STATE OF BUSINESS NOW: THE INC.

CEO SURVEY

2022

•
169

WINNING
245,616% INC.’S LIST:
The Staggering How Companies
Rise of Our No. 1 Made It—and
Company What It Reveals
About the
Secrets of Fast IN A TIME OF

CHANGE
Future of Business
Growth From 127 of
America’s Best
Business Leaders
and Most Progres-
sive Founders
8
 September 13-15, 2022

Powerful strategies
for uncertain times.
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Bob Iger Mike Krzyzewski Indra Nooyi Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE Gloria Steinem
Former CEO & Chairman, Head Men's Basketball Chairman & CEO Founder, the Jane Writer, Political Activist,
The Walt Disney Coach, Duke University of PepsiCo (2006-2018), Goodall Institute, UN and Feminist Organizer
Company (1980 – 2022) Member Board of Messenger of Peace
Directors, Amazon
and Philips and
Bestselling Author

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Internationally- Award-Winning President and Chief Chef, Restaurateur Award-Winning Actor,
recognized Comedian, Journalist, Author Executive Officer, TriNet and Humanitarian Writer, Producer,
New York Times and Editor Director, and Musician +
Bestselling Author, Entrepreneur and
Producer, and Actor Founder, Left-Handed
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Samantha Wellington Mike Massimino Michael Mendenhall Kelly Tuminelli Pamela Rucker
Executive Vice President, Former NASA Astronaut, Senior Vice President Executive Vice President Instructor, Professional
Business Affairs, NY Times Bestselling and Chief Marketing and Chief Financial Development Programs
Chief Legal Officer Author, Columbia Officer/Chief Officer, TriNet Harvard Division of
and Secretary, TriNet University Professor & Communications Officer, Continuing Education
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 Contents
September 2022

Feltman’s co-founder
and CEO Joe Quinn
serves up a Coney Island
classic (page 130).

50
HOW I DID IT Tales of success, told by the founders themselves

72 Biolyte Going nationwide 86 Athletic Brewing Co.

with an electrolyte elixir. How a former trader made
The Inc. 5000 moderation cool, and built a
74 Market Wagon A tech fix for new market in the process.
Our annual list of the the food supply chain, grown
fastest-growing private in the farmlands of Indiana. 88 We Are Rosie Want to tap
companies in America, the talent of marginalized
replete with stories 76 BarbaraKares Making elder workers? Try flexibility.
of hair-raising pivots, care easier—and profitable.
90 Siono A thriving business
brazen pitches, and 78 Castillo Engineering A son born on a vacation.
the triumph of dogged helps a father make a come-
persistence. back, in health and business.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY LOMBARD September 2022 Inc. 3

Founders don’t chase success.
They chase a dream.
You’ve already realized your vision. Now it’s time to
celebrate your accomplishments. Capital One Business
celebrates the founders of the 2022 Inc. 5000,
the fastest growing private companies in America.
Contents
92 US Hydrovac Excavating
profits from a hyper-specific
sector of construction.
94 Boundless Immigration
Reinventing our broken
immigration process.
126 Piedmont Global Language
Solutions From side hustle
to critical enterprise service.
102
HOW I MADE IT Bringing innovative products from idea to reality
102 Partake Foods The most
inclusive cookies ever.
124 Marc Nolan No stopping, or
stepping on, these shoes.
6 Inc. September 2022
128 Kate Quinn How this cult
brand is navigating the
complications of rabid
consumer demand.
130 Feltman’s of Coney Island
Customers are eating up
this revival of an American
classic, the original hot dog.
Partake Foods founder
Denise Woodard makes
baked goods for all.
132 Bear Walker Hand-carved
skateboards as pop art.
140 Dragon Glassware
Top-shelf barware that
boasts spirited design.
13 A Note From Inc.
Welcome to the big dance. 39
Cheryl Gentry
14 Publisher’s Letter
Finding value in relationships
In praise—and support—of
that don’t serve you.
fast-growth companies.
Inc. Insider
17 Competitive Advantage
Finding major promise in
domestic manufacturing.
18 My Mentor Told Me …
The value of staying lean while
growing fast.
20 How I Got the Idea …
40 Carey Smith
How to use customer feedback
to propel your business.
Paying it forward after the loss
of a loved one.
44 Founders Project
22 The Future of … Dogfish Head Brewery’s
Reid Hoffman on hiring and Sam Calagione mentors
retaining employees. Celeste Beatty of Harlem
Brewing Company.
24 Against a Wall
An accident forces a COO to
145
step up to a major challenge.
26 I Can’t Live Without …
Employee workouts that foster Multiplying Your Success
bonding—and inclusion. What to do after hitting your
major milestones.
FROM LEFT: NATHAN BAJAR; CAITLIN GRACE PHOTOGRAPHY. ILLUSTRATION: GRACIA LAM
Top Honors
The 500 fastest-growing
U.S. companies, by rank.
PAGE 55
CEO Survey
Proven leaders
dish on their hopes,
dreams, and fears.
PAGE 53
Rankings by Sector HeartCore
The top 500, filtered. Business
PAGE 104 founder
Shanda
Sumpter
Don’t just pay
for a health plan.
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Together, we’ll help your employees flourish.

And your business grow.

C
Cigna.YourNewGrowthPlan.com
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or its affiliates. This advertisement is not intended for residents of New Mexico.
Contents

46 82
54 74

Serial entrepreneur
Phil Dumontet shares
his favorite power
moves (page 134).

Features

66
The Great Escape
BlockFi was the fastest-growing
company on the Inc. 5000. Then
the crypto winter fell, and
threatened its very existence.
80
Medical Staffing, Reimagined
An anesthetist-turned-TV exec
created the Uber of nursing.
When the pandemic happened,
suddenly everybody wanted in.
96
Radical Persistence
A CEO acted fast to get his staff
in his native Ukraine to safety—
and keep the business alive—
after Russia invaded.
134
Making It Big—Multiple Times
We explore the stories and
strategies of founders who
have nabbed a slot on the Inc.
5000—and then did it again.

8 Inc. September 2022 PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHANIE BASSOS

 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Scott Omelianuk SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER Richard Russey
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10 Inc. September 2022

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 A Note From Inc.
WELCOME TO
THE BIG DANCE
I
t has not been easy, has it? This road toward birthing
something and helping it grow and seeing it mature
and succeed. That’s especially true these days, which,
with each passing month, seem, disturbingly, less like a
pandemic-induced anomaly and more like a way of life.
And, yet, that did not stop you. You made it to the peak.
You are a 2022 Inc. 5000 honoree. Congratulations, and
salute, to BlockFi, the No. 1 company, to Kitrum, with offices
in Ukraine, to the revolutionary SnapNurse, to Castillo
Engineering, and to all the others in these pages or whom
I’ve spoken to in the past months and the even more of you
found on Inc.com.
I know your struggle to get to this place, to the top 0.07
percent of all businesses, only by association. I took the
easy way out, and gave up my attempt at successful entre-
preneurship three or four years ago and took the fork in
that road that led me to the helm of Inc. But in the time
since, in talking to so many, I’ve learned your stories, taken
them to heart. The tough starts, the moments of doubt, the
sleepless dark nights only to wake and drive forward in the
daylight. I admire your savvy, grit, your refusal to give up
on your baby, however long the odds might be.
Really, the only thing for me that can compare to what
you’ve done is my son, an 11-year-old named Luca. I know,
NATHAN BAJAR
it might seem crazy to compare a business to a child, but
ask yourself if it’s really a coincidence that many businesses
get their start in an incubator? Or that a newborn is some-
thing of a minimum viable product? Indeed, from IUIs and
IVFs, Luca’s start was as rough as any
fledgling business’s. But after a long
labor and time in the NICU and some
bumpy years, he finally got that spurt
of fast growth.
Recently, I dropped Luca off for
his first school dance, a dance not so
much for dating but for celebrating—
much like what happens at the end of
each Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala.
He was nervous, but he had a phone
and he knew to text me if he wanted
to leave. About 90 minutes in, I heard
the phone ping. Uh-oh, I thought,
and then glanced down.
“Feeling good, it’s so fun!”
Maybe you know that feeling?
When I arrived to pick him up, he
was wearing glow sticks around his
head like a sweatband, surrounded
by a half dozen girls—sixth graders,
too, not fifth graders like him—and I
even got an accolade for my efforts
as one of his, uh, founders. One of the
girls said, “Oh, you’re Luca’s dad?
He’s a good kid. A little short, but a
good kid. You should be proud of
how you raised him.”
Now, I’m not gonna call you short,
but as we celebrate the 5000 in this
issue, and prepare for our Gala, I’d
offer that anything worth having is
worth the struggle that comes with
it, and I agree with that sixth grader:
You should be proud.
All of which is to say, here’s to the
dance, however long, and by whatever
methods it took to get here. May it be
joyous and include your version of ice
creams and glow sticks and adulation
from whoever your fans are.
Scott Omelianuk
scotto@inc.com
September 2022 Inc. 13
Publisher’s Letter
IN PRAISE—
AND SUPPORT—
OF FAST-GROWTH
COMPANIES
W
ith the backdrop of a world-
wide pandemic, supply chain
issues, the Great Resignation,
and now rising inflation, running a com-
pany over the past three years—much
less growing one—has been a daunting
task. Which is why this year’s Inc. 5000
honorees just might be the most remark-
able group we’ve seen. These founders
have been resilient and innovative,
driving their businesses forward and
creating more jobs for their communi-
ties. Just consider that in the past three
years, the 2022 Inc. 5000 companies
added close to 1.2 million jobs.
Beyond record-setting growth, the
past year has seen a universal desire for
a return to normalcy—and during that
time, we at Inc. found ways to bring our
communities together. We began with
smaller gatherings at the end of 2021,
and then in March unveiled the return
of the Inc. Founders House, where busi-
ness owners united in Austin to network,
learn, and be inspired over four days of
the South by Southwest festivities. In the
14 Inc. September 2022
wake of that success, we did
the same in July at the Black
Tech Week event in Cincin-
nati, again bringing together
founders to connect, problem
solve, and be inspired.
Inc.’s commitment to
underserved communities
didn’t stop there. In 2022,
we launched a new editorial
platform, All the Hats, team-
ing with entrepreneur, editor,
and founder of Blanc Media
Teneshia Carr to deliver
content focused on the chal-
lenges and successes of Black
female entrepreneurs. Our
Female Founders list this
year will once again celebrate
the women who are taking
their companies to a whole
new level. And we’re even
launching an ambitious new
recognition program this
year, the Inc. Power Partner
Awards, to champion the
entities that are most helpful
to fast-growth companies as
they continue to achieve
their greatness.
That said, none of these
editorial initiatives could be
achieved without the market-
ing partners and sponsors
that share Inc.’s goal—which
has always been to drive
success for privately owned
businesses. I want to thank
all those partners that have
been with us through these
most trying of times, and that
continue to help our compa-
nies return to growth. Busi-
ness owners know these
partners and are appreciative
of their support as well.
Which makes us all the more
excited to continue down the
road to a new normal—and
to celebrate the fastest-
growing private companies
in America at our Inc. 5000
Conference in Phoenix this
October. I can’t wait to feel
the energy as we bring these
business builders together,
live and in person, for the
first time since 2019.
For the past 40 years, our
mission at Inc. has been to
inform, inspire, and help
business builders start and
scale their companies. The
companies that share that
mission are the marketers
whose products and services
support that very growth.
And if there’s one thing
we’ve learned in all that
time, it’s that together,
everybody wins.
Richard Russey
Senior Vice President,
Publisher
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N O.
854
In 2022
2021: No. 215
2020: No. 362
Competitive Advantage
ORIGIN’S
ORIGIN STORY
YOU DON’T RIP OFF a man’s gi. It’s just common decency.
Which is why, when Pete Roberts, a former world-class Brazilian
jujitsu competitor, discovered that his overseas vendor was
copying his company’s martial arts apparel, he went for a take-
down—of sorts. The founder of Origin grabbed a chain saw
and, in a fit of rage, began felling pine trees to build his own
factory. Roberts had grown up watching American manufac-
turing—and dependent communities—crumble, and he wanted
to fight back. He found a few scrapped L.L. Bean sewing
machines, an abandoned loom in Lewiston, Maine, and one
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRISTAN SPINSKI
Insider
expert advice
from the elite
founders of
the inc . 5000
of five remaining “old-timers” who knew how to run it.
Over the next decade, Roberts journeyed across the country,
building an all-American supply chain for Origin’s durable cloth-
ing—and an additional three factories. The brand’s “Made in
America” guarantee—meant to honor the past and look to
the future—has become a competitive edge. And it’s made
Origin one of the fastest-growing company in America this year.
“People actually get what we’re doing,” Roberts says. “They’re
part of reshoring our jobs, resurrecting our communities, and
rebuilding our infrastructure.” —Tim Crino
September 2022 Inc. 17
 INSIDER

My Mentor Told Me ...

just hits the note so clearly.
SLOW DOWN TO Take, for example, a recent
conversation I’ve been having with
GROW FAST my leadership team, which wants
me to hire more people. Meg
1 had the perfect response to this:
‘Everyone is always 20 people and
1 MENTEE $5 million away from greatness.’
Trina Spear Co-founder and Her point was, don’t overhire.
co-CEO, Figs That was so validating for me,
because Heather and I have always
2 MENTOR
focused on growing sustainably—
Meg Whitman Former CEO,
we have only 300 people on staff,
Hewlett-Packard, eBay
because we focus on hiring the
right people at the right time, for
the right job. It’s not about hiring

WHEN YOU’RE running a fast- 2

growing business that’s actually
turning a profit, a lot of people
have useful but conflicting advice.
Most of the time, it’s a lot of
noise—but my mentor, Meg
Whitman, cuts through it. One
of Figs’ investors introduced Meg
and I two years ago when we
were getting ready to IPO, and

we really hit it off.
Meg comes from public busi-
nesses, where profits matter, so her
perspective has been very useful
now that we are public. Plus, she
knows how to lead with integrity—
and how to do it your way.
When I approach Meg with
something my co-founder, Heather
Hasson, and I are grappling with,
she will name three situations that
are exactly the same—to a T—and
then give me a piece of advice that
FROM LEFT: SHAYAN ASGHARNIA/AUGUST; MARTINA ALBERTAZZI/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY PUBLISHER
a lot of people to run at a problem:
It’s about solving problems in a
thoughtful and strategic way.
Now, when a team leader comes
to me and says, ‘I need to hire three
graphic designers’, or ‘three mer-
N O. chandisers,’ I feel confident saying
21 to them: ‘Why not hire just one
first and see what they can do?’ ”
In 2018 —As told to Christine
Lagorio-Chafkin

The Best Parts lutionary Vision and so the best parts of

Fatal Quest of Zappos Happy teach leaders
THE METRICS CEO Tony Hsieh. We that real satisfaction
THAT MATTER explore how the Inc. comes from focusing
MOST 5000 alum strove to on more impactful
keep his staff content ideals—like commit-
Should your employ- with parties, generous ment, courage, and
ees’ happiness be your wages, and a quirky well-being. Read more
top priority? That’s the office culture. But, as at inc.com/happy-at-
question we look at in we show, the search any-cost.
our new book, Happy for more joy often —Katherine Sayre
at Any Cost: The Revo- makes people lonelier, and Kirsten Grind

18 Inc. September 2022

 available in all states or situations, for all vehicles or coverage selections.
Progressive Casualty Ins. Co. & affiliates. Coverages and discounts not

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 INSIDER

20 Inc. September 2022 PHOTOGRAPHY BY SYLVIA JARRUS

OPPOSITE PAGE:
WT Stevens CEO
Rhonda Grayer, with
a portrait of her late
father, for whom
her company was
named. RIGHT: Grayer
directs crew members
during a 2022 lead
pipe replacement
project in Detroit.
How I Got the Idea ...
TO CARRY ON MY FATHER’S LEGACY
FOR MANY YEARS, WT Stevens supplemented
his Detroit autoworker income with a small con-
struction business. But there was nothing small
about his impact on the people of Flint, Michigan.
When Stevens, a father of eight, died in Feb-
ruary 2002, his daughter Rhonda Grayer realized
that the “nice, nonconfrontational guy” she had
known had another side. “I was just amazed
at his funeral, how many people’s lives he’d
impacted,” she says. Many mourners told Grayer
that her dad had trained them for free, given
them a chance when nobody else would, and in
some cases inspired them to start their own busi-
nesses. Those stories changed Grayer’s life: To
carry on her father’s legacy, she registered his
side business as a corporation, launching WT
Stevens Construction in April 2002. By 2019, the
company had made the Inc. 5000, at No. 79.
But that success took years of hardship—and
a willingness to learn. For 10 years, Grayer kept
working in corporate America while building up
WT Stevens: “Sometimes you’re the one who
doesn’t get paid,” she says. “You pay your vendors
N O.
79
and your employees and get what’s left over.”
So she asked for help. Grayer credits the
National Small Business Association and the
In 2019 Michigan Department of Transportation’s
small-business certification program for provid-
ing valuable training—and the National Asso-
ciation of Black Women in Construction for a
network of peers.
Those connections and training prepared
Grayer for the biggest opportunity—and chal-
lenge—of her career, when in 2016 WT Stevens
landed a spot in a pilot program to replace
the lead pipes in 50 of Flint’s houses. The WT
Stevens crew had the excavation experience.
But they didn’t know how to install new pipes.
Undeterred, Grayer hired a plumber to teach
her team to work on municipal water pipes,
which helped WT Stevens pass the pilot program
and snag $27 million in contracts to replace
5,000 Flint water lines between 2016 and 2019.
The revenue and visibility have since helped
WT Stevens win several big contracts in the
greater Detroit area. And that’s let Grayer honor
her father’s memory in a major way, by providing
training to the Flint community via partnerships
and collaborations with a number of institutions,
including Mott Community College and Metro
Flint YouthBuild: “We’ve hired people who’d
never had a job before, who didn’t even know
what they were going to do with their lives,” says
Grayer. “And, as a result, they’ve bought homes
and cars—even started businesses.”
—Nick Hawkins
21
 INSIDER
The Future of ...
FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE—
AND KEEPING THEM
IF YOU THINK a recession is a
good time to sleep on hiring, you
need to wake up. Take it from Reid
Hoffman, who started LinkedIn
during the dot-com bust and grew
it through the 2008 crash. Now, as
the pandemic reshapes markets and
another downturn looms, Hoffman,
a 2011 Inc. 5000 honoree, returns to
Inc. with advice on finding and
retaining top talent.
N O.
517
In 2011
22 Inc. September 2022
How will hiring change in the
next year?
During volatile periods, many
businesses mistakenly play
defense instead of offense when
it comes to hiring. But if you have
the capital and revenue, now is
the time to hire, because others
aren’t doing that. That will put
you in a really strong position
in two to five years.
Reid Hoffman, The next decade?
co-founder and People will want to get back to the
former CEO office once they realize they’re
of LinkedIn,
missing opportunities to be creative
now invests
with Greylock
with one another, build social capi-
Partners and tal and trust, and be better posi-
hosts the Masters tioned for promotions. But we’ve
of Scale podcast. also been remote for over two years.
That’s going to have a lasting effect
on hiring patterns. If the best person
for a project or team lives in another
city, managers will compromise by
having them come down to head-
quarters for a week every six weeks,
or something like that. Successful
managers will learn how to identify
what types of people fit well in
this hybrid structure—and get the
right ongoing training to lead and
retain them.
Where can entrepreneurs make
an impact?
How do you foster office culture in
a virtual environment? How do you
create better spaces for collabora-
tion? There’s a whole stack of hybrid
work-process things that either
haven’t been created for the hybrid
future or are just emerging. Tools like
Coda, for example, adapt to your
process rather than having you adapt
to theirs, but I think we’re still in the
first inning of building all that. Tech-
nology doesn’t get built in one or
two years. It gets built in five or 10.
What about nontech businesses?
Every company needs a digital strat-
egy—even, say, steel manufacturing.
Your smelter might look the same as
it did 40 years ago, but what about
the marketplace? Your supply chain?
Your logistics channel? You have to
hire with the goal of advancing your
technological evolution.
—Tom Foster
ERIK TANNER
HIRE NOW TO GROW FAST. FIND
EXPERT ADVICE FROM THE INC.
5000 AT INC.COM/MAGAZINE.
 INSIDER

Against a Wall
N O.

