Power and all of the other 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 13 Your Vision. Our Insight.
No matter what you envision for the future of your company, we can help open a world of possibilities. Harris Williams & Co., trusted advisor of Inc. 5000 companies, has been executing M&A transactions for growing middle market businesses across multiple industries for more than 25 years. Visit harriswilliams.com to learn more and to hear from other CEOs about their experiences. With the right connections, the future is yours.
HARRIS WILLIAMS & CO. IS THE PREMIER M&A ADVISOR SERVING COMPANIES.
www.harriswilliams.com
©2017. Investment banking services are provided by Harris Williams LLC, a registered broker dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC conducts business. Your Vision. HONOREE SPOTLIGHT Our Insight. America’s Health #3828 Is Their Specialty American Specialty Health American Specialty Health Incorporated is bending the health care cost curve one member at a time with fi tness, well-being 8 YEAR HONOREE and musculoskeletal health programs. 2017 IF YOU HAD ASKED and fi tness programs to Fortune 1000 George DeVries back in employer groups nationwide. Last year, � BY THE NUMBERS 1987 whether he would the company had revenues of about $435 43.7M one day lead one of the million. DeVries estimates that revenues fastest-growing privately for 2017 will be just shy of $500 million. held companies in the United States, he STAYING TRUE TO THE MISSION just might have responded “Why not?” DeVries believes his company’s success For some people, entrepreneurship is all 4.1M comes largely from two key characteris- but destiny. DeVries, co-founder, chairman tics: having a strong team of people and and CEO of American Specialty Health staying true to the original mission of the Incorporated (ASH), grew up with a strong company. “We started out this company desire to create a company one day. His and launched each new product with the 10.5x dad and both grandfathers all started and mission of improving the quality of care MEMBERSHIP ran their own businesses. “I guess you can that members receive and bending the GROWTH say starting and building a company was in SINCE 1999 cost curve of health care. We’ve been suc- my DNA,” DeVries says. cessful in doing that for our health plan The company he co-founded in Southern clients and employer groups. And that California started out of a second bedroom makes all the difference,” he says. in his condo, funded by just $5,000 in seed money from his own pocket. DeVries’ ORGANIC GROWTH THROUGH vision was to develop a provider network CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS No matter what you envision for the future of your company, we can help open a world of 30 of chiropractors in California and offer DeVries meets with customers regularly to possibilities. Harris Williams & Co., trusted advisor of Inc. 5000 companies, has been chiropractic services to health plans, in the plan product line expansion. “The prod- same way that dental and vision providers ucts and programs we offer are all based executing M&A transactions for growing middle market businesses across multiple industries CONSECUTIVE did. ASH added its fi rst client in 1988—a on constant communication and feedback harriswilliams.com for more than 25 years. Visit to learn more and to hear from other YEARS large California health plan—gaining 14,000 from our customers,” DeVries says. “Our new ‘Empowered Decisions!TM ’ program CEOs about their experiences. With the right connections, the future is yours. OF MEMBERSHIP members in the fi rst year. GROWTH was originally focused on pain manage- Today, ASH administers provider networks, ment. After customers told us about the fi tness programs, and population health importance of addressing the dangers of programs for more than 130 health plans opioid use among members with chronic and more than 43 million Americans pain, we added a component to do so.” HARRIS WILLIAMS & CO. IS THE PREMIER M&A ADVISOR nationally. The company’s nationwide provider network now includes more than DeVries says such customer communica- 132 tion reveals gaps between offerings and PERCENT 63,000 acupuncturists, physical thera- SERVING COMPANIES. pists, podiatrists, and other specialists. what is needed. “That’s how we’re address- 5-YEAR ing real needs in the market,” he says. REVENUE Clients include Anthem Blue Cross Blue GROWTH Shield, Cigna, and Kaiser Permanente, to Learn more about American Specialty name a few. They also provide well-being Health at ASHCompanies.com.