715 WHEN TRAGEDY BECOMES A FACTOR

In 2020
WHEN NICK WERNIMONT asked VC Mike Apostal to join his meal-delivery company in 2015, Apostal was
excited. He saw real potential in Factor 75, now known as four-time Inc. 5000 honoree Factor. The Chicago-
2019: No. 447
2018: No. 264 based business was bringing in only $500,000 in annual sales, but after engaging in some due diligence,
2017: No. 133 Apostal agreed to invest and assume the role of COO. He knew he’d be facing a challenge. What he didn’t
expect was the size of the challenge—or the tragedy—that lay on the road ahead. —Rebecca Deczynski

24 Inc. September 2022 ILLUSTRATION BY MONTSE GALBANY

Inc. Masters is dedicated to two ideas. The first is that nobody understands
the rewards and challenges of leading a fast-growth
company better than the honorees of the 5000. And the second is that stay-
ing connected to your Inc. 5000 peers and to Inc.—the
only publication wholly devoted to your success—will help you prosper.

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You’ll become a true part of the Inc. family,
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how Inc. serves entrepreneurs like you.
 INSIDER
N O.
762
In 2018
I Can’t Live Without ...
A SECOND CHANCE
AT A BETTER ME
ALEX AND MIKE Faherty didn’t snag
the No. 762 spot on the Inc. 5000
back in 2018 without a fair amount
of sweat. No, really—the founders
of the eponymous vintage surf
apparel brand, both former college
athletes, say that the secret to their
success is exercise. And they don’t
just mean surfing: Back in 2018,
26 Inc. September 2022
Alex (left) and the Fahertys befriended Hector
Mike Faherty Guadalupe, who, after spending
work up a sweat 10 years in prison, launched a non­
with A Second U profit, A Second U Foundation,
founder Hector
which trains formerly incarcerated
Guadalupe
(standing).
folks to be personal trainers and
provides business mentorship. The
brothers joined the organization’s
board and began working out in
person with A Second U trainers
that year.
When the pandemic shut gyms
down, Guadalupe was quick to
launch remote classes, and the
Fahertys saw this as an opportunity
to provide their employees with a
way to battle quarantine­induced
loneliness and stress. The optional
workouts include everything from
yoga to cardio, and the founders say
they block out time for the sweat
sessions during the workday so that
their employees feel empowered to
prioritize fitness.
73%
of this year’s Inc. 5000 CEOs
name exercise as their go-to
self-care ritual.
The benefits have been numer­
ous—and surprising. The brothers
say that they and their employees
have lost weight, gotten stronger,
and even formed connections with
colleagues they’d have never other­
wise met. Meanwhile, new employ­
ees joining a remote workforce have
benefited from having access to
their CEO at the “gym.” Alex and
Mike also say that exercise and time
away from their desks make them
calmer, and better listeners and
leaders. And, adds Alex, “it helps
me sleep better, which is the
number one productivity engine.”
The brothers warn that any CEO
thinking of implementing such
a program had better be ready to
hustle. Not only do employees get
a kick out of working out with their
CEOs, but participation is a sign
of commitment as well. “It shows
that we are serious about it,” says
Mike, “and that we’re not just doing
this because HR said we should.”
—Max Totsky
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELIZABETH RENSTROM
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I N C . B R A N D E D C O N T E N T/ H R : P EO

THE PEO ADVANTAGE

Delivering Measurable ROI
in Multiple Ways
Offloading HR responsibilities helps small
and midsize business owners save money
and focus on growth

P rofessional employer organizations (PEOs) offer small and

midsize businesses (SMBs) a long list of advantages, but one
stands out above all the others. By relieving SMB leaders
of some of the myriad distractions constantly competing for their
attention, PEOs free them up to focus on driving business growth.
I N C . B R A N D E D C O N T E N T/ H R : P EO
obody goes into business to
deal with administrative tasks.
They go into business because they
are passionate about a product they
designed, an invention they produced,
or a cause they want to champion,”
says Michael Mendenhall, senior vice
president, chief marketing officer,
and chief compliance officer at TriNet.
“Very few entrepreneurs dream of
spending their days recruiting talent,
figuring out how to provide employee
benefits, processing payroll, or staying
on top of a litany of ever-evolving
employer-related laws and regulations
at every level of government.”
Those HR-related issues can rapidly
take over business operations unless
they are strategically and proactively
outsourced early on, and that is where
a PEO comes in, Mendenhall adds.
“By helping SMBs to manage many
employer-related responsibilities and
liabilities, a PEO, such as TriNet, frees
business leaders from the shackles of
HR administration so they can focus
on what matters most: growing their
business and enabling their people.”
As Alex Quevedo, president of human
resources outsourcing at ADP, points
out, “The cost to do business is at
an all-time high. A PEO helps you
consolidate vendors, streamline
processes, and mitigate some of your
risk as an employer. But ADP doesn’t
stop there. We go beyond to look
at critical areas like designing the
right benefit strategy, proactive risk
mitigation, and addressing employee
turnover and productivity.”
Adding strategic value
Relief from administrative and
transactional distractions and burdens
is just one aspect of the advantages
PEOs provide, says Paul Sarvadi,
chairman and CEO of Insperity. As
core business and strategic issues
become more HR-related than ever
before, PEOs are adding real value at a
foundational level.
“Business leaders are concerned
about motivating their people to
exert greater discretionary effort,
fostering effective collaboration, and
making sure employees are aligned
with company goals,” he says. “The
consultative support a PEO can
provide around these important issues
can have a big impact on business
performance.”
Terry Sukalski, vice president of PEO
and insurance at Paychex, says that in
the current environment, a PEO is “a
necessity to help any business navigate
uncertainty, which, as we all know, has
been the one constant over the past
few years.” Business leaders at Paychex
see three challenges consistently in
both internal and external data faced
by businesses of all sizes today: finding
new talent, retaining existing talent,
and cashflow management.
The Paychex PEO solution is
uniquely positioned to help
ADP TotalSource®

Move Your
BUSINESS
FORWARD
Small and midsized businesses know what it is like to do everything. You made it this far
through hard work and dedication. Where would your business be if you didn’t have to do it all?
With ADP TotalSource, a professional employer organization (PEO), you get:

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• Smarter Payroll • Efficient Compliance • Dedicated HR Pro

It’s time to take your business to new heights.

Visit ADP.com/TotalSource to learn more.
The IRS does not endorse any particular certified PEO.
 I N C . B R A N D E D C O N T E N T/ H R : P EO

businesses meet those challenges, heartening to see how so many

Sukalski says. “We’re taking data
and turning it into insights, taking
insights and turning them into
action, and making effective
HR recommendations. It’s an
incredibly versatile solution that has
components to assist in reacting
with lightning speed to help our
clients remain competitive.”
Keeping pace with change
The core issues challenging
SMB leaders change as the
economy changes, but PEOs have
demonstrated a unique ability
to adapt along with them. For
example, throughout much of
2020 and 2021, simply surviving
COVID was the top priority for
[ The PEO] many SMBs. Research conducted
by McBassi & Company for the
business model National Association of Professional
Employer Organizations (NAPEO)
small businesses reached out to
their PEOs as the entire economy
started to crumble, and it was
inspiring to see how those PEOs
rose to the challenge and seized the
moment.”
As Cleary points out, there were no
PPP loan experts prior to March of
2020, simply because the loans did
not exist before then. “I am proud
of the way our members jumped
into action and filled that void by
ramping up programs to assist their
clients,” he says. “The findings of the
McBassi study clearly illustrate what
a great job they did. I’m also proud
of the way the team at NAPEO was
able to pivot quickly and make sure
our members were armed with all of
the information they needed to help
their clients.”

sells itself provides clear evidence of how PEOs As the impact of the pandemic

because the helped many do just that.
return on From the onset of the pandemic in
early 2020 through July 2021, PEO
investment is clients were 58 percent less likely
began to wane and the economy
picked up steam, competition for
talent reemerged as a top challenge
for SMBs. There were 11.4 million
unfilled jobs through April 2022, and

so impressive. to have permanently closed than

Pat Cleary, president and CEO, National
al
Association of Professional Employer
Organizations (NAPEO)
comparable small businesses not
using a PEO. They were 32 percent
less likely to have experienced a
negative overall effect on business
from the pandemic, and they were
82 percent more likely to have
restored business operations to pre-
pandemic levels or better.
PEO clients were 18 percent more
likely than comparable small
businesses to have had their 2020
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
loans forgiven, and they were 71
percent more likely to have received
PPP loans in 2021. On the employment
front, PEO clients notched a 1 percent
increase in employment during the
survey period, while comparable small
businesses experienced a 6 percent
decline.
Rising to the challenge
“If adversity is a crucible to prove
the mettle of a business concept,
then the COVID pandemic was
the ultimate test for the PEO
industry—and it came through
with flying colors,” says Pat Cleary,
NAPEO’s president and CEO. “It was
despite strengthening economic
headwinds, U.S. employers added
another 390,000 jobs in May,
according to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
With many more job openings than
available candidates, SMBs often
face an uphill battle against larger
companies for the best talent. “A
PEO can help a small business
level the playing field by providing
the kind of benefits infrastructure,
including technology and 401(k)
plans, that larger companies offer,”
Sarvadi says.
PEOs can help SMBs make the kinds
of recruiting process improvements
that are important in a tight labor
market, such as making offers more
quickly and crafting competitive
salary and bonus packages. “These
are industry-specific issues,” he
says. “Because PEOs deal with
so many businesses in so many
verticals, they are on top of what is
happening in the marketplace. They
have a lot of information they can
bring to bear to help SMBs facing
recruiting challenges.”
 Businesses
that work
with a PEO
can save an
average of
27% on their
HR-related
costs.1

Better HR Drives Better

Business Performance
Outsourcing your HR services to a professional employer organization (PEO) may open a wider
range of benefits for your team — from improving recruitment and employee retention to
freeing up your team to focus on other areas of your business.

That’s why we created Paychex HR. To provide businesses like yours with integrated HR,
payroll, and retirement solutions, paired with guidance from a dedicated HR professional to
help you build a great team, offer world-class benefits, stay connected to a remote or hybrid
workforce, and increase productivity with industry-leading technology.

Learn more at paychex.com/inc

© 2022 Paychex, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | 07/18/22

1
NAPEO Market Research Tracking Survey Report, 2021
Professional employer organization (PEO) services provided by Paychex Business Solutions, LLC (Florida
employee leasing license GL7), Oasis Outsourcing, LLC (Florida employee leasing license GL42), and
their affiliates, which are licensed or registered to provide PEO services where required by law.
I N C . B R A N D E D C O N T E N T/ H R : P EO

PEOs Provide Value

on Multiple Levels
For many years, professional employer
organizations (PEOs) were one of the
best-kept secrets in the small and midsize
business (SMB) community. The biggest
challenge the National Association of
Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO)
faced was simply getting the word out about all
the benefits PEOs could provide.

“Once business capital community. services, such as payroll Benefit Trends study.
owners started using Many angel investors and other benefits. Similarly, 89 percent
a PEO, they would ask now make outsourcing of PEO clients say their
where this had been HR responsibilities a “The value of a PEO benefit programs meet
all their life,” says Pat precondition for their increases exponentially employee needs as they
Cleary, president and investment in any new during an economic evolve, versus 60 percent
CEO at NAPEO. “It’s a business. downturn because that of non-PEO clients.
business model that is when a business will
sells itself because the PEOs deliver significant need every advantage it The report found that
return on investment value to their clients in can generate,” says Terry employers working
is so impressive, and three broad categories: Sukalski, vice president with PEOs were more
NAPEO has increased of PEO and insurance than twice as likely to
its marketing budget  Improving their at Paychex. “The offer financial planning/
eightfold over the past ability to attract, technology and services education/workshops in
decade to help spread motivate, and retain available through the their benefit lineups than
the message. But the employees Paychex PEO create other employers. They
industry’s early growth business efficiencies, were far more likely to
was primarily driven by  Enabling SMB saving our clients time offer additional benefits,
word-of-mouth.” leaders to focus on and money.” such as accident,
their core business hospital indemnity, legal,
That is still a big factor by offloading HR critical illness, pet, and
in PEOs’ growing responsibilities to Happier employees, cancer insurance.
popularity, especially the PEO better results
since the onset of The positive impacts In addition, the report
the COVID pandemic.  Lowering HR-related of using a PEO are confirmed the impact
SMBs that are PEO expenditures well documented in benefits can have on
clients were almost other important areas, employee retention
60 percent less likely The upside on that last including employee and loyalty. Among
to have permanently category is dramatic. satisfaction and the employees satisfied
closed during the According to “The ROI of scope and agility of with their benefits,
pandemic than non- Using a PEO,” a report benefit programs. 85 percent intended
PEO clients, and they prepared for NAPEO by to be working for the
were 82 percent more noted economists Laura Ninety-one percent same organization a
likely to have restored Bassi and Dan McMurrer, of employers working year later, versus 60
business operations to the annual ROI from using with a PEO say their percent of employees
pre-pandemic levels or a PEO is more than 27 employees are satisfied not satisfied with their
better by July of 2021. percent, based on cost with their benefits benefits. Eighty-three
savings on HR personnel offering, versus just 64 percent of employees
costs, health benefits, percent of employees satisfied with their
Good news travels fast workers’ compensation, at organizations not benefits felt committed
Word of that success unemployment insurance, working a with a PEO, to their employer’s goals,
spread quickly, not just and other external according to a report versus just 42 percent of
among SMBs, but also expenditures in areas based on MetLife’s 18th employees not satisfied
throughout the venture directly related to HR Annual U.S. Employee with their benefits.
More leverage for
candidates
HR for businesses
“In an environment where
competition for top talent is intense,
the best candidates have greater
that want to thrive
leverage than ever before. That
makes company culture an even
more important factor in keeping Struggling to compete for talent
your talent and attracting new
hires,” Quevedo, says. and keep up with evolving labor
laws? Not sure how to lead
“The best candidates are looking remote teams and cultivate
for companies with a demonstrated
commitment to investing in their an inclusive culture? Insperity’s
employees, and PEOs have a lot scalable solutions provide
to offer when it comes to creating the HR support you need – so
that kind of culture,” he says.
“For example, ADP TotalSource, you can focus on growing a
our PEO, can provide the kind of thriving company.
comprehensive employee benefits
packages that are a must-have for
SMBs competing against larger FULL-SERVICE HR
organizations to recruit and retain
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
the best employees.”
HR TECHNOLOGY
As Quevedo points out, the rapid
growth of remote work since the
start of the pandemic creates
opportunities for SMBs to expand
talent-acquisition efforts beyond
their immediate geographic area.
But the shift toward remote work
also adds complexity.

“Setting up payroll, tax, compliance,

and benefit plans for employees
that reside in different states
can be very time-consuming for
employers,” he says. “PEOs relieve
this additional burden so business
owners can prioritize their time to
be spent on other priorities, like the
supply chain or growth.”

Culture plays an
increasing role
With the balance of power between
employers and employees subtly
shifting in the latter’s favor,
workplace culture takes on added
importance in recruiting top
candidates and retaining talented
existing employees.

“As the pandemic drove home for

many businesses, company culture
isn’t about team lunches, ping-pong
tables in break rooms, and casual Learn more at insperity.com
Fridays,” says Mendenhall. “It’s or call 800.465.3800.
about employees feeling uniquely
valued and seeing, first-hand, how
 I N C . B R A N D E D C O N T E N T/ H R : P EO
their contributions are integral to
company success.”
It’s about them being able to work
on their own terms and being
provided with the tools they need
to contribute at their maximum
level, Mendenhall adds. These tools
include comprehensive employee
benefits, technology, payroll
services, HR expertise, and more.
“They need to know that their basic
needs of healthcare, pay, and the
ability to juggle work and home are
being taken care of by an employer
who makes people a priority.”
“Our experience has shown us that
no two businesses are the same. Each
has its own culture, purpose, and
strategy,” Sukalski says. “The PEO is
the perfect solution because of its
ability to flex and evolve over time.”
Multistate regulatory
woes
Attorney John M. Polson, chairman
and managing partner of Fisher
Phillips and co-chair of the firm’s
PEO and staffing practice, says the
increasing complexity of regulatory
compliance is a challenge SMBs
should not underestimate. “State
and federal human resources
compliance is like a game of Whac-
A-Mole for SMBs. It seems like
every day there is a potential for a
new rule or court case that impacts
human capital management.”
That is particularly true for businesses
with employees in multiple states
with inconsistent laws, he adds. “PEOs
that service customers in all 50 states
can shoulder many of the employee-
related administrative compliance
responsibilities for SMBs, allowing
them to spend more time focused
on managing and growing their
businesses.”
One area that is particularly
problematic for SMBs is wage and
hour claims, where they face the
same employment liabilities as
larger businesses but with fewer
resources to achieve compliance.
“Wage and hour compliance is not
intuitive, particularly for startups
and emerging growth companies,”
Polson says.
Going forward,
the important
role PEOs play
in the SMB
community
will continue
to grow...The
value that
PEOs deliver
to SMB
leaders in
all kinds of
economic
environments
will only
increase.
Pat Cleary, president and CEO,
NAPEO
Young growth businesses often
make fundamental mistakes, such
as classifying the entire company
as being exempt from overtime
“because that just feels consistent
with an entrepreneurial culture
to the founders,” he says. “PEOs
can help startups and emerging
companies catch and address such
mistakes before they turn into
bigger problems.”
PEOs are multifaceted
Noting a common misconception
that PEOs only help with risk
mitigation and offering high-caliber
benefits, Todd Preston, national
practice leader, special markets at
consulting firm Gallagher, counters
that the reality is quite different.
“An effective PEO is a technology
platform, scalable to support the
HR needs of a growing organization,
with a mindful eye on cost
stabilization and cost control,”
he says. In addition to scalable
systems and improved business
functionality, the best PEOs layer
on powerful data and insights and
provide live strategic HR support in
critical decision-making processes.
“With this level of access, a company
can foster an inclusive and collaborative
culture and improve employee
relations through enhanced forums
of communication and formalized
processes, while optimizing business
performance through improved
retention incentives and employee
experience,” Preston says.
Making the right choice
Choosing the right PEO should be a
thoughtful and intentional process.
“The selected PEO should reflect
the values of the organization,”
Mendenhall suggests. Since PEOs
handle such a wide range of business
needs, it is important to conduct
due diligence. “The PEO’s fiduciary
standing, IRS certification, data
security, and technology platform
are all key areas of consideration,”
he says. “The right PEO provides
technology, people, and insights to
help businesses meet their goals in
challenging and dynamic economic
conditions.”
A good starting point for a PEO search
is the “Guidelines for Choosing a PEO”
section on the NAPEO website. The
page includes links to a search tool,
a list of certified PEOs, and the home
pages of the two primary certification
organizations.
“Going forward, the important role
PEOs play in the SMB community
will continue to grow,” Cleary says.
“The regulatory environment evolves
and becomes more complex with
each administration change, and
dispersed workforces are here to
stay in one form or another. The
value that PEOs deliver to SMB
leaders in all kinds of economic
environments will only increase.”
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HR Check-In:
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Be sure you have
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to attract and retain
the best talent

I
f there is one important point
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Business plans, funding successes, product quality, service
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HR solutions for the people who matter most
Top challenges facing small and midsize businesses (SMBs)
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• Real-time technology, including mobile capabilities, which
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But with every challenge comes opportunity to improve,
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Full-service HR for business success
With an increasingly competitive hiring environment, many
business leaders realize that the key to surviving whatever the
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• Risk mitigation and compliance services for a distributed
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SMBs are resilient, and they will continue to be so through the
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to come. TriNet will continue to provide the HR solutions and
necessary products to attract and retain the talent needed to help
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Call for Entries
For companies that go above and beyond to make a positive
impact on more than their balance sheet.

inc.com/apply/bestinbusiness
A PPLICATIO N D E A D L I N E: S E P T E M B E R 1 6, 2022
 Cheryl Gentry GROWTH CHART
Manifest Your Destiny
The day I committed to building a 100-year-old business
is the day my company’s growth took flight.
I
launched Glow Global Events in New York City
as a four-person shop in 1998 and steadily grew
it into a sturdy and well-appointed business.
I was proud of it, but by 2005, I could see that
things needed to change. My company was
profitable and we’d worked on world-class events,
but I was still an event planner. I wasn’t a CEO—
not really. I was limiting my potential, but how?
I couldn’t shake the question after that. It’s funny.
I never thought about changing my company’s
trajectory—getting into live streaming and original
programming, for instance—until I did; then it was
all I thought about.
I’m someone who does a lot of research; the data
and the milestones help me see around corners. So I
began by researching my bigger competitors, figur-
ing out what they were doing, how their businesses
were set up. I took meetings with clients that weren’t
typical for my firm. I started to entertain different
product lines—which led, in turn, to hosting internal
events and meetings for companies focused on
engaging with their own employees.
As it happens, my timing was perfect. Ten years
into our business, ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, I
saw that major organizations were no longer having
big blowout events. But they still needed to engage
their employees and were willing to bring on consul-
tants. So that sustained us and gave me more confi-
dence in my path. It was the moment I decided to
grow. I just had to make it so.
I signed up for a business accelerator through the
New York City Economic Development Corporation.
For me, it was a crash course on running a business
as a CEO. There, I learned how to think about every-
thing in terms of growth—keying in on strategy.
Specifically, I learned how to build a corporate cul-
ture and even rethought my team in terms of growth.
I also retooled my website for SEO and moved my
contacts and workflow onto a proper CRM tool.
Years later, the pandemic offered a similar inflec-
COURTESY SUBJECT
tion point. Four days after New York City shut
down nonessential services, I sent a Zoom link to
probably five event groups that I belong to on Face-
book and registered about a hundred planners.
ILLUSTRATION BY GRACIA LAM
There were a lot of smaller event agencies and
solo entrepreneurs on the call who just didn’t know
what to do with their clients.
I also didn’t know what conversation to have;
Covid has been uncharted territory for everyone. But
I did what I could. We talked about business inter-
ruption insurance, and a few planners said they were
getting resistance from venues about getting deposits
back or negotiating cancellation fees. That’s when I
knew we needed to leverage this community. On the
Zoom, I was literally like: “Who’s done an event at
this venue? Well, let’s all call together.” Despite that
effort, plenty of planners didn’t do virtual events or
were just looking for an exit. I hung up from the call
with five new event clients.
From there, virtual events kicked into overdrive.
We began to see clients increasingly interested in
growing their community or broadcasting their good
deeds. Some clients didn’t have content; they didn’t
know how to get that message out. So we started
creating content, like hosting virtual fireside chats or
producing documentaries. We grew our video pro-
duction team. We hired someone dedicated to curat-
Cheryl Gentry
ing music, because we didn’t want people to attend
is founder and
CEO of Glow an event as if they were just logging on to Zoom; we
Global Events, were essentially producing a television show.
an events- Again, that led to growth. We hadn’t exactly
management
firm that hit No. pivoted, though; what we’d really done was swivel.
145 on the 2020 We’d already been trying all of these things—the
Inc. 5000. She’s virtual events, the custom content, testing the
been named one waters, seeing what worked—so in the end it came
of the top people
in events by down to action. As an entrepreneur, you can’t let
BizBash, one of opportunities slip by. You have to pay attention to
Smart Meetings’ what’s happening. See the signs and be ready to act.
Top Influential
But also plan, and plan hard. When I began con-
Women, and
a Brava! Award- sidering how I could grow my business, and doing all
winning Top that research, I’d happened upon the story of George
Female CEO by P. Johnson, a Detroit marketing legend who began
SmartCEO.
doing automotive and trade shows before his epony-
mous company expanded in all sorts of directions.
Today, it’s more than 100 years old.
I thought, why can’t Glow be the George P. John-
son of events? We also can be around for a hundred
years. I just have to decide it, and make it so.
September 2022 Inc. 39
Carey Smith RIGHT, YOU’RE WRONG
How Fast-Growth
Companies
Refuse to Lose
The most successful businesses not only build quality into
their products, but also tap their customers for help.
I
n the classic comedy Planes, Trains and Auto-
mobiles, a man, played by Steve Martin, is at the
end of his rope after enduring excruciatingly
cheerful but uncooperative service at a car-
rental agency. His flight has been diverted. His
train has broken down in a field. And now, unable
to contain himself any longer, he informs the agent
behind the counter that he needs “a f*cking car,
right f*cking now!”
We’ve all been there, and one of the culprits,
other than poor execution itself, can be rapid
growth. Some companies expand so quickly that
they outrun their customer service capabilities.
When startups take off, it is all too often the cus-
tomer who is left in the wake.
This is the downside of the kind of success it
takes to make the Inc. 5000. But if fast-growing
companies had their priorities straight, confron-
tations like these would never happen.
First of all, the problems that cause customers to
need help—poorly manufactured products, incon-
sistent service delivery—would have been nipped
in the bud before they became the customers’ prob-
lems. Second, service reps would have been trained
to treat customers like gold, because that can mean
the difference between having customers who
stand by you and having customers who scream
obscenities about you into the World Wide Web.
So let’s focus on how to deal with f*ckups and
how to prevent your high-revving engine of a firm
from blowing a gasket because you’ve promised
customers more than you can deliver.
Questions and Answers
Problems are rarely simple to diagnose and fix.
Often, they require asking a lot of questions, and
founders can be reluctant to ask questions, either
of customers or of potential contractors they’re
entrusting with their company’s good name. But
you can never have too much information when
you’re troubleshooting a problem. It’s the only way
you’ll learn how to improve your product and the
40 Inc. September 2022
only way you’ll know whether your suppliers
deserve your trust.
I’m on the record as not being a proponent of
using overseas contract manufacturers. To say the
least, they are overseas, and you are not. That in
itself is a quality-control issue. But overseas manu-
facturers don’t have a monopoly on these kinds of
problems. They can crop up when you design and
manufacture close to home, too. Believe me, I know.
In the United States, too many founders think
those self-proclaimed manufacturing experts, loaded
with buzzwords, are people to be trusted. Quite the
opposite—they are likely baffling with bullsh*t.
Highly competent people should be able to explain
things to you in simple terms that you can easily
understand. If not—run! This is crucial stuff you’re
talking about.
Consistency Is Key
There’s a concept (and a classic business book)
by the management consultant Philip B. Crosby
around the idea that “quality is free.” And this is
true, as long as quality is integral to the initial
manufacturing process. We learned this firsthand
when we helped out a food and beverage maker.
The founders came to us with a great-tasting
beverage, and we were enthusiastically thinking
that they were Inc. 5000 material. But their quality
control went out the window after a company they
contracted to package their product didn’t under-
stand their precise requirements, which were
quite different from those for the typical product
the contractor handled.
The problems began to mount. First, ingredients
weren’t maintained in a consistent environment, a
situation that, in any food processing environment,
inevitably leads to an inconsistent product—the last
thing anyone wants. Then, to make matters worse,
COURTESY SUBJECT
the finished product sat for weeks in a warehouse
FOR MORE ON
MANAGING YOUR where the fluctuating temperature and humidity
CONTRACTORS, added yet more variability.
GO TO INC.COM/
MAGAZINE. All this took place in the depths of the pandemic,
ILLUSTRATION BY GRACIA LAM
which did nothing to help the situation. Neverthe­
less, there were things the founders could have
done to prevent some, if not all, of the problems
they would encounter.
The most important thing to do is talk to people.
That includes asking a potential contract manufac­
turer for references and then actually calling them,
as well as talking to the people who clock in every
day in the production facility—if they’ve been there
a while, then they know a hell of a lot. Ask the hard
but necessary questions and then find an objective
source who’ll verify the answers. These founders
didn’t do that. They entrusted their product to
people who didn’t care about it as much as they
did—and they paid the price.
An Ounce of Prevention
Despite all that, let’s face it: Sh*t happens, even when
you’re a control freak, like yours truly. No matter
how careful you think you’ve been before launching
a product, something’s going to get overlooked, or
a part won’t perform as it did during testing, or any
number of other problems will crop up. What did
Tolstoy say about every unhappy family being
unhappy in its own way? The same is true with
products. And it’s up to you to try to catch the prob­
lem before the customer becomes the unhappy one.
At Big Ass Fans, we were in our 13th year—and
our fifth on the Inc. 5000 list—and all set to launch
an expansion of our residential fan line, one that
we marketed as spectacularly silent. Just to be
sure, I had one of these silent spinners installed in
my home to confirm that it worked as promised, as
I did with all our products. Sure enough, the damn
thing made noise. So, in fact, did I. We delayed the
launch while our engineers got to the bottom of the
problem and designed a fix. A few tempers, ahem,
may have flared in the process, but it was better
Problems are rarely simple
to diagnose and fix. Often,
they require asking a lot of
questions, and founders can
be reluctant to ask ques-
tions, either of customers or
of potential contractors
they’re entrusting with their
company’s good name.
to have one angry owner than hundreds of angry
customers sending fans back.
Our attempts to head problems off at the pass
took another form in 2012, when we decided to
venture into the Wild West that was the internet
of things and make the world’s first smart ceiling
fan. We knew we were asking for all kinds of new
trouble. Internet connectivity with so many router
variations would be our biggest pain point, and
issues could develop at any hour. So we made a
digital book of every available connective device
Too many founders think
those self-proclaimed
manufacturing experts,
loaded with buzzwords,
are people to be trusted.
Quite the opposite.
and started both second and third shifts of customer
service that would be available to solve problems
day or night. I know our customers appreciated it.
Indeed, with all our products, the primary way we
tried to nip disaster before it budded was to employ
a team of customer advocates whose sole responsi­
bility was gathering feedback and referring any prob­
lems to the appropriate person. Those advocates
contacted every last one of our customers at regular
Big Ass Fans intervals after a sale to see if they were happy. If they
founder Carey
Smith led were, great. If they weren’t, well, that was even
the fan and better, because that was how we improved our fans.
light maker Every month, the team would give me a printout
from $0 to its
$500 million
of any problems that had been reported and how
sale. Along the they’d been dealt with. That way, fingers crossed,
way, the com- we learned from our mistakes and didn’t go on
pany made the to repeat them. And I don’t think the customers
Inc. 5000 for
11 consecutive minded being asked, because we had a net pro­
years. Today, his moter score that was about triple the manufactur­
investment firm, ing industry average.
Unorthodox
Too often, founders are reluctant to contact their
Ventures,
focuses on customers, and they certainly don’t want to hear
finding small anything bad when their companies are flying high.
companies with Instead, they base decisions on what they’d like to
big potential.
hear, and that’s a damn shame.
Because they’re missing out on the best intel
there is on how to improve their products and build
their brands. And, in the immortal words of that
car­rental agent after listening to Steve Martin’s
tirade, that means they’re probably f*cked.
41
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Praetorian’s success protecting leading innovators from a steady stream
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W hen the cyber securit y exper ts at

Praetorian are trying to protect a client
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Nathan Sportsman,
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for weaknesses. By attempting to infiltrate

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“We fundamentally understand what works,
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Sportsman started Praetorian “to put a dent
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INC. 5000
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PUNCHING ABOVE ITS WEIGHT CLASS
With a team of 110 employees, Praetorian sup-
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A PLATFORM FOR THE FUTURE
But even elite professionals can’t keep up with
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Instead, Sportsman believes the key to
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In March 2022, Praetorian launched Chariot,
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P R A E TO R I A N .C O M
Inside Praetorian’s award-winning workplace
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
Founders
Project
He helped put
the craft beer
industry on the
map. She’s taking
it from Sugar Hill
to Rocky Mount
and beyond
There’s hard-earned wisdom on tap as Sam
Calagione, founder of four-time Inc. 5000
company Dogfish Head Brewery, talks with
Harlem Brewing Company founder Celeste
Beatty on extending opportunity to new
suds-men and suds-women.
BY GRAHAM WINFREY
C
ELESTE BEATTY DIDN’T set out to be the first Black
woman in the United States to own a brewery. It just
happened that way. After years of homebrewing in her
New York City apartment, Beatty founded Harlem Brewing
Company in 2000. But while that represented progress, growing the
brand hasn’t been easy. Since Harlem Brewing launched its first beer,
Sugar Hill Golden Ale, competition in the U.S. craft beer industry
has exploded, with the number of domestic breweries growing from
around 1,500 to more than 9,000.
Beatty’s company remains a small operation, with distribution only
in New York, Virginia, and North Carolina. Still, Anheuser-Busch saw
enough value in the brand to make an acquisition offer in 2006, which
44 Inc. September 2022
Beatty declined. She currently has no
plans to sell the business.
Indeed, when Beatty talks about scal-
ing these days, she says she’s as likely to
be talking about community engagement
as revenue. “The question is, how do we
get more Black and Brown brewers?”
The answer, she believes, lies in lever-
aging Harlem Brewing’s brand to create
opportunities for other entrepreneurs of
color in the industry. To that end, Beatty,
58, is turning a historic tobacco ware-
house in Rocky Mount, North Carolina,
into a “brewers’ village” called Harlem
Brew South. There, new and aspiring
brewers will be able to test their own
recipes on a small-batch brewing system.
Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam
Calagione knows a few things about
building community around a small
beer brand. After founding Dogfish
Head in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware,
in 1995, Calagione grew the tiny
company into one of the largest craft
brewers in the country. Dogfish Head
made the Inc. 5000 four years in a row
in the mid-2000s; in 2019, it merged
with the Boston Beer Company, maker
of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, in a
$300 million deal.
Calagione has a long history of
partnering with other companies on
experimental beers, including a recent
collaboration with Patagonia Provisions,
the outdoor apparel company’s sustain-
able food arm, on a pilsner made with
Kernza, a perennial grain that seques-
ters carbon in the ground. Perhaps
unsurprisingly, Calagione, 53, supports
Beatty’s strategy of teaming up with
other brewers in Rocky Mount.
“The craft brewing community has
always been fueled by a spirit of collab-
oration and camaraderie,” Calagione
says. “It truly embodies the spirit of the
American craft beer community to help
one another and amplify one another’s
brand voice.”
In that spirit, we brought Beatty and
Calagione together at Dogfish Head
 DRINKING BUDDIES
Sam Calagione (left)
and Celeste Beatty
both took to craft
beer after home-
brewing their own in
the 1990s.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JERRY HABRAKEN 45

Founders
Project
Brewings & Eats, the brewpub in
Rehoboth Beach where Calagione
launched his brand, to try each other’s
beers and share strategies for growing
their industry, in Harlem and beyond.
BEATTY Going into this brewers’ village
project in Rocky Mount, we’ll be hiring
about 35 people to operate the ware-
house. What are your thoughts on
my plan to create a space for brewers
who are not part of the craft brewing
equation?
CALAGIONE I love the concept of a
brewers’ village, because it speaks to
community. You’re saying, “I’m trying
to create this space not just for my
HEADY GROWTH
Calagione led Dogfish
Head to its first Inc.
5000 appearance in
2005, when it landed
at No. 343.
brand, but for Black and Brown
brewers to learn from one another
and to help one another.” I love how
it’s not corporate-sounding. It’s
communal-sounding and welcoming.
BEATTY I’m sure a lot of people approach
you about doing partnerships. How do
you decide which ones make sense?
CALAGIONE There are opportunities to
learn whether we partner with someone
who is smaller in scale than the Dogfish
brand or bigger. I think making sure the
partner is a fit for your brand is the best
filter to approach any partnership oppor-
tunity, instead of asking, “Will doing this
help me grow my brand?”
BEATTY You famously celebrated the 40th
anniversary of Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew
album by collaborating with Sony Music
on a Dogfish Head Bitches Brew com-
memorative ale. What’s your approach
in terms of brewing innovation and
experimentation?
CALAGIONE I was hanging out with Miles
Davis’s nephew, who played with the
Bitches Brew 40th Anniversary Band,
and asked him for stories. He told me
that what made Miles such an iconic
musician could be found in one of his
best-known comments: “Don’t play
what’s there. Play what’s not there.”
That’s a perfect description of how you
succeed as an entrepreneur. You find
white space someplace someone isn’t
playing, and you make your own voice in
it. And we started as one of the smallest
commercial breweries in America.
BEATTY I know about that!
CALAGIONE So I take inspiration for what
to do next from every art form and
industry other than the commercial
brewing industry, because that would be
playing what’s already there. I try to find
the creative spaces that exist—music and
food and art—and take inspiration from
those. So, in your case, how would you
frame the craft brewing renaissance up
against the Harlem Renaissance? Where
do you see them dovetailing?
BEATTY We’ve definitely had some polli-
nation between the Harlem Renaissance
and our beers, in terms of our branding.
You’ll be tasting our 125th Street IPA,
which celebrates the 200th anniversary
of 125th Street. There’s a map of Harlem
on the label that shows some of the
iconic streets, like Malcolm X Boule-
vard and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
These are named for people who were
connected to Harlem culturally and the
Renaissance in many ways.

I love the concept
of a brewers’ village,
because it speaks
to community.”
—Sam Calagione
CALAGIONE Nice.
BEATTY We have our Sugar Hill Golden
Ale, inspired by Duke Ellington’s “Take
the ‘A’ Train,” which encourages people
to go to Sugar Hill and discover Harlem.
It’s important to me to make sure peo-
ple don’t forget those histories. We do
that in our small way on our label and
by supporting local jazz musicians and
events at the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
CALAGIONE When I hear “Sugar Hill,” I
also think of hip-hop and the Sugarhill
Gang. I look at hip-hop, punk, and craft
brewing as three unique but related
American art forms that started at the
same moment around the late 1970s.
And when you think about craft beer as
a community-building universe and you
look at how hip-hop grew out of parties
outside, and then punk, with bands
going around the country building the
community, all three moved from niches
into the mainstream because they were
about community and passion first,
not getting rich.
BEATTY What are some ways you think
we can increase diversity, equity, and
inclusion in the craft beer space? And
what are some of the things you’ve
undertaken to elevate the conversation?
CALAGIONE I’m proud that Dogfish has
A BEER OUTLIER Harlem Brewing’s Beatty
is among the 0.4 percent of brewery
owners in the U.S. who are Black,
according to the Brewers Association.
always been a meritocracy. If you prove
yourself at your job, you’ll thrive. So
coming from that place of being open to
what anybody can contribute, regardless
of their background, their skin color,
or their education, I think is one of the
great advantages that the craft brewing
community has.
BEATTY Right.
CALAGIONE The example you’re setting
by creating a business that’s collaborative
with other brands and being intentional
in saying, “This is a safe space for other
Black and Brown entrepreneurs,” you’re
choosing a space even within that greater
DEI universe. So I think being as specific
as you are is a smart way to approach it.
BEATTY Do you think passion can make
up for a lack of experience? What do
you look for when you hire?
CALAGIONE We work hard to make sure
every new co-worker is an awesome
cultural fit before we make sure their
résumé fits. On interview day, they get
time talking to people in our company
who won’t be in their reporting stream.
Also, we have a few drinks with these
people. We’ll say, “All right, they’ve had
liquid truth serum—is this still someone
we want to hang out with?”
BEATTY How do you decide what respon-
sibilities you’re going to take on and
what you’re going to delegate?
CALAGIONE I think entrepreneurs who
grow their companies to be sustainable
are those who say, “All right, I’m wearing
a lot of hats. The marketing hat, branding
hat, and community-building hat fit me
well. The Excel spreadsheet hat or the
HR managing and policy hat is giving me
a headache.” Tapping people with super-
powers complementary to your own is a
trait that’s shared by the most successful
entrepreneurs I’ve ever met.
September 2022 Inc. 47
BRANDED CONTENT

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Changing Lives, One

Supplement at a Time
Humann is taking a Nobel Prize-winning
discovery mainstream to help transform health

S ome people find themselves with a little

time on their hands and start a hobby. A
retired former tech executive, Joel Kocher
Joel Kocher, co-founder
and CEO, Humann

decided to work with some of the foremost

experts in medicine, physiology, and nutrition
to bring innovation to human health.
Kocher is the co-founder and CEO of
nutrition and life sciences company Humann,
which develops plant-based supplements that
support cardiovascular, metabolic, and brain
health, among other functions. The company
is the force behind bestsellers like SuperBeets
and Neo40 supplements. Such products have
driven the growth that secured Human n’s
spot on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-
growing private companies an impressive eight
consecutive times.
Of course, Kocher is no stranger to fast
growth. He was Michael Dell’s second-in-
command during Dell Computers’ ascent to a
top technology brand. There, he oversaw global
sales, marketing, and operations. With a prolific
25-year career in the tech sector under his belt,
he was looking for a new opportunity when he
attended an investor presentation given by the
University of Texas Health Sciences Center.
There, he learned about nitric oxide (N-O),
a naturally occurring, blood vessel signaling
molecule. By the end of the presentation, Kocher
was convinced he had discovered his next
business venture.