Learn more about ASH and the other 2.5x 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000 EMPLOYEE GROWTH SINCE 1999 www.harriswilliams.com
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 15 ©2017. Investment banking services are provided by Harris Williams LLC, a registered broker dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC conducts business. FROM THE ARCHIVES JUNE 2014
Lolly Wolly Doodle brought in about $11 million in 2013, and it has roughly The Startup doubled its revenue every year since its inception in 2009. It expects revenue to That Conquered double again this year. Last June, Revo- lution Growth, a fund started by AOL co-founder Steve Case, invested $20 Facebook Sales million in the company, and (of course) aims to make it a multibillion-dollar How a small-town manufacturer became the brand. The size of Case’s investment— hottest seller on social media. BY TOM FOSTER and a look at how Temple’s business will probably evolve—suggests that Lolly has done more than solve the social-com- merce conundrum. Along the way, Temple has created an innovative, U.S.- based manufacturing process and sup- ply chain that feed off the brand’s social media cues to maximize efficiency. Temple didn’t plan on becoming a CEO. “Really, I wanted to be a trophy wife,” she says, laughing at her former self. “I wanted to support a great husband and look cute.” This strategy led her to get married and have a son when she was in her 20s (the marriage ended in divorce), and then to move to Orlando, where she got engaged again and had a daughter with Fran Papasedero, the coach of the Orlando Predators arena football team. N A SQUAT LITTLE STRUCTURE e-commerce establishment. Behind that One night, on his way home from a overlooking a highway access little piece of paper on the door is a team dinner, Papasedero crashed his car road in Lexington, North Caro- company that says it does more sales on and died, apparently as a result of driv- lina, smack in the hilly, pork-lov- Facebook than any other brand in the ing drunk. Temple moved back to Lex- Iing Piedmont region, a revolution is world. And outsiders seem to agree. ington, where her family has lived for brewing. There’s no sign on the build- “I have an e-commerce crush on generations. Within a few months, she ing, but a piece of paper is taped to the Lolly Wolly Doodle,” says Will Young, met Will Temple, her current husband, door: Lolly Wolly Doodle, it says, as if in the director of Zappos Labs. As a rough and they combined their two families, some Southern code. Lolly Wolly Doo- benchmark for Lolly Wolly Doodle’s Brady Bunch-style (he had a son from a dle. That’s the name of an unassuming social success, Young points out that the previous relationship). online children’s clothing company company has about 900,000 fans on The company Will worked for started by Brandi Temple, a likable local Facebook, whereas Zappos has 1.5 mil- thrived during the housing boom of the mom who had never held a corporate lion. “But its business is a tiny fraction mid-2000s, but over the course of 2009, job when she started posting her home- of our size,” he adds. More important, the construction business stalled, and made dresses on the web five years Temple’s fans are delivering: “Lolly,” the couple watched Will’s earnings drop ago—and then managed to seize one of says Young, “has been able to do some- by half. Brandi, meanwhile, had started the holy grails of online sales. thing that no big brand has been able to sewing clothes for her two daughters, Over the past year or so, Lolly Wolly do, which is to convince people to actu- who were five years apart, much as her
Doodle has become the envy of the ally buy on Facebook.” •CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 SHEA DANIEL OF BRANDI TEMPLE BY PHOTOGRAPH
16 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 HONOREE SPOTLIGHT
“Get It Done” Is a Mantra #4962 and a Business Model Integrated Project Management The ability to execute a new strategy or product rollout is critical to a company’s success. Integrated Project 8 YEAR HONOREE Management makes sure it’s done on time and on budget. 2017
BACK IN 1988, WHEN company has 162 employees and C. Richard Panico � BY THE NUMBERS works with 45 to 55 clients at any started his company, given time. Engagements run any- Integrated Project where from two to three months to Management Company several years. Panico says revenues (IPM), the very idea of project manage- have grown between 8 percent and 10 ment was fuzzy at best, and certainly percent each year and should reach DOUBLED not considered a profession on which $35.5 million for fi scal year 2017 end- VOLUNTEER to build a business. But Panico, an exec- ing in February. HOURS utive for 15 years in the consumer and DONATED BY EMPLOYEES personal products divisions at Johnson What sets IPM apart from some of the OVER PAST & Johnson, saw it differently. To him, the bigger consulting fi rms, Panico claims, FIVE YEARS issues that kept companies from truly is the culture and the quality of the succeeding had little to do with great work of the fi rm. He looks for people ideas or talented employees. What not only with the right educational skills most often derailed a business looking (an undergraduate degree in engineer- to introduce a new product or integrate ing or one of the sciences and a gradu- % 63 a recent acquisition had to do with a ate or business degree) but, more lack of discipline in the execution. “Even importantly, the proper soft skills. with great strategies and great employ- “When working with our clients, we ees, if a company can’t execute reliably REVENUE need people that can infl uence without GROWTH it will get very little value from those authority,” he says. “If we’re working OVER PAST capabilities,” he says. FIVE YEARS with a company that’s experienced very Today, few companies would doubt the diffi cult times and where the future essential role that project management may be uncertain, our people have to plays in achieving business objectives. be able to inspire performance and That evolution has been part of the often establish a ‘micro-culture’ focused driving force behind IPM’s success for on positive outcomes for stakeholders 106 nearly 30 years. The Chicago-based and the company.” CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS fi rm works with public and private SUPPORTED companies of all sizes, ranging from IPM’s model is paying dividends. The major corporations to startups in areas company says client retention is like healthcare, life sciences, and con- consistently more than 90 percent. Such sumer and industrial products. Panico stability has enabled it to expand across says the scope of the work varies but the country to seven offi ces. This not only allows the fi rm to stay closer to its % often includes helping companies 54 launch new products, integrate acquisi- clients, but it helps cut down on the tions, or introduce new software accu- amount of travel employees must do, rately, on time, and on budget. The giving them a better work/life balance.