A LIFE-CHANGING DISCOVERY
A lifelong athlete in sports ranging from
basketball to long-distance paddleboarding,
Kocher had first-hand knowledge of how
supporting blood flow could affect everything
from physical endurance to everyday health.
The discovery of N-O was a game-changer in
 that area. Working with some of the top medical
minds in the sector, including Nobel Laureate
Ferid Murad, M.D. and other leading physicians,
Humann developed a science-based approach to
its product development.
“We decided day one our strategy was to be
8x
an industry disruptor by bringing science and
clinical data to the fore, by striking a unique bal-
Inc. 5000 Honoree ance of nature and science to deliver supplement
products that actually work.” he says.  light, continued and strategic innovation
Kocher had vast experience in operations
10M
Units of SuperBeets
and the ability to quickly assess the industry
landscape. After all, he helped drive the rise
Brand Sold of PCs from trend to essential tool. He felt
Human n’s products would play a similarly
crucial role in supporting health and well-being.
4700+
Retail Locations
Still, he calls the nutritional supplements
category the “most fragmented market I’ve
Selling Humann ever seen.” Establishing credibility would be
Products essential to differentiate the company’s prod-
ucts. Human n’s science-centered approach
2010
helped the company leverage its patented N-O
platform technology and back up its claims with
Year Founded clinical trials. Human n was recognized with
Nutrition Business Journal’s science award in
2017, which Kocher calls “the gold standard”
in the industry.
AnnMarie and Joel Kocher are
co-founders of Humann.
INNOVATION SPURS
CONTINUED GROWTH
Such careful, strategic development has helped
the company earn the trust of consumers,
physicians, and nutritionists. The SuperBeets
brand is closing in on 10 million units sold and is
the best-selling superfoods brand at nutritional
supplement retailer GNC.
And while startups may capture the spot-
sustain growth. Humann has added something
new every year to develop new markets and
opportunities,” he says. “One of my advantages
was understanding that what got you here won’t
get you there [to the next phase of growth],”
he says.
And while he is proud of the company
and the products it has developed, Kocher
says his greatest success comes from hearing
stories about how customer’s lives have been
transformed by Humann products. “Through
this business, I discovered what I was really
engineered to do as a human being: to change
the world,” he says. “There is no higher-order
mission than this.”
H U M A N N .C O M
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
 2022
TRIUMPH
OVER CHANGEThe Year in Spectacular Growth
THERE’S RAPID GROWTH, and then there’s the
sort of rapid growth that can melt the enamel
right off your damn teeth. Surely that’s what it felt
like for the founders in this edition of our annual
list of America’s fastest-growing private com-
panies. For they have piloted their startups on
50
an atmosphere-piercing ride the likes of which
we’ve not seen before. Among the top 500, the
median revenue growth rate over the past three
years is 2,144 percent—up from 1,820 percent for
the 2021 list. • A strength runs through America’s
small businesses that defies the forces twist-
ing our economy into such weird knots. In some
cases, you’ll find Inc. 5000 founders honing their
business models to battle these forces directly—
like Nick Carter in Indiana, who built a supply
chain solution that unites farmers and grocery
shoppers (see Market Wagon, No. 450, page 74).
Or Cherie Kloss, a former reality show producer
who took a big swing at the labor shortage with
her nurses’ hiring platform, SnapNurse (page 80).
The result? Oh, about 146,000 percent revenue
growth. Even more astonishing? That lands it at
No. 2 this year. • The top slot goes to BlockFi, a
crypto outfit that, at presstime, appeared likely to
weather the crypto winter that has battered and
bankrupted so many others—a testament to its
adoption of rigorous practices more common in
traditional finance firms. As for its growth? Well,
let’s just say you have to see those numbers to
believe them (page 66). • Still, perhaps no one
embodies the spirit of the class of 2022 like Vlad
Kytainyk, a Ukrainian immigrant and CEO of No.
50, Kitrum. He made a plan to get his software
team in Ukraine out of harm’s way before Russia
invaded, and executed it without losing staff or
clients (page 96). Kytainyk, like Ukrainian presi-
dent Volodymyr Zelensky, addressed his troops
with steely confidence. “If you can’t do that,” he
says, “why are you running this business?” That’s
the Inc. 5000 brand of leadership—with teeth.
HOW THE 2022 INC. 5000 COMPANIES WERE SELECTED
Companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 are ranked
according to percentage revenue growth from
2018 to 2021. To qualify, companies must have
been founded and generating revenue by March
31, 2018. They must be U.S.-based, privately held,
for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries
or divisions of other companies—as of Decem-
ber 31, 2021. (Since then, some on the list may
have gone public or been acquired.) The mini-
mum revenue required for 2018 is $100,000; the
minimum for 2021 is $2 million. As always, Inc.
reserves the right to decline applicants for sub-
jective reasons. Growth rates used to determine
company rankings were calculated to four deci-
mal places.
September 2022 Inc. 51
BetterUp is growing
with performance
strategies that wow.
Get ready to realize your full potential because
the coaches at BetterUp are combining data
insights and personal connection to make it
happen for more people and companies,
every day. And, with Salesforce as their CRM,
they can rest assured that the data they're
relying on is accurate, secure, and complete.

salesforce.com/betterup

Inc. 5000
Winner

Adam Lavezzo
VP, Revenue Strategy & Operations
 PORTRAIT OF

THE AMERICAN
ENTREPRENEUR BY THE NUMBERS

TH E Y D O N ’ T FO LLOW TH E R U LE S . TH E Y
D O N ’ T TA K E N O FO R A N A N SWE R . TH E Y PU S H
H A R D E R WH E N E V E RYO N E E L S E Q U IT S .
AND THEY ARE AMERICA’S MOST DILIGENT JOB

I NEVER SAW

35
C R E ATO R S . M E E T TH E C E O S R U N N I N G
TH E FAS TE S T- G R OWI N G C O M PA N I E S I N TH E
U. S . TH I S I S H OW TH E Y G O T H E R E .
— L I N D S AY B L A K E LY
WORKING
FOR SOMEONE
ELSE AS
A CHOICE.
I NEVER
CONSIDERED
ANY OTHER

%
LIFESTYLE.
—Benjamin Grossman,
Pinpoint Payments

WANTED
TO LEAD THEIR
OWN
COMPANIES. “The reason I started

43%
the business was for personal
freedom. I wanted to make
enough money so that I
could manage my life on my
terms. Bringing on a partner
means that I have to answer
OF INC. 5000 CEOS STARTED THEIR BUSINESSES to someone, and that is

BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED the opposite of why I started

the company.”
THEY COULD MAKE THEIR IDEAS HAPPEN. —Anonymous

ILLUSTRATIONS BY RAYMOND BIESINGER September 2022 Inc. 53

 your customers by bringing your

SALES MARKETING SERVICE

Boost sales with tools Delight customers with the Solve issues fast with
that fit your business. right message at the right time. personalized service and support.
55 Inc. September 2022
THE 500
Meet the top 10 percent of this year’s
Inc. 5000 class. Then head to the
website to check out the full list of
all 5,000 elite performers:
inc.com/inc5000/2022

Three-Year Growth

1
1 BlockFi 245,616% 126 Bird & Co. 3,566% 252 Whittley Agency 2,144% 378 Givenly 1,582%
2 SnapNurse 146,319% 127 •Crestmont Capital 3,548% 253 ••Lovebug Probiotics 2,141% 379 •LinkSquares 1,582%
3 CDL 1000 56,135% 128 ••Spartan Investment Group 3,539% 254 •Global Alliant 2,122% 380 Digital Ox 1,580%
4 eTrueNorth 42,428% 129 •PingWind 3,522% 255 Trainual 2,113% 381 AblePay Health 1,579%
5 HighKey 41,585% 130 TrendSpider 3,514% 256 Labruutories 2,111% 382 Power 22 1,578%
6 Livingood Daily 38,448% 131 •20/20 GeneSystems 3,512% 257 •Cygnus Education 2,090% 383 BriteVox 1,576%
7 Distributed Ledger 28,650% 132 Hero Cosmetics 3,505% 258 Autobooks 2,087% 384 Analysis Prime 1,564%
8 Homethreads 25,851% 133 AFC Logistics 3,465% 259 Tax Hardship Center 2,078% 385 11TEN Innovation Partners 1,564%
9 •Hardbody Supplements 25,785% 134 •CrowdPharm 3,449% 260 72SOLD 2,065% 386 Quicken Steel 1,554%
10 Tax Relief Advocates 20,541% 135 •Songtradr 3,440% 261 ••Kern Technology Group 2,053% 387 •CRG Automation 1,550%
11 theLender 20,489% 136 Cross Country Creative 3,426% 262 •Sugarwish 2,053% 388 KDM Financial 1,543%
12 TransLoop 20,267% 137 Zapps Wholesale 3,426% 263 Lovevery 2,049% 389 •Viking Industrial Painting 1,542%
13 •StaffDNA 19,699% 138 •Actriv Healthcare 3,409% 264 Saris and Things 2,043% 390 ASTAR Home Capital 1,541%
14 Baltic Børn 18,162% 139 •Air Pros 3,392% 265 •ICU Technologies 2,029% 391 •7th Level Communications 1,536%
15 teambuilding.com 17,649% 140 Custom Patch Hats 3,390% 266 Precision Construction Services 2,027% 392 VADE Nutrition 1,523%
16 The Newsette 16,581% 141 Soma Global 3,382% 267 Sproutbrite 2,021% 393 US Hydrovac 1,521%
17 Blue Hammer Roofing 15,911% 142 Curis Functional Health 3,380% 268 Fox Logistics 2,018% 394 Mixlab 1,520%
18 •Hardbody Coaching 15,064% 143 Point Pickup 3,363% 269 ••springbig 2,013% 395 •••Lean Solutions Group 1,520%
19 Fohse 14,708% 144 Jeeter 3,346% 270 Epigen 2,008% 396 ••Mytonomy 1,518%
20 Summit Human Capital 14,413% 145 SponsorUnited 3,339% 271 •••Fountainhead 2,006% 397 Surfco Restoration & Construction 1,517%
21 Penguin Home Solutions 14,347% 146 Medefy 3,338% 272 Massive 2,006% 398 Chico’s Auto Pros 1,516%
22 Harvestone Group 14,308% 147 CigarClub 3,331% 273 Farm Hounds 2,005% 399 Longeviti Health 1,509%
23 Marie Nicole Clothing 14,106% 148 SmartLight Analytics 3,317% 274 Bitwerx 1,993% 400 The Indoor Golf Shop 1,507%
24 Options Exteriors 13,526% 149 ••PainTEQ 3,316% 275 Seven Figure Agency 1,988% 401 •SwagUp 1,506%
25 Vanta 13,096% 150 M1 3,284% 276 HiOperator 1,983% 402 Post Real Estate Group 1,503%
26 Athletic Brewing Company 13,071% 151 Clearcover 3,284% 277 LRB Group 1,982% 403 Offbeat Media Group 1,501%
27 KGM Technologies 12,970% 152 •Vegamour 3,284% 278 Douglas Brooke Homes 1,976% 404 •The Dingman Group 1,499%
28 Xevant 11,853% 153 Superior Skilled Trades 3,275% 279 Caden Lane 1,974% 405 •Emonics 1,495%
29 ••Lifeboost 11,283% 154 365Labs 3,247% 280 Nikola Labs 1,966% 406 Avara 1,493%
30 MUD\WTR 10,430% 155 Global Truck Permits 3,244% 281 Fun In Motion Toys 1,966% 407 •Audley Consulting Group 1,492%
31 Complete Health Partners 10,285% 156 Veterinary Emergency Group 3,238% 282 •••••••Ready IoT/Ready Wireless 1,961% 408 LeafLink 1,490%
32 Qwick 10,077% 157 GRO 3,223% 283 •Soma Tech Intl 1,955% 409 Mission Veterinary Partners 1,490%
33 Capital Rx 9,895% 158 Nemean Solutions 3,221% 284 MortgageOne 1,952% 410 Golden Tax Relief 1,487%
34 Thesis 9,442% 159 Fairmarkit 3,202% 285 Element 26 1,948% 411 ••Restore Hyper Wellness 1,483%
35 Zimba & PLUS ULTRA 9,349% 160 •studio503 3,192% 286 SocialBook 1,946% 412 •Arkose Labs 1,480%
36 •RateForce 9,099% 161 Ribbon 3,172% 287 Kelly Roach Coaching 1,943% 413 SiFive 1,477%
37 •Emerge 8,953% 162 Zenernet 3,167% 288 Xactus 1,942% 414 •Clutch Solutions 1,476%
38 AGM Tech Solutions 8,749% 163 Pie Insurance 3,139% 289 Jiminy’s 1,942% 415 ••American Hartford Gold 1,472%
39 Neato 8,205% 164 •Maxwell 3,137% 290 PadSplit 1,937% 416 •connectRN 1,472%
40 Core Clinical Partners 8,200% 165 Point Digital Finance 3,103% 291 •Gymreapers 1,930% 417 SleepScore Labs 1,471%
41 Mālama Solar 8,185% 166 Songfinch 3,084% 292 WeeCare 1,928% 418 •Sitation 1,471%
42 •LaunchTech 8,054% 167 •Notarize 3,064% 293 Solvus Global 1,927% 419 CFO Hub 1,465%
43 ••Powur 8,042% 168 ••Digital Thrive 3,056% 294 Unite Us 1,926% 420 Bluvium 1,465%
44 Simple Solar 8,006% 169 Turn Technologies 3,053% 295 Lextegrity 1,920% 421 i80 Group 1,462%
45 Partake Foods 7,489% 170 Asimily 3,005% 296 Tomorrow 1,911% 422 •Packed with Purpose 1,461%
46 Facet Wealth 7,383% 171 Lease End 3,001% 297 Feltman’s of Coney Island 1,909% 423 •Uscreen 1,451%
47 The Snow Agency 6,953% 172 Forester Haynie 2,984% 298 Ignite IT 1,906% 424 •Locus Robotics 1,450%
48 OneRail 6,879% 173 Qonkur Media Group 2,983% 299 Cozy Earth Holdings 1,906% 425 Tradebloc 1,445%
49 Franchise Ramp 6,830% 174 Disrupt Equity 2,975% 300 NexCore 1,894% 426 500 Designs 1,444%
50 KITRUM 6,799% 175 RivellePro 2,960% 301 Rove 1,893% 427 AZNUT 1,440%
51 Ink Staffing 6,796% 176 Guardian Litigation Group 2,953% 302 iVueit 1,885% 428 PetScreening 1,435%
52 •Movers+Shakers 6,720% 177 Exyn Technologies 2,937% 303 Anvil Secure 1,880% 429 Portage Logistics 1,432%
53 Happy Box 6,620% 178 ACHUTI 2,921% 304 •Maverick Payments 1,878% 430 •Cleveland Kitchen 1,431%
54 Cascadia Global Security 6,608% 179 The Surefire Group 2,919% 305 Birdy Grey 1,877% 431 RapTV 1,429%
55 Empower 6,363% 180 Guardian Baseball 2,874% 306 Sunbit 1,874% 432 ••Paradigm Laboratories 1,428%
56 ArtsAI 6,285% 181 •Arrive Health 2,873% 307 SCGWest Development 1,860% 433 KeyCity Capital 1,428%
57 •Stord 6,247% 182 ROI Construction 2,865% 308 Upside Services 1,858%
434 ••Caldwell Intellectual 1,424%
58 AMA Consulting Group 6,218% 183 Lettuce Grow 2,862% 309 Sheets & Giggles 1,849% Property Law

59 365 LOGISTICS 6,093% 184 •FreightPlus 2,845% 310 Shameca International 1,836% 435 Vestwell 1,423%
60 •AdOutreach 6,052% 185 Select Dental Management 2,833% 311 K.Pack Manufacturing 1,830% 436 DASH Carolina 1,422%
61 GlobeTopper 6,013% 186 •Semperis 2,827% 312 Boostlingo 1,821% 437 ••Restoremasters 1,420%
62 •Webforce 6,009% 187 •Solar Direct Marketing 2,820% 313 Amplify HR Management 1,819% 438 •Kennected 1,420%
63 The Brand Sunday 5,967% 188 24HourNurse Staffing 2,801% 314 Threadline 1,814% 439 Tapcart 1,416%
64 Truework 5,950% 189 eBlu Solutions 2,769% 315 Vector Remote Care 1,802% 440 JKR Windows 1,415%
65 •Numerated 5,887% 190 •Distributed Technology Group 2,764% 316 Ultraview Archery 1,801% 441 ••••Onicx Group 1,414%
66 PrizePicks 5,836% 191 •Varo Bank 2,757% 317 •••••Cover Desk 1,800% 442 Sextant Stays 1,410%
67 Get Staffed Up 5,807% 192 The San Diego Home Buyer 2,749% 318 Gen3 Technology Consulting 1,795% 443 LifeVac 1,408%
68 •Octillion 5,793% 193 Siono 2,747% 319 FreightPOP 1,789% 444 Itero Group 1,406%
69 •MATTIO Communications 5,734% 194 AVM Consulting 2,732% 320 Ragnarok 1,789% 445 ••FASTer Way to Fat Loss 1,401%
70 Harvest Hosts 5,697% 195 ••YourSix 2,724% 321 Drake’s Organic Spirits 1,774% 446 The Forbes M+A Group 1,397%
71 Gold Alliance Capital 5,614% 196 Elite Business Strategies 2,699% 322 CarAdvise 1,769% 447 Physical Therapy Biz 1,394%
72 •Neighborly Software 5,549% 197 Til Valhalla Project 2,697% 323 Monogram 1,765% 448 •RCG Logistics 1,385%
73 Ideal Agent 5,514% 198 Greater Than 2,682% 324 Skystone Acquisitions 1,759% 449 LEVO Oil Infusion 1,385%
74 RP Professional Services 5,300% 199 Polygon.io 2,681% 325 Canopy Management 1,758% 450 Market Wagon 1,385%
75 HqO 5,291% 200 •Nutrifresh Holdings 2,663% 326 GreenBrilliance 1,756% 451 Prysm Group 1,378%

Integrated Management 201 •Everly Health 2,643% 327 Unbanked 1,749% 452 Fidelman & Company 1,375%
76 5,271%
Strategies 202 Bad Birdie 2,632% 328 ••Resource Innovations 1,743% 453 Pulse Clinical Alliance 1,371%
77 TheMathCompany 5,245% 203 Hawaiian Bros Island Grill 2,613% 329 •The Stable 1,734% 454 HireRising 1,370%
78 •Innovative Financial Group 5,232% 204 Pergoroof 2,603% 330 Blankfactor 1,731% 455 •Keylent 1,369%
79 HERBL 5,227% 205 Neptune Flood 2,587% 331 SAKS Health 1,730% 456 Instawork 1,367%
80 •Threekit 5,150% 206 ••••ProLink Staffing 2,578% 332 Limelight Media 1,725% 457 Sierra7 1,362%
81 Matter Made 5,109% 207 Client Accelerators 2,574% 333 Knack 1,721% 458 Atlantic Home Mortgage 1,357%
82 Bearaby 4,999% 208 Instant Teams 2,572% 334 My Amazon Guy 1,715% 459 ThinkNimble 1,357%
83 Feast & Fettle 4,996% 209 •Texas Solar Integrated 2,559% 335 Zap Mortgage 1,715% 460 GoodUnited 1,355%
84 Athena Club 4,960% 210 •Bellzi 2,558% 336 Gridiron Tire 1,706% PGLS (Piedmont Global Language
461 1,353%
85 Summit Facility Solutions 4,938% 211 Red Rock Secured 2,555% 337 Prose 1,706% Solutions)

86 Steady 4,913% 212 Apple Blvd 2,555% 338 Paint the Town 1,705% 462 Octane Lending 1,351%
87 Modern Pro Solutions 4,906% 213 Flock Safety 2,552% 339 Goldmine & Coco 1,703% 463 •WhiteCap Search 1,351%
88 Generation Genius 4,891% 214 Connecting The Dots 2,536% 340 Albers Aerospace 1,700% 464 •4TEKGear 1,343%
89 SmartData Dashboard 4,668% 215 GETIDA 2,525% 341 •Omni Interactions 1,696% 465 Renewable Power 1,341%
90 Byte Federal 4,646% 216 Tractor Beverage Co. 2,520% 342 Testimonial Hero 1,696% 466 Archer Review 1,341%
91 Little Spoon 4,626% 217 Shred America 2,506% 343 •DMR Consulting 1,683% 467 Izzard Ink Publishing 1,337%
92 •CoinFlip 4,580% 218 •Fox Ordering 2,481% 344 Spire 1,681% 468 •Manuscripts 1,336%
 93 •••••••CMP.jobs 4,577% 219 The Desoto Group 2,477% 345 EcoTech 1,677% 469 MaryRuth’s 1,336%
94 •QualSights 4,555% 220 Branch 2,417% 346 Studio 88 1,677% 470 Bold Orange Company 1,332%
95 Moloco 4,455% 221 Chexout 2,403% 347 Chi-Matic 1,670% 471 ••Stynt 1,331%
96 Compute North 4,427% 222 Marc Nolan 2,390% 348 PatientWing 1,669% 472 URB Sciences 1,328%
97 •Accelevents 4,393% 223 •Proud Source Water 2,360% 349 Kin Insurance 1,668% 473 NexHealth 1,320%
98 Integrative Psychiatry Institute 4,387% 224 Verantos 2,360% 350 CloudQnect 1,666% 474 •Responsive Technology Partners 1,319%
99 HCM Unlocked 4,385% 225 Bear Walker 2,357% 351 HomeLight 1,663% 475 DAS Federal 1,317%
100 Performance Golf 4,323% 226 Orchard 2,350% 352 •Axiom Consultants 1,656% 476 CBD Care Garden 1,315%
101 Fluid Truck 4,311% 227 Coinme 2,349% 353 Summit Logistics Group 1,654% 477 Mile Auto 1,311%
102 Eve International Logistics 4,306% 228 BuyLow Warehouse 2,334% 354 •Casely 1,650% 478 CONQUERing 1,308%
103 Printfresh 4,196% 229 •Pomchies 2,295% 355 •OJO Labs 1,650% 479 •Evobox 1,307%
104 Piece of Cake Moving 4,174% 230 FashionPass 2,285% 356 •Snappy App 1,645% 480 Macros 1,295%
105 Bonnie & Pop 4,141% 231 Vivo HealthStaff 2,270% 357 Bent Ear Solutions 1,635% 481 ••Kate Quinn 1,294%
106 HomePride Bath 4,126% 232 We Are Rosie 2,267% 358 Blakeley Designs 1,634% 482 Lucidia IT 1,287%
107 American Oncology Network 4,059% 233 Petalura 2,244% 359 Behavior Nation 1,633% 483 •Simplify Home Loans 1,284%
108 •Kayo Energy 4,052% 234 Apptega 2,237% 360 ••Qloo 1,632% 484 •Xtreme LTE 1,278%
109 Hoodsly.com 4,048% 235 •••Federal Resources Corporation 2,236% 361 IT Ally 1,630% 485 Git The Trucking Commercial Tires 1,276%
110 Industrial Automation Co. 3,963% 236 SeekOut 2,231% 362 Rightway 1,627%
486 Lifetime Heating, Cooling 1,273%
111 OneZero Solutions 3,948% 237 Ordway 2,229% 363 Morty 1,624% and Electric

112 Surelock Technology 3,931% 238 IMAGE Studios 2,205% 364 Ned 1,622% 487 Campspot 1,266%
113 Black Bay Aerospace 3,905% 239 •Martin Exteriors 2,201% 365 Home & Local Services 1,612% 488 Managecore 1,266%
114 •Summit Medical Staffing 3,893% 240 FlyCore Distribution 2,196% 366 Snapcell 1,607% 489 •OpenReel 1,266%
115 Aspiration 3,881% 241 Zoomget 2,194% 367 ••Bitcoin Depot 1,606% 490 StackNexus 1,260%
116 TimelyMD 3,852% 242 Aimpoint Digital 2,191% 368 •Windsor Group 1,603% 491 Kwikly Dental Staffing 1,258%
117 •Homestead Brands 3,839% 243 •Pathwater 2,189% 369 RASA 1,603% 492 Ivy City Co. 1,256%
118 PCF Insurance Services 3,830% 244 Sourcegraph 2,185% 370 Iron EagleX 1,600% 493 Tempo Chemicals & Solutions 1,256%
119 •HydroJug 3,819% 245 BiOptimizers 2,159% 371 •Birdsey Construction Management 1,596% 494 •Lost Boys Interactive 1,255%
120 ••Citi Approved Enterprise 3,767% 246 •Alabaster Co 2,159% 372 Trius Lending Partners 1,593% 495 Aptino 1,255%
121 Foxbox Digital 3,735% 247 Alexandra Lozano Immigration Law 2,155% 373 Erie Environmental 1,592% 496 Let’s Talk Interactive 1,252%
122 Stylecraft 3,733% 248 •Carewell 2,154% 374 Nearsure 1,587% 497 ••Construction Concepts 1,251%
123 The Nightfall Group 3,698% 249 Audigent 2,153% 375 MemberHub 1,586% 498 •HumanIT Solutions 1,249%
124 •OpenExchange 3,650% 250 Fernish 2,144% 376 •SOLKOA 1,585% 499 Action Behavior Centers 1,249%
125 Herb’N Eden 3,568% 251 FlavorCloud 2,144% 377 Livingston Energy Group 1,584% 500 Ad Advance 1,247%

•The number of red dots indicates how many times a company has been a past Inc. 5000 honoree.
NOTE: The growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to four decimal places.
There were no ties among the top 500 of this year’s Inc. 5000.
teams together with Salesforce.

When your business has the tools it needs to unite teams around
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salesforce.com/smb
 The Dingman Group is growing
with relocations that wow.
Managing complex cross-country moves for sports teams, coaches, and all-star athletes is a
big job. With Salesforce, The Dingman Group has the tools it needs to meet and exceed
even the highest expectations — without ever dropping a ball.

salesforce.com/dingmangroup

Inc. 5000
Winner

Stacy Cordova Christopher Dingman

Senior Relocation Consultant CEO

Anthony Carollo
Manager, Operations
& Supply Chain Carlos Maldonado
VP, Finance

SOLD by
The
Dingman Group
 0.4%
87%
ARE OVER 35.
80%
HAVE FOUR-YEAR WE’RE
DEGREES OR MORE. APPROACHED ARE DEVOUT MEMBERS OF THE LATE-RISERS

52%
PRACTICALLY CLUB: WAKE-UP TIME > 10 A.M.
DAILY BY
INVESTORS.
ARE SERIAL BUT WE FEEL Most admired
ENTREPRENEURS. THAT
entrepreneur:
ELON MUSK

FO R T Y-S IX PE RC E NT HAVE
[ADDITIONAL] Most overrated
TU R N E D D OWN VE NTU R E CASH WILL entrepreneur:
SIMPLY
CA PITA L . I N S TE A D, TO
ELON MUSK
L AU N C H TH E I R C O M PA N I E S
TH E Y TA PPE D :
MAKE US
INEFFICIENT,
COMPLICATE
THE BUSINESS,
AND WE’LL
LOSE THE “He’s unfiltered and extremely
NIMBLENESS successful in
THAT HAS groundbreaking industries.”

MADE US —Eric Kimberling, Third Stage Consulting Group

SUCCESSFUL “He’s obviously successful, but I wish

THEIR OWN IN THE FIRST he would shut up.”

SAVINGS 80% PLACE.

—Anonymous

CREDIT CARDS 25% —Noah Berk, Obo

LOANS FROM
FRIENDS
AND FAMILY 24% I ALWAYS FEEL
TH E Y T YPI CALLY D O N ’ T HAVE IN SAN E LY E AR LY LIKE I SHOULD BE
WAK E - U P RO UTIN E S:
DOING MORE,
37% WAKE UP 22% WAKE UP EVEN THOUGH THE
AT 6 A.M. AT 7 A.M. ENTIRE WORKDAY
27% WAKE UP 5% WAKE UP IS DEVOTED
AT 5 A.M. AT 8 A.M.
TO MY BUSINESS.
—Angela Liljenquist, Baltic Børn
GETTY IMAGES

September 2022 Inc. 61

 INC. BRANDED CONTENT / SALESFORCE
Transforming Behavioral
Health With the Help of
a CRM Platform
RethinkFirst, a leading behavioral health technology
company, uses Salesforce to manage and optimize
nearly every aspect of its business
I
magine creating tools that make
it easier for a caregiver to help a
child with a significant disability
say, “I love you” for the first time.
While some companies call themselves
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health technology company, embodies
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CEO Daniel Etra co-founded the company
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year, growing from five to more than
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(CRM) platform with helping the company
manage such growth.
A clear path to success
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and lacked real-time access to data. In
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C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O , C O M M I S S I O N E D B Y
RethinkFirst is growing
with healthcare tools
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RethinkFirst is making the right care more accessible.
With Salesforce, the company has a single,
360-degree view of every customer to provide
individualized support at scale.

Inc. 5000
Winner

Patty Mah Daniel Etra

CFO CEO
 TH E Y ’ LL G O TO G R E AT LE N G TH S TO
AC H I E V E TH E I R V I S I O N .

WE FLEW TO
WH AT TH E Y S TR U G G LE WITH :

While these entrepreneurs are confident and experienced,

AUSTRALIA they still grapple with the kind of inner turmoil that

FOR ONE
comes with trying to start something from nothing. Among
their biggest startup concerns:
MEETING. IT’S
A 20-HOUR 46% SAY THE FEAR
FLIGHT. OF FAILURE.
—Anonymous 33% WORRY ABOUT BEING
RESPONSIBLE FOR
THEIR EMPLOYEES’ LIVELIHOOD.

“We answered YES to IMPOSTER SYNDROME

every question on an RFP IS REAL. MORE
THAN A QUARTER CONSIDER
and then, when we won,
figured out how to make the
yeses become true
before the delivery date.”
THEIR LACK OF
—Scott Shickler, 7 Mindsets EXPERIENCE IN SCALING
A BUSINESS TO BE
ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST
“We hired David Hasselhoff
to make a personalized
video for a prospect that
wouldn’t respond to us.”
OBSTACLES.
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THE THOUGHT Also real: the health issues

THAT 80 associated with being an
entrepreneur.
FAMILIES 40% say starting a

DEPEND ON MY company has negatively

affected their physical

LEADERSHIP health.
43% say it has brought on or
FOR THEIR

15%
exacerbated anxiety.

INCOME KEEPS
ME UP
AT NIGHT.
EVERETT COLLECTION

—Kurt Rewa, Sherpack

say it has contributed

to depression.

64
WH AT ’ S M O S T O N TH E I R M I N D S : “RETENTION IS
ALMOST 100 PERCENT. FINDING
THAT SORT OF
TALENT IS THE HARDEST.”
IT’S A TOUGH
—Aren Kaser, Igor Institute

JOB. TALK TO FAVO R ITE I NTE RV I E W Q U E S TI O N S TO AS K FO R TH I S G R O U P O F E NTR E PR E N E U R S ,

YOUR DOCTORS J O B CA N D I DATE S : TH E I R T WO B I G G E S T C H A LLE N G E S

AND GET A
T O G R O W T H R A R E LY C H A N G E F R O M
Y E A R TO Y E A R :
“If you were a kitchen

65%
THERAPIST appliance or tool, what would
IF YOU WANT you be and why?”

TO DO THIS. —PJ Orsini, Orsini’s

—Michael Grochol, Iron EagleX “We ask them to add 1/2 + 1/3
+ 1/6. That immediately shows
us if they have an analytical mind.” cite hiring and retaining

35 %
—Eric Eichhorn, Urban Infant good staff.
“If you won $100 million in the
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you do with your winnings?”
—Nicolas Weinfeld, Five to Sixty

cite meeting demand.

TH E U N C E R TA I NT Y I N TH E E C O N O M Y

TEACH ME I S TA K I N G A TO LL . TH E S E A R E
TH E I S S U E S TH E Y SAY A R E “ E X TR E M E LY

SOMETHING I M P O R TA NT ” R I G HT N OW:

THAT TAXES 50%

INFLATION 48%
I DON’T KNOW. REBUILDING
THE ECONOMY 43%
—Aaron Birt, Solvus Global

EDUCATION 38%
HEALTH CARE 32%
I F TH E G OV E R N M E NT C O U LD D O O N E TH I N G TO B E T TE R H E LP TH E M A N D
TH E I R B U S I N E S S E S , IT WO U LD B E :

“GTFO OF THE WAY. MAKE IT EXTREMELY EASY TO START

A BUSINESS. ALSO, ELIMINATE BUSINESS
TAXES BY GIVING TAX INCENTIVES FOR CREATING JOBS.”
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September 2022 Inc. 65

66 Inc. September 2022 ILLUSTRATION BY LINCOLN AGNEW
1
N O. B LO C K F I
C E O : Z AC PR I N C E

CATE G O RY:
FINANCIAL
S E RV I C E S

TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
245,616%

BLOCKFI’S
GREAT RISE—
AND EVEN
GREATER
ESCAPE
It was the country’s fastest-growing private company—
until the crypto winter blanketed the sector. Here’s
how an innovative financial startup is succeeding through
good, old-fashioned fundamentals. b y b i l l s a p o r i t o

ANTICIPATION WAS BUBBLING for Collision,
Toronto’s annual tech-veneration fest, and it seemed
the perfect stage for young fintech star Flori Marquez,
co-founder of BlockFi, who was expected to be one of this
year’s headliners. It was the first in-person Collision in
three years, during which time great leaps had been made
in areas such as Web3, artificial intelligence, machine
learning, and cryptocurrency. Marquez filled the bill per-
fectly. The daughter of Argentinian immigrants, she had
eschewed a traditional path to banking to dive into crypto
finance, and the company she helped create in 2017 had
become one of the cryptoverse’s comets. But days before
the conference kickoff on June 20, her name suddenly
disappeared from the program. That included her spot in
a session called “What to Feed a Growing Unicorn.”
Perhaps because in the weeks preceding Collision,
BlockFi ceased to be a unicorn—it had been valued as
high as $3.8 billion in 2021—sending Marquez off the
stage and into the biggest drama of her business life. In
January of this year, she and her co-founder, Zac Prince,

67
were running the fastest-growing company on the Inc. 5000.
In February, they signed a consent decree with the Securities
and Exchange Commission that, while it hobbled one of their
most popular products, paved the way, they thought, for the
regulatory oversight they’d long sought. They were going legit.
But by June, they would find themselves swimming against a
tide that was dragging the entire crypto industry under. “What
I love most about my job is that I get a new job [all the time],”
she mused in an interview with Inc. in late July. “It used to be
every six months. Now it’s every month.” That was just after
crypto platform FTX, and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried,
threw BlockFi the life preserver that will let it return to a
growth path: a $400 million line of credit, in return for an
option to buy the firm.
BlockFi is a crypto trading and financial services platform
designed to be the bridge from traditional finance to the crypto
economy. From the start, the company’s strategy has been to
demystify crypto and transform the digital currency—made
possible by the explanation-resistant technology of block-
chain—into something more mainstream. BlockFi wasn’t
trying to capture crypto moonbeams in a jar and sell them as
energy. Instead, the company wanted to offer products that
were familiar to most consumers, such as credit cards and
interest-bearing accounts, using crypto as the asset base.
That strategy was clearly working. BlockFi’s revenue neared
$500 million in 2021, primarily from lending and trading,
a 25X increase from the prior year, which was itself a 20X
rocket. Like others in this arena, including Binance, Coin-
base, and Celsius Network, BlockFi’s growth was hitched to
the price of Bitcoin and other crypto coins. Those prices shot
ahead last year as crypto gained more acceptance among con- A child of immigrants, Marquez has always strived to outperform.
sumers, Wall Street institutions, hedge funds, and even stodgy
pension funds. Meanwhile, the day traders continued to party, BlockFi also planned another capital raise to expand its bal-
embracing crypto’s HODL (hold on for dear life) ethos. ance sheet and lending. “We actually, at the back half of last
Crypto winters have occurred regularly and been followed year, were focused on profitability and our financial metrics,
by ever bigger booms. The industry expected the same thing even ahead of the economic downturn,” says Marquez, who is
to happen this year. But the crypto winter of 2022 has proved BlockFi’s senior vice president of operations. For the month of
far, far worse than anyone’s worst dreams. Crypto’s market May, in fact, the company turned a profit.
cap dropped from a peak of $2.9 trillion in 2021 to just below On May 5, though, crypto tokens called Luna and TerraUST,
$1 trillion in June 2022. Several crypto firms, including Three available on the Anchor lending platform, began to tumble.
Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital, and Celsius Network, would UST was billed as a stablecoin, whose value could be pegged
go bankrupt as their unsustainable business models—and to the dollar. But it was also an algorithmic coin—backed by
that’s using the term generously—imploded. code instead of hard assets. When UST broke the buck, edging
Most Inc. 5000 startups hit speed bumps—cash gets short, below $1, collateral damage ensued. Luna would, within days,
a product flops, debt rises along with sleeplessness. Few ever fall to less than 10¢ from about $116 on April 5. Bitcoin contin-
confront the sudden reversal that BlockFi did. In crypto, the ued to swoon, from its peak near $70,000 in late 2021 to about
innovators aren’t necessarily people with backgrounds in tra- $40,000 in early May to less than $20,000 on June 18.
ditional finance. Indeed, it’s not unusual for disrupters to come Despite the turmoil, Marquez and Prince thought they’d
from outside the sector they disrupt. But when new entrants built a cyber winter-proof organization. BlockFi is a central-
behave irrationally, the economics can follow, which is part of ized finance (CeFi) company, structured more like a bank,
what happened in the crypto winter. “Obviously, everyone’s with an audit and risk committee that reports to the board.
plans changed very drastically, given the economic condi- The committee was peopled with Wall Street types who had
tions,” Marquez notes. With some understatement. experienced the financial crisis of 2008. “We didn’t offer Luna
to our U.S. clients,” says Marquez. “We didn’t have direct expo-
FOR A TIME, even as Bitcoin turned south in early sure to that market event.” That old-school structure is a point
2022, BlockFi seemed to motor along. The company had of derision and differentiation for proponents of decentralized
planned on a slowdown, aware that the SEC might target its finance (DeFi). They see no need for intermediaries in crypto,
interest-bearing BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) in the U.S. since every transaction is recorded via blockchain, whose air-