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH OVER PAST FIVE Find out more about Integrated Project YEARS Management and all of the other 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000 PHOTOGRAPH OF BRANDI TEMPLE BY DANIEL SHEA DANIEL OF BRANDI TEMPLE BY PHOTOGRAPH
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 17 • DRESS SUCCESS A garage startup beat retail giants at online selling mom and grandmother had done for could to keep up with the demand. She service Hashable and, earlier, a VP at her. The clothes had a certain ruffl ed, fi lled her garage with friends-and-fami- HotJobs. The former e-commerce chief matchy, Southern charm: “I wanted ly seamstresses. By day, they would sew at Quidsi, the parent company of Dia- something that was cute for church that dresses and boys’ rompers and post pers.com, now heads up Lolly’s New didn’t cost an arm and a leg, and I want- them on Facebook and take orders. At York tech team. Recently, John Single- ed to be able to monogram it,” she says. night, they would send out invoices and ton, a former JCPenney and Abercrom- “I wanted the kids to look wholesome ship product. Everybody pitched in. bie & Fitch executive, came on to build and look their age.” Will learned to monogram. Brandi’s dad better supply chain and manufacturing She fi gured she could post her fi n- would cook a family meal, and every- processes. “Brandi is recruiting some of ished garments on eBay as samples and body would sit around the kitchen the very best people in the world,” says off er to make more, on demand, in a size working late into the night. Donn Davis, the co-founder of Revolu- range that would use up all her rem- nants. She started to show her garments at Junior League events and began to “ If traditional garment manufacturing is establish a small following for Lolly a pretty straightforward assembly-line Wolly Doodle. One day, looking to scale her fl edg- aff air, the seamstresses at Lolly work ling business, Temple found a company more like short-order cooks in a diner in China through the website Alibaba and asked it to make a few dresses based where the menu changes daily.” on one of her patterns. When they came in, the smocked zebras looked more like It wasn’t just Facebook that made it a tion Growth and a member of Lolly’s cows, and the sewing wasn’t up to her good business. Temple was making each board since his fi rm’s $20 million in- standards. Wary of getting bad feedback dress to order, so she had virtually no vestment last year. on eBay, she posted the pieces on Lolly’s inventory risk. She could also react What Temple is really doing, says Facebook page and asked people to quickly to customer preferences, tailor- Davis, is “reinventing apparel much as Dell comment and leave their email address ing her designs accordingly. And be- reinvented the PC industry. It’s aff ordable if they wanted to buy them cheap; she cause she was selling her goods directly custom [manufacturing] in real time with would just send them a PayPal invoice. to consumers, she was able to cut out little inventory risk.” The real innovation is She had 153 Facebook fans, mostly Ju- layers of markups and off er great prices. using social media as the starting point for nior League contacts. This kept the sewing process simple— a new e-commerce model that’s powered “I walked away from the computer she didn’t have to reinvent her patterns, by a social feedback loop. and came back in like 30 seconds, and just riff on them—and eliminated much Temple still marvels at how she has all the dresses were gone!” she remem- of the guesswork of merchandising. arrived at this point. She has “been bers. That afternoon, she tested a few “When something went crazy, I would blessed,” she likes to say. Asked how much other designs on Facebook, off ering to go really deep into that style and those her faith has been a part of Lolly’s success make them to order, just as she had been colors,” she says. “And if it didn’t, then story, she replies, “It is the story,” she says. doing on eBay. She had never seen any- forget it.” Those same dynamics power “That moment I had the idea to put some- one sell anything this way (no one had), the business today. thing on Facebook ....” She chokes up and and didn’t really understand how Face- With about 250 employees, Lolly has to collect herself. “That idea didn’t book worked. She never used the social Wolly Doodle is now one of the largest come from me. God had a purpose in network, personally. But she sold more employers in Lexington. Increasingly, reaching out to build this business. From that fi rst day on the site than she had in however, Lolly is not a local operation: our missions in Africa to our Moms in a the previous month on eBay. Its fourth location is in New York City, Jam” —two of the company’s recent phil- Temple closed her eBay store a few and a cadre of experienced retail and anthropic eff orts—“to the people we weeks later, and over the next six technology hands have climbed aboard. employ, it’s not about me creating a busi- months, she says, she slept two hours a The COO, Emily Hickey, was a co- ness. It was about what we could all do night and made as many dresses as she founder of the business-networking together, the pay-it-forward mentality.”
18 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 HONOREE SPOTLIGHT
Getting a Handle #3527 on Telecom Bills Tellennium Any company with voice and data bills understands how 11 YEAR HONOREE expensive and complex they can be. Tellennium cuts through 2017 all of that confusion and saves clients time and money.
� BY THE NUMBERS FOR CORPORATIONS get computer and phone services with thousands of up and running, will neglect to review employees, multiple their bills. “Months or years can go by, locations, and scores and they don’t realize they’re being of mobile devices, the overcharged for some services and 192 ability to keep it all straight—and accu- paying for others they’re no longer PERCENT rate—is a monumental task. Tellennium, using,” he says. REVENUE a Louisville, Kentucky-based fi rm, pro- Because Tellennium is not affi liated GROWTH OVER vides midsize to large companies with PAST FIVE with any service providers, they are YEARS a cloud-based service that takes care completely objective when working of everything to do with telecom ser- with companies to fi nd cost effi cien- vices and charges. Invoices, contracts, cies. Tellennium can work with clients carrier services, mobile device procure- in any industry, but has found a partic- ment, technology device management, ularly strong need lately in the health and even assistance with moves and care sector. “There are so many merg- changes, are all handled through Tel- 11 ers and acquisitions taking place, and lennium’s platform. as a result, there are more challenges Founder and CEO Greg McIntyre, who for these organizations where our ser- CONSECUTIVE started the company as a telecom con- vices will have an even greater impact,” YEARS sulting fi rm in 1999, claims Tellennium the CEO says. saves clients an average of 28 percent ON INC. 500/ With a lean staff of 35 employees 5000 LIST on their communications technology (many non-core functions such as expenses, not to mention thousands human resources, marketing, sales, and of hours of employee time sorting software development are outsourced) them all out. “Large companies get Tellennium has been able to grow rev- thousands of pages of bills and don’t enues at a double-digit pace every % realize how often there are errors and year, predominately from clients based overcharges,” he says. 28 in the U.S. Perhaps most impressive is Tellennium’s systems audit these bills the fact that the company’s client to make sure there are no errors and to retention rate is about 94 percent. AVERAGE CLIENT’S ensure that companies aren’t being “We don’t really lose customers,” he SAVINGS charged for unnecessary services. For says. “When you can prove that you’re instance, McIntyre says, companies will saving a company signifi cant time and often move offi ces, and in the rush to money, they tend to stick around.”