68 Inc. September 2022

 tight encryption renders trust irrelevant.
So is there even a need for companies such as BlockFi? “This
is the interesting question,” says Karen McGrath, assistant
professor of finance at the Freeman College of Management,
Bucknell University. “You are creating a traditional finance
wrapper for crypto when the whole appeal of crypto is essen-
tially decentralized finance. I do find that super ironic.” But
investors who want to ease their way into crypto are willing
to trust CeFi firms with their digital wallets. “So I absolutely
don’t see them going away,” she says.
The hope within the cryptoverse was that the Anchor/
Terra/Luna implosion was a one-off. The reality, though, is
that many companies are cross collateralized, cross invested,
and basically crisscrossed at every level: investors, debtors,
and creditors. They would all share the pain.
This became evident on June 12, when one of BlockFi’s com-
petitors, Celsius Network, froze withdrawals, citing “difficult”
market conditions. The Singapore-based hedge fund Three
Arrows Capital (3AC), which had borrowed billions from
other crypto firms, including Celsius and BlockFi, held a huge
position in Luna/UST and was soon insolvent. 3AC filed for
liquidation a month later, its founders disappearing.
Although BlockFi and Celsius had fundamentally differ-
ent risk profiles, BlockFi customers started to head for the
exits. “It’s more difficult for a retail investor to know the dif-
ference between the two firms,” notes Marquez. “When they
shut down their platform, it created an increase in withdraw-
als from our platform, which I think is natural. You see these
types of events happen in banking as well.” This was becoming
an old-fashioned bank panic in a new setting.
The Celsius suspension also happened to come just before
BlockFi announced a layoff of 20 percent of its 850 employ-
ees—which Marquez says was long planned to help the com-
pany reach sustained profitability. “It was very unfortunate
timing to have that happen on the same day as Celsius,” says
Marquez. “But you don’t just wake up and do layoffs.” Like-
wise, BlockFi had a $1 billion exposure to 3AC, as did Celsius.
BlockFi did hold collateral worth $1.3 billion (at least initially),
and when 3AC missed a margin call, BlockFi began to unwind
the collateral; Prince tweeted to tout the quick response.
The squeeze was on, though, and BlockFi’s funding efforts
would be met with more resistance, primarily because new
lenders demanded to be put at the head of the line should the
market continue to decline. BlockFi wanted to protect cus-
tomers—and to send a market signal. After beginning the year
in discussions with JPMorgan about going public, Prince and
Marquez would instead grab an offer that met these criteria:
COURTESY COMPANY (MARQUEZ AND PRINCE)
a $250 million credit facility supplied by FTX and Bank-
man-Fried, a Bahamas-based crypto billionaire who feared
further industry damage if a player such as BlockFi folded.
BlockFi’s customers would be protected under the agree-
ment—any FTX claims were subordinate.
Yet a financial company that publicly announces its
desire for more capital during an industry crisis can also set off
alarm bells. Customers get nervous and flee, trying to be the
first ones out of the door. In his Twitter feed, Prince tried to
forestall a run by talking up the balance sheet strength that the
FTX deal offered. And on a crypto fanboy podcast called (irony
alert) On the Brink, he made the case that BlockFi was solid,
even if other companies failed. But, alluding to the financial
meltdown that wiped out firms such as Bear Stearns and Leh-
man Brothers, he allowed: “There are some parallels to 2008-
9. This is a crypto version of that, and I don’t think it’s over.”
That certainly proved to be the case. Shortly after his pod-
cast, CNBC ran a story that cited a leaked investor call in which
one participant claimed BlockFi would be sold for $25 million
and its investors wiped out. Although the claim wasn’t true,
the pressure on BlockFi got worse. “As founders, our job is to
continuously optimize for every single path, right?” Marquez
says. “You’re always looking for other options.” The outcome
was an expanded deal with FTX: BlockFi’s credit line would
rise to $400 million, and FTX would get an option to buy the
company for up to $260 million, depending on various perfor-
mance measures. But BlockFi’s customers were, again, made
whole, shielded by BlockFi’s conservative approach to a specu-
lative asset. “As a matter of principle, we believe in protecting
client funds,” Prince tweeted; doing so was both good business
and promoted crypto financial services generally.
There’s a Wall Street maxim that the market can be irratio-
nal longer than you have money. BlockFi was well capitalized,
having raised $1 billion from crypto’s elite investors, including
Coinbase Ventures, SoFi, Bain Capital Ventures, and Winkle-
voss Capital. It was operationally sound, not overleveraged,
and kept 10 percent of deposits available at all times—as con-
servative as any commercial bank. “We continued to process
all withdrawals,” Marquez notes, “and to this day still do.”
And all of that, apparently, didn’t matter, once Celsius and
3AC sent the market into a spiral.
MARQUEZ AND PRINCE arrived at blockchain bank-
ing from different directions. After coming to the U.S., Mar-
quez’s parents settled in Pittsburgh, where her father got an
MBA from Pitt and her mother became a teaching assistant.
Prince financed his college degree with his online poker winnings.
69
The couple’s plans to return to Argentina and start careers
there were undermined by the country’s then (and now) unsta-
ble economy. So they moved to Miami, where Flori was born.
Marquez, 31, says she absorbed the typical pressure put on a
child of immigrants to outperform the other kids at school. At
Cornell, she studied prelaw, but, after talking to lawyers about
their careers, she switched to finance, which offered a quicker
path to paying off her student loans. Failing to get an offer from
the bank where she interned her senior year, she took a job as
an investor relations manager at a hedge fund.
She then jumped to Bond Street, a fintech startup that made
loans to small businesses, and found herself on the phone with
hair salon and coffee shop owners, figuring out how to under-
write their loans or, if they were in trouble, work out repay-
ment schedules. When Goldman Sachs acqui-hired the Bond
Street team in 2017, Marquez could have easily joined the blue
chip firm. Or vanished within it. But someone had to manage
Bond Street’s $125 million portfolio. She put up her hand. She
was now her own boss, and a business owner.
A sunsetting business, though, since the portfolio would
soon wind down. She decided to spend her nights managing
the portfolio and days combing her network, looking for ideas
and people to start a new business. One of those contacts was
Prince, who had advertised for a launch partner on AngelList,
a website for startups. They’d known each other through their
fintech connections. He had an idea. And a problem.
The problem occurred when he applied for a loan to buy
an investment property in 2017. Prince seemed like a good
risk. He was already well established in a fintech career as a
senior vice president of Zibby (now Katapult), a lease-to-own
lender. He had a thing for numbers, having financed his
education, first at the University of Oklahoma and then at
Texas State University, with winnings as an online poker
player. Prince grew up in San Antonio, where he was a nation-
ally ranked tennis player on the junior circuit before his inter-
ests turned to finance. But after graduating in 2008, finance
jobs were in short supply, so he joined a tech startup that was
developing programmatic advertising and then made his way
to online lending at Orchard Platform, a broker dealer.
Prince, who is 36, began investing in crypto in 2014 and
thought that the instrument—like personal computers in the
early ’80s—was about to make the leap from hobbyists/nerds
to the general public. But when he included Bitcoin and Ethe-
reum among his assets, his lender balked, seeing them as
latter-day Confederate scrip without actual value. That was
his light bulb moment for starting BlockFi, Prince explained
in a corporate video. Every asset class needs debt and credit
products for investors; crypto would too. Marquez had an offer
from Goldman in her pocket the morning she decided to talk to
Prince. “I was pretty sure I was going to go there,” she said on
the video, until deciding, “Screw it, let’s go sit down.”
His pitch was that a market existed for a company that
could span the gap between traditional finance and crypto. She
knew, on the basis of her own family’s experience, that billions
of people around the world were locked out of banking.
Blockchain-based finance, which sidesteps governments and
bank intermediaries, could be an entry point for them. They
could, for example, buy asset-backed stablecoins with their
70 Inc. September 2022
local currency, which would offer a hedge against hyper-
inflation and at the same time become collateral for a loan.
The two weren’t alone in their thinking. A number of crypto
lending shops began cropping up, including Lendingblock
and CoinLoan. But they soon assembled a 12-person team
and $1.5 million in seed funding. When they made their first
crypto-backed loan in January 2018, Bitcoin was on one of
its periodic run-ups, having reached $17,000. That summer,
the company attracted $52.5 million in fresh capital, the bulk
of it for lending. By the end of the year, Bitcoin had dropped
to $3,000. Prince, BlockFi’s CEO, described the slump as
“brutal,” but there were no defaults. BlockFi had ridden out
its first crypto winter. The forecast looked positively sunny.
GETTING INTO THE lending business isn’t like opening
a bakery. It’s subject to both federal and state banking regula-
tions. And that’s just in the U.S. Yet at both the federal and state
levels, there were few regulations and regulators for crypto.
That posed players with a choice that many new-technology
firms face: Launch and ask for regulatory permission later or
try to bring the regulators along with you.
BlockFi, unlike most other crypto firms, generally hews
to the latter path, which made sense. After all, the company
wanted consumers to think of it as they would any other bank
or finance firm. Marquez, the regulations wonk, worked at get-
ting lending licenses state by state, beginning with California,
while cajoling legislators to start thinking about how to bring
crypto into the regulatory fold.
But, having devised a loan product using outside capital,
she and Prince also wanted to create a savings product
that would build an ongoing pool of capital for lending, as
any bank would. That product, the BIA, launched in 2019.
There was nothing complex about the accounts: Retail
BLOCKFI WASN’T TRYING TO CAPTURE
CRYPTO MOONBEAMS IN A JAR AND SELL
THEM AS ENERGY. IT WANTED TO OFFER
PRODUCTS FAMILIAR TO CONSUMERS.
customers—generally ones who are tech-savvier than
typical investors—would park their crypto at BlockFi and earn
interest rates that were vastly superior to the rates banks were
offering, albeit without FDIC insurance.
And—in this case—without regulatory approval, the bet being
that U.S. regulators would soon come around. The issue was
moot for half of BlockFi’s BIA customers, who were foreign-
ers. Indeed, BIAs were especially attractive in countries where
liquidity is an issue and borrowing and lending in U.S. dol-
lars is enormously expensive. BlockFi could pay its lofty rates
because it loaned the crypto to institutions at even higher rates.
The risk was higher too, because of the volatility of crypto
versus other asset classes. Prince talks pointedly about avoid-
ing “asset-liability mismatch” (taking in crypto and lending
dollars) as well as duration risk (borrowing short and lending
long), both issues with institutional clients: investment banks,
hedge funds, and pension funds needing crypto for proprietary
trading or their own customers. BlockFi says most of its insti-
tutional lending is for less than a year and open term, meaning
it can call in loans as needed to pay withdrawals.
Since its clients already had digital wallets to hold their
crypto, a trading platform was the logical next step; BlockFi’s
$18.3 million Series A round in July 2019 funded its launch.
Now customers could trade Bitcoin and Ether in addition to
borrowing and lending. By the time BlockFi announced its
B round in February 2020, the company had $650 million in
assets under management, a 160 percent increase since closing
the A round. And that was just the beginning. By year’s end,
revenue had jumped some 20,000 percent, and the company
had $5 billion in assets under management. It introduced a
crypto rewards credit card with Visa. And all this was happen-
ing on the bubble that was Bitcoin, which inflated from $7,000
in 2020 to some $68,000 in November 2021.
Even bad news seemed like good news for BlockFi, at least
initially. In February, it agreed to pay a $50 million fine to the
SEC and another $50 million to a number of states for selling
what the agency called an “unregistered security.” That hap-
pened to be BlockFi’s most popular product, the BIA. The
SEC’s ruling was highly technical, but nevertheless deemed
the BIA (for U.S. customers) to be an investment contract and
BlockFi itself to be an unregistered investment company. The
decision was not unanimous, with commissioner Hester M.
Peirce writing in dissent, “Is the approach we are taking with He puts BlockFi in that category. His investment is no guar-
crypto lending the best way to protect crypto lending custom- antee BlockFi will endure as an independent entity: FTX can
ers? I do not think it is.” SEC boss Gary Gensler, though, has exercise the option in October 2023. But Bankman-Fried
made it clear that he wants his agency to be crypto’s regulator. didn’t take a seat on BlockFi’s board. And the agreement has an
Still, Prince and Marquez, and others in the industry, consid- escape hatch: At any time before that date, Marquez and Prince
ered the consent decree a big step forward—a de facto seal of can make the option go away by paying FTX two or three times
federal approval. Paying $100 million was the price to join the the agreed-upon sales price, depending on how well the com-
club that JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, and BofA belonged pany performs. “It’s not outside the realm of possibility that we
to. “Today’s milestone is another example of our effort to could be in a position to buy back this option,” Prince said on
secure regulatory clarity,” Prince tweeted. He also announced an Animal Spirits podcast, “and keep going as an independent
a new product, BlockFi Yield, for high-net-worth individuals. company and be publicly traded.”
Once the company filed the requisite S-1 statement, it could And so, essentially, they are restarting their startup, with
resume offering interest-bearing accounts to all comers. 85 to 90 percent of their equity washed away, but with more
That 100 mil sure would have come in handy in June, as than 650,000 accounts and $3.9 billion of assets under man-
BlockFi’s balance sheet got squeezed. The company wasn’t agement, as of August 1. Marquez says the company will focus
yet big enough to absorb a significant hit. Despite its risk man- on getting its BlockFi Yield account through the regulatory
agement, BlockFi lost $80 million on its 3AC collateral. With process. They are also planning to create more on-ramps for
withdrawals rising and trading volumes declining as the price non-U.S customers. And with a number of competitors extinct,
of crypto crashed, the company was increasingly in a bind. it’s a lender’s market.
Marquez and Prince were now in crisis mode—which led them Yet for BlockFi to be a mainstream player—the next JPMor-
into the arms of Bankman-Fried and FTX. “I think I’ve learned gan Chase or Bank of America—it has to serve everyone, not
more than what many people learn in decades just being at the just the tech-savvy 1 percent. It’s fair to ask whether a prod-
helm of a company through a financial crisis,” Marquez says uct like BlockFi’s BIA could ever be as widely accepted as CDs
from the tranquil remove of a deliverance from near insolvency. were in the 1980s. And though BlockFi might embrace regu-
For his part, in explaining his investments in struggling lation, many players in this industry will be pushing the enve-
crypto firms, Bankman-Fried said at a Bloomberg crypto con- lope, which could hurt prospects for mainstream credibility.
ference that as the industry underwent a much-needed sorting Which leaves Marquez and Prince to prove that this chaotic,
out, he was willing to incinerate money on some firms to keep not-quite-currency called crypto is really the future of mon-
them afloat on the premise that they might be worth saving. He ey—and that companies like BlockFi can be the banks of the
took a deeper dive into their books, and then invested more in future. They probably have about a year to make their case.
the ones where assets and liabilities were roughly equal, with
the margin of error no more than $20 million, give or take. BILL SAPORITO is an Inc. editor-at-large.

71
 FAMILY CURE
Jesslyn Rollins
(center), here
with her parents,
Jeannine and Luther
Rollins, grew Biolyte
one pallet of
product at a time.

72
 605
N O.
B I O LY TE CATE G O RY:
C E O : J E S S LY N FO O D &
R O LLI N S B E V E R AG E S
In 2012, to help her mother through chemo-
therapy, Jesslyn Rollins’s father began
developing a hydration drink meant to work
like an over-the-counter IV. Now, 10 years
later, Biolyte, of Marietta, Georgia, is boom-
ing, having booked nearly $17 million in
sales in 2021. It’s well poised to keep grow-
ing, too: The global electrolyte drinks mar-
ket is projected to reach $56 billion by 2030,
up from $33 billion in 2020, according to
Allied Market Research. Here’s how
Rollins, 30, went from selling out of the back
of her car to landing major retail deals
across the country. —AS TOLD TO BRIT MORSE
My mom learned she had breast cancer in
2005. As she was going through her chemo
treatments, our family tried everything to
keep her hydrated—sports drinks, chil-
dren’s hydration products, electrolyte
powders—and nothing was working well
enough. She kept having to get IV bags.
My dad is a physician—an anesthesi-
ologist and pain specialist. He had all these
years of experience tailoring his patients’
IVs with nutritional supplementation. His
concoction seemed to help my mom, so he
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PEY TON FULFORD
TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
1,052%
took about $750,000 of his own money and
created a product that would be like an IV
in a bottle. It would have electrolytes and
liver detoxifiers—without all the sugar—to
relieve the headaches, fatigue, and nausea
of dehydration that can arise from medical
treatments or too much alcohol or simply
not drinking enough water. To put it in
perspective, you would have to drink close
to seven bottles of the leading sports drink
to equal the amount of electrolytes in one
bottle of Biolyte.
I didn’t know about what he’d done
until four pallets—5,184 bottles—arrived at
my parents’ house in July 2016. My dad had
been working on the project in secret. At
the time, I was selling tickets at the Laugh-
ing Skull Lounge, a comedy club in Atlanta,
and he told me to try the product for myself
after a night of drinking. So that’s exactly
what I did. I went out with my friends,
drank way too much, and woke up the next
morning feeling nauseous with a very bad
headache. Dad told me to pour one bottle
of Biolyte over ice, drink it all down, and
set a 30-minute timer on my phone.
No joke—down to the wire at 28 min-
utes, my nausea and headache started to
subside. That’s when I knew we might
have something. I was concerned that my
data might be flawed: Of course I wanted
my dad’s drink to work, and maybe I was
biased. So my next step was getting other
people to tell me that it worked.
I loaded some of it up in my Toyota
Highlander and went to the local high
school. I talked to the athletic trainer and
suggested he give it to players on the foot-
ball team. He gave a bottle of Biolyte to 10
guys who habitually cramped up, and for
the first time, he said, nine of them did not
cramp at all during a game. That’s when I
realized how popular the product could
be. From there, I drove around and sold it
to teams all across the Southeast.
A few months later, my brother-in-law,
who works in the wine industry, told me
that if I really wanted to grow the business,
I’d need to get a distributor. He introduced
me to someone at Savannah Distributing
who set up a meeting with Randy Waters,
head of the all-natural division for Kroger
Atlanta. I showed up with a rolling cooler
of Biolyte and three copies of my 10-page
sales presentation.
My pitch was that Biolyte was the
natural evolution of recovery. I had this
chart mapping the evolution of man: The
cave man was your average sports drink
and Biolyte was the fully evolved human.
There were plenty of opportunities for him
to try Biolyte, but he never did, so I thought
I bombed. At the end of the presentation,
he told me he was going to put the product
in hundreds of Kroger stores in various
states. I thought I didn’t hear him cor-
rectly, so I said, “Wait, Randy, just to con-
firm—you like Biolyte?” He said, “Yes! I’m
going to put it into Kroger!”
That first year, when I sold Biolyte out
of my car, we did $157,000 in revenue.
When we started to expand, I saw that we
needed true hierarchy and leadership. My
dad was CEO but he was not performing
the typical duties—he didn’t have the time.
I wanted to lead Biolyte, so over the course
of two years, I pitched my parents on why
I would be a great fit. They turned me
down multiple times, but I finally earned
the title in 2019. We’re now in almost
20,000 retail locations.
As for my mom? She is thriving and in
remission—and our family has never been
stronger. This feels like a mission we built
together, and I hope it stays that way.
September 2022 Inc. 73
 FARM FIXER
Nick Carter built a
supply chain to
connect producers
directly with
consumers.