Tellennium Find out more about Tellennium and all of the CommunicationsC Technology Management™ other 2017 Inc. 5000 honorees at inc.com/inc5000 18 YEARS IN BUSINESS
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 19 FROM THE ARCHIVES MAY 1996 YOUR BUSINESS • PETER PRINCIPLES Drucker’s wisdom has stood the test of time
DRUCKER: Yes. Starting out, the typical founder does everything himself. He TIME FOR NEW THINKING has helpers, but he doesn’t have col- PETER DRUCKER ON ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPLACENCY leagues. Then suddenly everything goes wrong. The quality falls out of bed. AND DELUSIONS. BY GEORGE GENDRON Customers don’t pay. Deliveries are missed. To avoid a crisis, you should sit ETER DRUCKER’S INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (Harper & Row, 1985) is down and create a management team. still the most authoritative book on the subject. At 86, Drucker is Clarke By that time you have maybe 40 people Professor of Social Science and Management at Claremont Graduate working for you. Look them over to see School, in California. Both the man and his work have been my intellec- who shows management ability. You And so should your HR solution. tualP compass for the past two decades. He possesses the boundless curiosity of a call in those four or fi ve people (you’re great reporter but combines it with a refusal to be cynical about the individuals and not likely to have more), and you say, “I institutions he observes. want each of you to sit down alone next Automated data processors can’t see your people. weekend and look at the other people INC.: Do you agree that we in the United pitfalls—where the new and growing here, including me. Don’t look at your- They don’t understand your passion. And they States are the best practitioners of entre- business typically gets into trouble. All self. Look at the others, and think about don’t follow through on their promises. But we do. preneurship, that we’re way ahead of are foreseeable and avoidable. The fi rst what each of them is good at.” And then Let your business come alive with Insperity. other countries? comes when the entrepreneur has to you all sit down together, take a fresh face the fact that the new product or sheet of paper, and list the key activities DRUCKER: Absolutely not! It’s a delusion, of the business. Today we call this “es- and a dangerous one. We may have the service is not successful where he or she insperity.com | 855-677-0397 tablishing our core competencies.” largest number of new-business starts and thought it would be but is successful in new-business failures, but that’s all. We’re a totally diff erent market. Many busi- INC.: What about innovation and entre- probably not even number two. nesses disappear because the founder- preneurship in government? entrepreneur insists that he or she INC.: Who’s number one? DRUCKER: That’s probably our most im- knows better than the market. And portant challenge. Look, no government DRUCKER: Undoubtedly Korea. Barely 40 pitfall number two is that entrepreneurs in any major developed country really years ago, Korea had no industry at all. believe that profi t is what matters most works anymore. The United States, the The Japanese, who had ruled Korea for in a new enterprise. But profi t is sec- United Kingdom, Germany, France, decades, didn’t allow any. They also ondary. Cash fl ow matters most. Grow- Japan—none have a government the didn’t allow any higher education, so ing bodies need to be fed, and a business citizens respect or trust. Modern govern- there were practically no educated that grows fast devours cash. You have ment needs innovation. What we have people in Korea. By the end of the Ko- to make constant investments just to now is roughly 400 years old. The inven- rean War, South Korea had been de- keep even with it. This is totally predict- tion of the nation-state and of modern stroyed. Today Korea is world class in able, so getting caught in a cash crunch government in the closing years of the two dozen industries and the world’s is totally unnecessary. I’ve worked with 16th century was certainly one of the leader in shipbuilding and other areas. entrepreneurs for 50 years and can say most successful innovations ever. Within INC.: So many new businesses start out that there is a fairly normal curve; 80 200 years they conquered the globe. But with high promise. They do extremely percent fall within it. Even if your busi- it’s time for new thinking. well the fi rst year or two and then sud- ness is growing at a normal rate—not INC.: Do you see any signs of that denly are up to their ears in trouble. If tripling in size every six months, but happening? they survive at all, they are forever growing at a good, solid, sustainable DRUCKER: No one, as far as I can see, is stunted. Are there typical mistakes rate—the management crunch hits you asking the right question. In developed at the end of the fourth year. entrepreneurs make but could avoid? countries the question is not “What DRUCKER: There are actually several INC.: That’s when you outgrow your should government do?” It’s “What can points—I call them entrepreneurial management base? government do?”
20 | TEN YEARS OF 5000 YOUR BUSINESS
And so should your HR solution.
Automated data processors can’t see your people. They don’t understand your passion. And they don’t follow through on their promises. But we do. Let your business come alive with Insperity. insperity.com | 855-677-0397
INC. 5000 YEARBOOK | 21 B:8.25” T:8” S:7.5”
Mark Isreal Doughnut Plant Owner
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7.5 lb. BUTTER 4.5 bags FLOUR MARKET FRUIT 0.75 block YEAST 6,400 POINTS 2.25 gallons MILK 37.5 lb. SUGAR 12,668 POINTS 2,194 POINTS
HOW MARK TOOK 80,000 POINTS, FRIED THEM, GLAZED THEM AND MADE HEADLINES.
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Accounts subject to credit approval. Restrictions and limitations apply. Chase credit cards are issued by Chase Bank USA, N.A. Offer subject to change. See Chase.com/Ink for pricing and rewards details. © 2017 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved.
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