74
 450
N O.
A fourth-generation Indiana farm kid,
Nick Carter, 39, grew up expecting to join
the family business. But by the time he was
in high school in the late 1990s, he knew
that was not a viable option. The farm
crisis of the previous decade had ravaged
the Midwest, and while the Carters dodged
foreclosure, the collapse of hog prices
drove the family out of farming as a com-
mercial enterprise. Instead, Nick went to
college. Twenty years later, in 2017, he
co-founded Market Wagon in Indianapolis
to help small farms survive by selling
directly to local consumers online. Now
the Carters’ hogs have returned, and the
family farm is back in business—without
the reliance on a contract from Smithfield
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN SERNA
M A R K E T WAG O N CATE G O RY:
C E O : N I C K CA R TE R FO O D & B E V E R AG E
Foods. Somewhere along the way, Nick just
may have fixed one critical breakdown
in the food supply chain.
—AS TOLD TO ALI DONALDSON
Small family farms are dying for a number
of reasons. One of the biggest is that
they’re not at a scale that allows you to
make money growing soybeans and corn.
I remember sitting in my high school
guidance counselor’s office, in a sleepy
town in the middle of Indiana, and the
message was: Get out of this hellhole. It’s
a terrible way of looking at the world.
We’re an online farmers’ market that
delivers local food to our customers’ front
doors. Our selection is far and wide—
from dairy, eggs, meat, and seasonal pro-
duce to sauces, seasonings, and beeswax
candles. More than 1,800 farmers and food
producers have joined. In our smallest
markets, we have 20 to 30 farmers; in our
flagship markets, it’s about 200.
The big problem we wanted to solve
was market access. Who are the people
who want to buy my farm’s grass-fed beef
and pasture-raised pork? How do we get it
to those people? That is what makes a local
food supply chain difficult to scale up. We
created both the e-commerce technology
and the logistics systems.
When I started this company, I remem-
ber saying, “I can’t tell you why or how,
but our food supply chain will break down.
When that happens, we’ll be ready.”
The pandemic created an immense
need, not only on the demand side, but
also on the supply side. Before the pan-
demic, Americans ate out 40 percent of
the time. Then in March 2020, when
restaurants shut down, retail grocery
needed to almost double overnight to
meet demand. It couldn’t be done. It was
empty grocery store shelves. Our supply
chain had a huge supply sitting there and,
because it’s local, it was able to move right
over to Market Wagon.
We grew like ripples on a pond. We
went from six cities to 32 in 18 months.
Within a year, we went from six people
sitting around a little card table in my
office to 57 and six layers of organiza-
TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
1,385%
tional hierarchy. Culturally, that’s hard.
Our fulfillment centers use a pallet
racking system. About two weeks into
lockdown, we’d bought every available
piece of racking east of the Mississippi. We
had all the ice packs we needed, but we
couldn’t get them frozen, so we were call-
ing restaurants asking, “Is your freezer still
plugged in?” We had a lot of restaurants
join Market Wagon because they couldn’t
do dine-in. One thing they could do was
use their kitchens to make meals—lasagna,
mac and cheese, soups—freeze them, list
them on Market Wagon, and make them
part of somebody’s grocery budget.
We knew we had a major opportunity,
but we needed capital to scale up. A firm in
Chicago called Hyde Park Venture Part-
ners bet on us and invested in November
2020. To date, we’ve raised $11 million.
Knowing where your food comes from
and having a relationship with the person
who produced it is good for you. We want
to build loyalty and a relationship
between our customers and the produc-
ers. If you’ve bought from one farm before,
we’re going to show you that farmer’s
products higher in your search results. If
you have questions—how are the hens fed
to lay these eggs?—there’s instant chat. It’s
not rows of cubicles with people talking
into headsets. It’s the farmer.
We don’t charge producers any listing
fee, and we take around 25 percent of the
revenue. They set their own prices and get
75 cents of every dollar. If you were selling
wholesale to a grocery store or to a res-
taurant, you’re at about 50¢ on the dollar.
Our producers also play a part in fulfill-
ment—that ’s how we’re able to
do this so efficiently. We take 15 to 20
minutes from each farmer. They are given
specific instructions as to where the items
they’ve sold need to be placed inside our
fulfillment center, so the orders are
assembled for us, saving us a lot of time.
In a two-hour window, we have tens of
thousands of items assembled into orders.
We’re not going back to where we were
before the pandemic. People like the
convenience of e-commerce. That habit
is sticking.
September 2022 Inc. 75
 658
N O.
BA R BA R A K A R E S CATE G O RY:
C E O : J O S H UA H E A LTH S E RV I C E S
F LO U R N OY
Evalena “Barbara” Flournoy was none too
pleased when her youngest sons, identical
twins Joshua and Caleb, dropped out of
college in 2007 to start their own company.
But she supported their dreams, allowing
them to move back home until they found
success in the $126 billion home health care
market with their company, Primecare.
Then, the twins parted ways, and Joshua
founded his own home care business,
BarbaraKares, named after his mom.
Today, the Milledgeville, Georgia, company
provides home health care services to
elderly and disabled customers across the
state. But first, Joshua, 36, had to navigate
the industry’s growing labor shortages.
—AS TOLD TO REBECCA DECZYNSKI
76
TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
958%
On the way home from college after our
junior year at South Carolina State, Caleb
and I passed a beat-up vehicle with a
sticker that read, “College of Charleston
Alumni.” I told him, “If we continue with
college, we will be driving that car.” We
had to find our own way to success. That
summer, we interned at a home care
company and decided to start our own
business in that market. We called it
Primecare. It took us about seven years to
make $2 million in revenue.
Caleb was originally the CEO, and
eventually he brought our oldest brother,
Faris, onto the team. Faris suggested a
change in management and hired a friend
to come on as CEO, while Caleb shifted to
operations, and I stayed in my role as head
of marketing. The new CEO and I just
didn’t click. I believed that he was driving
business down, so I said that I wanted out.
I sold my 40 percent interest in the busi-
ness, and with about $2,000 that I’d set
aside, I started BarbaraKares in 2017.
I had just gotten married and had a
baby on the way. I distinctly remember
telling my mom my plan, and she said,
“You have a family now. Are you sure you
want to start over?” I told her I did. Today,
she’s one of my advisers—and my biggest
inspiration. She raised me and my five
siblings as a single parent and instilled in
me the value of hard work.
At first, there was some drama. My
brothers said I didn’t have the right skills
to be a good CEO, but that only motivated
me. I started the business in a rental
property that I owned and drove around
in my car to meet potential clients. The
startup cost was just $1,500, mostly for
state licensing fees. The rest was all about
building relationships.
By then, I had a good understanding of
the home care business in Georgia. The
average wage for caregivers was $8 an
hour, so I started at $10 an hour to disrupt
things and set a new standard. Even
before Covid, there had been a growing
shortage of nurses, so a greater monetary
incentive helped me staff up. I built the
name through Facebook advertising, but I
also had contacts with hospitals and doc-
tors’ offices from my time at Primecare, so
I went and reintroduced myself. I’d tell
them, “It’s a long story, and you probably
know my brothers well—but if you could
send some business to me and some busi-
ness to them, that would be great.”
Diversifying our services helped my
company succeed during Covid. In addi-
tion to offering home health care services
through nurses we hired directly, we
started offering a new service through the
state’s Medicaid-funded Structured Fam-
ily Caregiving program. Basically, it allows
family members to get paid to take care of
elderly or disabled relatives, but they’re
required to work with a certified provider,
like BarbaraKares. We get paid through
Medicaid to provide training and guidance.
Right now, about half of our business is
through that program.
For a while, I teased my brothers about
how quickly I was able to build my busi-
ness, since they didn’t think I could do it. I
have an office almost right beside theirs, so
we see one another all the time. It’s kind of
like how you can have both McDonald’s
and Chick-fil-A. I think competition can
be a good thing. Although we bumped
heads for a bit, my brothers and I are
supportive of one another. We’ve learned
how to communicate, and we’re proud of
one another’s success.
The home care industry can defi-
nitely do with more businesses like ours
that aim to help families care for their
loved ones. I’ve even launched a consult-
ing business, Underdog Home Care, to
help other home care agencies grow their
businesses as quickly as I’ve grown
BarbaraKares. This year, we’re on track
to hit between $3.4 million and $3.8 mil-
lion in revenue. Navigating this industry
hasn’t been easy, and I’ve been fortunate
to touch a lot of people’s lives through
this work. Now I want to help others do
what I’ve done.
A FLAIR FOR CARE
Joshua Flournoy
rewards employees
with “$120K” rings
when they reach
that salary
milestone.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSS MARTIN September 2022 Inc. 77

 N O.
1,094
CAS TI LLO E N G I N E E R I N G • C E O : C H R I S TO PH E R CAS TI LLO
CATE G O RY: E N G I N E E R I N G
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH : 5 9 5 %
Christopher Castillo, 36, was driving home
to Orlando one June day in 2017, after a
round of sales calls up in Gainesville, when
he rang his father. Rick, 59, sounded frus-
trated. He told his son he was having
trouble hearing, and they cut the call short.
The next morning, Christopher received a
text from his father saying he couldn’t hear
at all. Christopher called—no answer. His
father texted again: “Christopher, you
don’t understand. I can’t talk on the phone.
I can’t hear anything.” Rick had experi-
enced “sudden hearing loss”—that’s the
term the doctors would use—and the
health crisis upended the Castillos’ life.
Little did Christopher know that he would
play a pivotal role in his father’s come-
back—in both his health and his business,
a decades-old solar engineering firm idling
in a $12 billion industry.
—AS TOLD TO NICK HAWKINS
I drove straight to my parents’ house, and
I had never witnessed my father afraid and
ashamed. At that moment, as a family, we
felt hopeless and defeated. I decided to
move in with them to get through this.
My father had pretty much been a one-
man show, running his solar engineering
firm from his home since he founded it in
1998. He worked long hours to try to build
his company into something beautiful. He
never got there because of the constraints
of going it alone.
At first, we were waiting for a miracle.
If you have sudden hearing loss, maybe
there’s a sudden return. Every day for a
78
week, even two, I’d wake up first thing and
rush downstairs like a little kid to greet my
father. He would just shake his head: “No,
it’s not back.” I kept telling myself there
had to be a solution—there’s always a solu-
tion. In July, we had a family meeting and
my father told us, “I’m gonna come back
even better and stronger.”
I had his cellphone calls forwarded to
mine and began hearing from his custom-
ers. Throughout the day, I was jotting
down what the customers needed, and
then texting the messages to my father.
Sometimes I’d have to drive back to the
house to be his ears for a phone conference.
I would type “Say hello” onto the screen so
he knew when to talk to his customer. In
the evenings, my mother would be cooking
dinner while I did paperwork for my job
as a sales rep at Philips Healthcare and sent
out invoices for my father. After dinner, my
father and I would research cures, thera-
pies, experimental drugs—anything to get
his hearing back. Long days, man.
His speech was becoming increasingly
difficult to understand because of his
inability to hear his own voice. But we 2017, and by September, he could hear.
don’t give up just like that. I mean, the I had been so busy helping him with
Castillos—we’re fighters and we’re com- the operations of the business, I didn’t
petitors. Pretty quickly, we found out have the opportunity to really take a look
what a cochlear implant was. Luckily for at it. I always knew he had a bit of clout,
us, we had a world-renowned cochlear and I started realizing he had some pretty
implant surgeon, Loren Bartels, at Tampa good customers. Looking at the books, I
General, about two hours away. When we began to understand, “Wow, you actually
met, I’ll never forget, he looked at us and have a good margin here. If we grow our
said, “I can help your father hear again.” business this much—holy shit!—we can
My father had his surgery on August 29, make millions.”
 SOLAR
OPPOSITES
Christopher
Castillo (far left)
runs the business
while his father,
Rick, handles
the technical
side of their
engineering firm.

My father had a tremendous portfolio,
but it was stuck in Dropbox and nobody
could see it. All I had to do was showcase
his projects to the marketplace and say,
“Hey, did you know that this guy, and now
our company, has this capability?” The
solar industry is growing rapidly, and
when you have an industry in its infancy,
and someone already has experience in it,
all you really have to do is tell the market
what you’ve done.
Having a sales background, my phi- beta phase of testing a complete online
losophy was: Let’s get sales, and then we portal for our customers. Over time, we’ve
can figure everything else out. What we become more efficient, and we’ve become
needed were customers. So I met the play- more organized.
ers in the marketplace—everybody I Today, for me to be the CEO of a com-
could—and let them know we were avail- pany and help drive it and grow it—that’s
Caption tk here tktk
able. Basically, I started overloading Rick living my dream. Totktkt
come back home as
here Inc. is on
with work, and the business began to grow. an adult, and helpTikTok!
my father
Followlive
us @ his
Back in the day, when a customer would dream—that is priceless.
inc. for Now I get to
more tips—
place an order, they would just email my work with one of my best and tomfoolery.
friends every
father. Fast-forward to 2022, we’re in the single day.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Z ACK WIT TMAN September 2022 Inc. 79

OFF THE
A former nurse builds a health care unicorn in just four years
and changes her profession forever. The pulse-quickening case
history of Cherie Kloss’s SnapNurse. BY TO M FO S TE R

WHEN SHE WAS 15 years old—decades
before she would go on to revolutionize
health care staffing—SnapNurse founder
Cherie Kloss was emancipated from her
family. Her mother was suffering from
acute mental illness and had to leave the
home to get care. Her parents divorced.
Then her father, a Korean immigrant,
decided he needed to return to Seoul to
pursue a job opportunity. Cherie, who
was on the Venice High School swim
team and content being a 1980s Southern
California kid, declined to go with him.
“If you don’t leave with me, you’re on
your own,” her father told her.
“OK,” she said. “I’ll be alone.”
Even though her family had been
“super poor” before it broke apart (“inner
city, government cheese, the whole
thing,” she says now), Kloss grew up
hearing from her father that if she
worked hard and studied hard, she could
make it here in this country—especially
if she pursued a career in engineering or
medicine. She’d have to fend for herself,
but her father had armed her with an
immigrant’s faith in the American dream.
Thus emerged Kloss’s skill for winging NURSE. TV MAVEN. TECH
it. She moved in with a friend, got a TITAN. The backdrops
may change for SnapNurse
full-time job at a bakery, finished school, founder Cherie Kloss, but
and landed a scholarship to a small her job remains the same:
Christian liberal arts college called West- hustler.
mont, outside of Santa Barbara. College
“felt like summer camp” after her child-

80
 CHART
2
N O.

hood, she says. After college came nurs-

ing school at Atlanta’s Emory University,
then a master’s in anesthesiology, and
then 10 years as a working anesthetist.
But next emerged another conse-
quence of her formative years: a restless
S N A PN U R S E instinct to not get too comfortable. Anes-
FO U N D E R : C H E R I E K LO S S thesia, she says, “is a little like flying a
plane—hours and hours of boredom but
CATE G O RY: potentially some excitement when you
H E A LTH S E RV I C E S take off and land.” It was 2006, the height
of the reality-TV craze, and when Kloss
TH R E E -Y E A R met a producer for A&E Networks, she
R E V E N U E G R OW TH : decided that sounded like more fun.
146,319% “How do I get started?” she asked.
“Do you have any experience?”
“No,” she said, “but I’ll do whatever it

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRAYLEN DION September 2022 Inc. 81

takes.” The conversation led to the pro-
ducer’s agreeing to be her showbiz
mentor, and Kloss began scouring the
American South for colorful characters.
Over the next 10 years, through a media
company she created and ran out of her
house, MLC Media (short for “midlife
crisis”), she sold no fewer than 38 shows
about everything from Kentucky back-
yard oil prospectors to Alabama gold
miners in the Amazon—and watched
eight of them make it to the air.
Through it all, she kept her anesthesia
work as a kind of side hustle, filling shifts
whenever someone needed her—which
begat yet another great career leap. “I
was working at 11 different locations,
TA M M Y R OW E
and they’d call me to see if I was avail-
able, and I would have to bring my paper
credentials in a manila folder,” she
recalls. “It was all missed voice mails
and bananas, and I said to myself it really
needed to be on an app so I could easily
find jobs and they could easily book me.”
The streaming era by then was upend-
ing the golden age of reality TV, so Kloss
made her move. “In the TV business, I’d
single-handedly outsold huge depart-
ments in New York City and L.A., so I
figured there wasn’t any reason not to
try a tech business.” She was by then an
expert at making things work, with a
MacGyver-like talent for improvising, so
she began taking online courses to under-
stand the business she was getting into.
She was 49 years old, a single mother
with two kids and two careers behind her.
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
82
she figured. “I go back to anesthesia?”
But when her new company officially
launched in 2017 as a digital market-
place for connecting contract nurses
and health care institutions—think: the
Uber of nursing—she never could have
guessed what was about to come.
H
ERE’S THE THING about a
global pandemic that no one in
2017 had quite anticipated: With
vast chaos comes not only vast
opportunity, but also occasions to funda-
mentally rewire whole systems. As Covid
hot spots emerged in 2020, they created
pockets of demand for nurses that
needed to be filled on a moment’s notice.
E L A I N A H A LL
But whereas many companies saw wild
pandemic revenue surges only to watch
them fade soon thereafter (cloth masks,
anyone?), SnapNurse responded to the
moment by establishing itself as a new
fixture in the health care world.
For one thing, as Covid hospitaliza-
tions waned, a backlog of patients await-
ing deferred elective procedures rose.
What’s more, pandemic burnout led to a
wave of resignations among exhausted
health care workers—a phenomenon that
continues to this day. More than 30
percent of current nurses plan to resign
this year, according to a survey by staff-
ing firm Incredible Health. Another
survey, by Morning Consult, found that
nearly one in five health care workers
quit during the height of the pandemic.
Nursing shortages are nothing new in
the U.S. Over the past decade, a variety of
factors (an aging population, an aging
nurse workforce, a bottleneck in nursing
education, to name a few) has resulted in
a persistent undersupply of nurses, espe-
cially in rural regions. Hence the rise of
per diem nurses who take short-term
contracts to fill gaps—and the rise of
agencies to place them.
The result: From 2018 to 2021, Snap-
Nurse grew nearly 150,000 percent.
That’s not a typo. And most of that
growth occurred in just two of those
years. In 2020, annual revenue jumped
from $3 million to $88 million. By 2021,
it had hit an astonishing $1.1 billion.
Dion DeLoof, the company’s first
institutional investor, whose venture
DA N I E LLE J O N E S
capital fund Alpha Impact 8 has contrib-
uted more than $3 million to SnapNurse
over several rounds, struggles to put
those growth figures in perspective.
“There aren’t many companies overall
that do it, and you certainly don’t see
what I’d call a tech-enabled professional
services company grow like this,” he says.
“I can’t think of a comparison.”
Let’s back up to understand how that
happened. In 2016, as she was eyeing the
end of her TV career, Kloss had no idea
of what was to come—but she did have
10 years of experience on the staff-nurse
side and another 10 on the temp side. It
was then that she reached out to an old
classmate from Emory, Jeff Richards,
who’d spent 19 years at Atlanta’s Grady
Hospital, had risen to director of anes-
thesia, and had grown frustrated with the
hassles of staffing his department. “There
was no way for me to quickly and easily
review, rank, and select qualified people,”
Richards remembers. “Instead, I had
multiple staffing agencies calling me with
résumés that were completely mis-
matched with a level-one trauma center.”
Richards had recently earned an MBA
and was thinking about his next move
when Kloss reached out, offering him a
look at her prototype staffing system. As
part of his coursework, he’d written a
paper outlining a hypothetical health
care staffing app. It had been a purely
academic exercise, but once Kloss began
talking about an actual proof of concept,
he couldn’t help thinking he needed to
join her. Together, they knew the sys-
K H R I S TI N A C H A R LE Y
temic issues from both nurses’ and
administrators’ perspectives. Richards
was a proven operator, Kloss an idea
machine. Richards sank $100,000 of his
personal savings into the company, and
they hit the road looking for more money.
Which proved difficult. By the time
DeLoof met with the SnapNurse
co-founders, they’d been turned down
by every other institutional investor
they’d approached, who all worried that,
though Kloss and Richards clearly
knew the field, they weren’t experienced
entrepreneurs. DeLoof had previously
founded a company in the recruiting
and HR tech space, and understood how
fragmented and manual the staffing-
agency world was. He also understood
that traditional tech founders wouldn’t
be attracted to the space. “I hate to say
it, but it’s sexier to build another fintech
platform than to tech-enable a profes-
sional services process,” he says. “That
just sounds like a heavy lift.”
Perhaps the biggest break came when
SnapNurse hired Edwin Marcial as
interim CTO. A former client and friend
of DeLoof’s, Marcial had built the
technology behind Intercontinental
Exchange (ICE), the powerful Atlanta
company that acquired and operates the
New York Stock Exchange. Hiring the
guy who built one of the world’s fastest
trading systems proved to be critical; the
infrastructure Marcial and a team of
ex-ICE engineers created for SnapNurse
was highly flexible and scalable.
Modeling the software on that of gig-
EBONEE GRESHAM
economy companies such as Uber and
Airbnb, they made it simple for nurses to
validate their credentials and find jobs,
and simple for managers to find and
select nurses. Attendance-tracking con-
nected directly to payment. Complicated
logistical details got sorted out automati-
cally. Just as it was once a revelation for
people to click a button on their phones
to summon a car, track its whereabouts,
and pay for a ride to anywhere, it was
transformational for both health care
workers and administrators to move their
constant hiring dance to SnapNurse.
Once it had taken weeks and headaches
to line up a gig; now, nurses could be on
the job within a day or two. Hospitals
began adopting the system, mostly in the
Atlanta area, and the company started
growing. In 2018, revenue was $775,000.
It grew fourfold in the next year.
Then came Covid. While the platform
had been built originally for on-demand
next-day bookings, suddenly hospitals
didn’t want different nurses flitting in
and out daily—that seemed unsafe in
a pandemic. But they did need extra
help. SnapNurse started pursuing larger
contracts, providing groups of nurses for
longer periods, sometimes months at a
time. A handful of other platforms had
begun to emerge by then, but because
Marcial’s system was so flexible, the com-
pany soon found itself the go-to staffing
tech solution for hospitals everywhere.
“Our ability to handle scale took us past
all of [the competition] by 10-fold in a
two-year period,” says Richards.
N I C O LE G I B B O N S
W
ITH HYPERGROWTH
comes complications. It’s a
challenge as old as entrepre-
neurship itself. But it’s all the
more vexing when the complication is a
byproduct of what elevated a company
to begin with. Indeed, one of the keys to
SnapNurse’s growth was a decision Kloss
made early in the company’s history to
enable nurses to get paid on the same day
as their shifts. “Snap means speed,” she
says, “and that is the reputation we
wanted to build—that we deliver faster
than any agency.”
To Kloss, instant payment was vital
to entice nurses to sign up on the plat-
form. “There was no data on it, just a gut
feeling from her and Jeff’s experience in
the industry,” DeLoof remembers, “that
this was going to be a massive competi-
tive advantage.”
September 2022 Inc. 83
 The reason it’s not a standard offering,
of course, is that it’s a major squeeze on a
company’s cash flow. You don’t have to be
a mathematician to realize that, if health
care institutions are paying SnapNurse
on a standard 30- or 60-day billing cycle
but SnapNurse is paying its nurses daily,
the company will find itself coming up
short. The SnapNurse team knew this
early on, but decided the risk was worth
it, and that they could simply carry a
large line of credit with a financial insti-
tution to cover the difference—a common
practice among staffing firms.
What SnapNurse didn’t count on was
its off-the-charts growth, which quickly
meant its credit line was insufficient; it
was suddenly on the hook for more and
J U N I E BY R D
more payouts while waiting for its billing
cycles to catch up. Over and over, the
company found itself at a crossroads:
Should it tell nurses it couldn’t meet
payroll? Should the founders scramble
for more credit?
And, over and over, it chose the latter.
Same-day payment had become a core
part of the company’s promise. Reneging
on that promise, even if it was from being
too successful, would risk collapsing
everything. “We just tore through lend-
ers, who were screaming at us,” Richards
recalls. “There were a lot of painful
moments of switching lenders and wait-
ing for that next lender to come online,
which we did three times in 18 months.”
The founders started with a local Atlanta
firm, then moved on to a specialist in
funding staffing firms, and finally landed
with Wells Fargo, where SnapNurse now
84
holds a $400 million line of credit.
DeLoof recalls bankers calling him to
figure out if this level of growth could be
real; it was unprecedented in the staffing
industry, and banks like precedent. “We
just doubled your line three months ago,”
the banker would say, “and now you want
us to double it again?” SnapNurse found
itself repeatedly calling its payments-
technology provider, Stripe, as late as
midnight, begging for an emergency
increase in its instant-payout limit to
meet obligations the very next day.
Meanwhile, SnapNurse itself was
struggling to grow its team quickly
enough to handle all the incoming busi-
ness. “You can’t scale without the right
team,” Kloss declares, making an analogy
A R O O L A A K I NTA D E
to her time in the TV business. “To make
a show right, you have all these different
pieces. You can have the best cameraman,
the best director, the best editor—but if
the sound is off, that one department can
take you down.”
As SnapNurse started landing large
contracts from health systems in 2020,
though, Kloss ran up against the limits
of her hiring philosophy. The company
would find itself on the hook for, say, 500
nurses by Monday, and if the right people
weren’t available on the platform, Kloss
would need to hire more recruiters to
find them and get them ready. “I would
just grab anyone to be a recruiter and we
would train them,” Kloss remembers. “As
a result, our first 150 people were such a
hodgepodge group. We had a bartender.
We had a sous-chef. Four of my college
dormmates from Westmont.”
Once again, though, what could have
been a disaster was largely saved by the
underlying technology. The truth was,
Kloss says, that recruiters had to do “very
little work besides basically being a call
center to handle problems.” Plus, Snap-
Nurse started paying top dollar for those
roles. “Most recruiters make like $75,000
a year. But, in the heyday, ours were
making $200,000, sometimes $300,000.”
And yet the growing pains showed. In
2020 alone, the company went from 20
to 150 employees and deployed 10,000
health care workers around the country.
A year later, there were 350 employees.
But “we probably hired three times as
many people as stayed,” says Richards.
“It was hard.” And online reviews started
L ATAS H A D E C O S TA
appearing that betrayed a difficult work
culture. “Great compensation!!!” went
one. “Terribly managed!”
Don’t get Kloss started on disgruntled
anonymous reviewers. “It’s the same
people over and over again,” she says
curtly. “We treated them so well, we
pay so much money, that when they
get fired, there’s a lot of passion.”
It’s obviously a sensitive spot for her,
a founder who started a business to
improve on the status quo—and then
found herself, as a result of her own
success, in the impossible position of
having to supersize the team, the plat-
form, the revenue, and the financing all
at once, and without the time to build
the architecture to match. “We had turn-
over only when we had to add in a lot of
infrastructure,” she says. “Sometimes
when you get rules in place, people are

held to a different standard. Some of the
people who were great in that earlier
period of time start to drop off.”
K
HRISTINA CHARLEY WAS a
registered nurse taking per diem
shifts and pursuing a master’s
degree when she first started
using SnapNurse. “I liked having control
over when I worked, and I liked getting
paid quickly,” she says, “and it was a way
I could work around schedule changes
from semester to semester.” For many of
her fellow nurses, other life commit-
ments required similar flexibility. “For a
lot of nurses,” she says, “it’s child care, or
maybe an older parent who needs care.”
Even before Charley went back to
school, when she had a staff-nurse posi-
tion, she worked per diem shifts on the
side for extra money. She was able to
obtain health insurance through her
full-time job and then later through her
school, while many of her per diem
colleagues relied on spouses whose jobs
had benefits. (You read that right: Many
of the nurses who provide our nation’s
health care do not receive medical ben-
efits themselves.) SnapNurse offers its
nurses benefits, to be sure—as do legacy
staffing agencies—but qualifying for them
has typically required working enough
hours that it becomes harder to maintain
a flexible schedule. (Kloss says Snap-
Nurse has recently begun to offer a cheap
fee-for-service plan to all nurses to make
up some of the difference.)
Eventually, Charley landed a full-time
position as director of operations for an
outpatient surgery center that employed
SnapNurse nurses, and rode out much of
the pandemic there, watching part-time
nurses’ rates climb. Finally, last fall she
decided she wanted a piece of the action
and signed on for a six-month stint in
Alaska, working 60 hours a week or more
and making what she calls “once-in-a-
lifetime money for nursing. It changed
my financial life.” She was one of hun-
dreds of nurses who showed up to help a
hospital work through a backlog of sur-
geries that had been canceled when
Covid patients filled all the available
beds, making $10,000 to $13,000 per
week throughout the winter.
While her Alaskan adventure had been
hugely rewarding for her financially,
Charley also experienced some of the
downsides of the boom in per diem nurs-
ing. For one, the hospital staff nurses
in Alaska weren’t exactly welcoming.
“There was a lot of tension,” she recalls.
“It’s like, ‘You get the brunt of all the
work because we brought you in, and we
know how much money you make, and
you cannot refuse anything because we
can cancel your contract.’ ”
And it makes sense. When any pay gap
between co-workers becomes extreme,
naturally the group on the short end
begins to resent it. According to the
American Hospital Association, pay rates
for travel nurses have doubled and even
tripled since the pandemic—which has
led to calls for federal investigations of
possible price gouging by staffing compa-
nies. Several states are looking at legisla-
tion to cap travel-nurse pay during crises.
Kloss bristles at the notion that Snap-
Nurse has gouged anyone. She saw a
desperate need for nurses in the market,
and devised a system to meet that need.
“Here’s the scenario: You have 100 nurses
and 1,000 openings, and all of the hospi-
tals are competing for the 100 nurses.”
she says. “And it’s nationwide. They’re
not competing just against other local
hospitals; they’re competing against the
entire nation. It’s all supply and demand.”
Which is true—but also problematic.
On the one hand, a national market for
short-term nurses means that even the
most barren health care deserts can
bring in professionals in times of need.
On the other hand, if budget-strapped
small markets have to compete against
larger, more affluent markets to pay
surging wages, they’re hardly better off.
Meanwhile, SnapNurse has focused
on leveling out a different aspect of the
nurse market, developing a program to
upskill its members to work in specialties
where hospitals have particularly severe
shortages. SnapNurse pays for the train-
ing up front, and then the nurses owe
the hospital a commitment to work for
a year. “It’s not the total solution,” says
Richards, “but it is the solution that’s
immediately available to us.”
T
ODAY, AFTER TWO-PLUS years
of breakneck growth, SnapNurse
is scaling more reasonably. The
company expects to finish the
year with about $1.6 billion in revenue,
roughly 50 percent more than last year,
and strongly profitable. Because Kloss
and Richards struggled to raise money
early on, SnapNurse had no choice but to
find profitability and maintain it. “The
Ebitda margins are around 15 percent,
which is high for staffing,” Kloss says.
SnapNurse has 450 employees and
350,000 nurses currently on its platform,
but Kloss says the company is vigilant to
“stay rightsized. I’m always looking at the
numbers. I want everyone to make a lot
of money. We stay super lean that way.”
In late July, SnapNurse announced that
Kloss herself will be stepping down as
CEO and remaining on the board.
“We’ve managed to hold onto this
hustle culture,” Richards adds, seeming
almost mystified that one aspect of those
24/7, chaotic pandemic days has been
imprinted on the company in a positive
way. The flip side of the heavy turnover
during the pandemic was a process of
self-selection. “Some people came in and
learned the system and just thrived in it,”
he says.
That’s part of the story, at least. Rich-
ards might also look to the influence of
his partner, Kloss, whose entire life has
been a series of gritty reinventions. No
wonder she’s attracted the resilient types.
“I think it’s because I was never told,
‘You can’t do that,’ ” she says. “As long as
you don’t need a license, you can do just
about anything.”
TOM FOSTER is an Inc. editor-at-large.
September 2022 Inc. 85
 26
N O.
ATH LE TI C B R E WI N G CATE G O RY:
C O M PA N Y FO O D & B E V E R AG E S
C E O : B I LL S H U F E LT
Bill Shufelt, 39, started his craft beer busi-
ness in 2017 in a moribund segment of an
otherwise booming industry: non-alcoholic
brews. Shufelt bet that there were many
nondrinkers like him who wanted lagers
and IPAs that tasted better than water, and
were fit for fancy dinners as well as the
finish line. Since then, his Athletic Brewing
Company, based in Stratford, Connecticut,
has raised about $75 million from investors.
Sales were nearly $37 million last year,
and non- alcoholic brews, while still a
small portion of the $109 billion global craft
beer market, are its fastest-growing cate-
gory. Before helping create that momen-
tum, however, Shufelt encountered plenty
of folks who found his idea for a product
hard to swallow. —AS TOLD TO DOUG CANTOR
I love craft beer, but I stopped drinking in
2013. I had a job as a trader at a hedge fund,
and I was out at work dinners four or five
nights a week. I was focused on perfor-
mance in everything, from work to physical
fitness, and the alcohol wasn’t adding
anything to my life. It left me hung over,
and affected my sleep and nutrition.
One night after I’d stopped drinking, my
wife and I were walking to dinner, and I
86
TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
13,071%
was ranting about how terrible the non-
alcoholic drinks would be and what an
unmet need this was. Finally, she said,
“That is an amazing idea! Listen to your-
self.” It took her pointing it out for me to
realize that I even had an idea.
I’d never intended to be an entrepre-
neur, but I realized what a huge opportu-
nity I had. Not only a business opportunity,
but also one to positively influence the
lives of tens of millions of people by giving
them the option of a great beer that was
better for you and could be part of your
daily routine. There are nearly 15 million
documented adult cases of alcohol-use
disorder in the U.S. I saw it as a chance to
make moderation cool.
I did two years of business planning
before I left my job. A lot of my colleagues
were stunned when I quit. And people in
the brewing industry very nicely advised
me not to invest too much money or time
in the idea. Non-alcoholic beer had very
low sales. But I did surveys and met with
retailers, so I knew people wanted this.
I went to conferences and posted on
message boards to find a co-founder who
was talented on the brewing side. Of the
hundreds of people I talked to, only John
Walker, a head brewer in Santa Fe, said, “I
get it.” We got started homebrewing in
Gatorade jugs, changing one thing at a time
and testing every variable. Just two guys in
an empty warehouse and trial and error.
Our original idea was to do contract
brewing at bigger facilities, but we were
rejected by pretty much every brewer in
the country. They ended up doing us a huge
favor. Because we had to pivot to building
a brewery, now we can control every ele-
ment of our quality ourselves.
Initially there was huge pushback from
potential investors—the price tag to build
was about $3 million, and the risk was
huge. No other brewing facilities in the
country were dedicated to non-alcoholic
beer. Ultimately, we were able to assemble
a team of angel investors. It was very much
an “If you build it, they will come” leap of
faith. Once the beer started to taste good,
we began construction.
We opened in May 2018, and there
were no easy sales early on. I would go all
over New England and do blind taste tests
and show up at events. That first summer,
I did about 65 athletic events—wake up at
3 a.m., drive somewhere, hand out beer at
finish lines, and talk to customers. I also
ran in more than half of the races. There’s
a level of authenticity if you’re sweaty and
muddy and sharing a beer with people
who have just finished the same race.
Through persistent networking, I
landed a meeting with regional buyers
from Whole Foods. That was the turning
point. I walked in with unlabeled brown
bottles that John and I had filled in his
parents’ garage. But they saw beyond the
packaging and gave us a seven-store trial.
From day one, they couldn’t keep it on the
shelves, and they expanded it to all of New
England. Now we’re in most major retail-
ers, in every state, as well as Canada,
Australia, and Europe.
Over time, we started to get orders from
retailers and distributors that were much
bigger than we expected. We were growing
30, 40, 50 percent every single month, so
we bought a bunch of used tanks and
doubled our capacity. Then I started flying
around the country looking for a second
brewery to buy. It’s funny—just a few years
prior, there was no semblance of a market.
There was just this dusty old corner of the
grocery store that hadn’t changed in 30
years. But the demand was self-evident.
Often things are hiding in plain sight.
 SPIRITS LIFTED
Bill Shufelt (seated)
and John Walker,
head brewer,
opened their third
brewery, in Milford,
Connecticut,
in June.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHELSIE CRAIG September 2022 Inc. 87

 232
N O. WE A R E R O S I E CATE G O RY:
C E O : S TE PH A N I E N A D I HUMAN RESOURCES
OLSON

88
 TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
Stephanie Nadi Olson started her meteoric
2,267% ad-sales career when Microsoft recruited
her straight out of Georgia Tech as its young-
est account manager. By the age of 28, she’d
claimed an executive’s chair in Silicon Val-
ley. Amid the always-on stress of her job, she
started a family, and that’s when she came
to see how the very structure of the tradi-
tional workplace is sidelining millions of
talented people. So she set out to address the
problem by building a new sort of staffing
platform. The demand was there: Temp
agencies are a $196 billion business in the
U.S., and Olson’s Rolodex was full of adver-
tising and marketing execs who needed
teams for events, campaigns, and social
media initiatives at the likes of Twitter and
Hulu. In 2018, with $10,000 of her own
money, she built an entirely virtual platform,
with flexibility at its core, to help indepen-
dent marketers find work. In 2021, Atlanta-
based We Are Rosie raised private equity
funding that valued the company at
$110 million. To get there, Olson would have
to live through a personal health crisis.
—AS TOLD TO CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN
The first time I felt fallible in my life was
after the birth of my first daughter, in 2013.
I was a sales director in Atlanta, and had
postpartum depression and anxiety that
went undiagnosed for a year and a half. It
taught me humility and how to ask for
help—to raise my hand and say, “I can’t
keep up this crazy pace. I can’t be traveling
to New York City for a week at a time and
breastfeed my daughter at home in Geor­
gia.” After I had my second daughter, I
moved to a startup where I was the only
parent among hundreds of employees, and
the only woman in leadership. The culture
was unsupportive of moms or boundaries.
It was so rough.
I admit I carried some suppressed rage
over a system that made me feel I needed
to work 65 hours a week when I had a new­
born. But I think we underestimate how
helpful rage can be in pushing us to create
change. It made me see how many people
are marginalized by how work happens.
There’s sexism. Racism. Ableism. Ageism.
FLOWER POWER Not to mention the all­year process of
Stephanie Nadi work—the hours that don’t line up with
Olson (center) kids’ school schedules. I wanted to find
with some of her
“Rosies,” the
good work for everyone who needs it in a
employees her way that aligns with their life and treats
company places. them with dignity and respect. This is how
We Are Rosie was born. In hindsight, I’m
PHOTOGRAPHY BY WULF BRADLEY
grateful for that experience, because I
needed to be made pretty uncomfortable
to leave a seven­figure job. Something had
to get me off that hamster wheel.
In my Palestinian family, my grand­
mother died in a refugee camp, and my dad
grew up there, motherless. Neither of my
parents went to college, but my dad worked
every day in a mall so I could do things like
play softball. I’m standing on the shoulders
of people who have sacrificed so much for
my success. I began to feel a tremendous
responsibility to use the privilege and
resources I’d been given to do something
greater with my life. And I yearned to cre­
ate a legacy for my daughters.
Starting my company became a spiri­
tual mission—and a personal one. I named
it after my youngest daughter, Margot
Rosie. As it took off, I didn’t take a paycheck
for two years. My small team was fully
invested too. In fact, my employees were
getting burned out. Some were home­
schooling kids, but they cared so much
about the mission they didn’t want to take
the unlimited paid time off we offered.
We weren’t walking the walk. We had
to get serious about mental health and
burnout. So we mandated five days off
each quarter for employees, creating a
forcing mechanism: They cannot access
their full quarterly bonus unless they take
that time off. We realized that when it
comes to employee benefits, we need a
tinkerer’s mindset. Needs change. Ask,
over and over, what employees need. For
culture to be truly compassionate, it can­
not be prescriptive. Leadership decisions
cannot happen in a vacuum.
We have 15,000 freelance and indepen­
dent marketers—we call them Rosies—on
our platform available for project­based
work, from media buying to analytics to
social media management. We use our
technology and personal vetting to recom­
mend individuals and teams for jobs.
Contracts are capped at 40 hours a week.
We don’t just file résumés. We ask about
potential, real experience, and what lights
you up. We are leaps and bounds more
diverse by age, race, gender, and education
than the marketing industry as a whole.
That highlights how many brilliant people
are underserved by the current system of
work—because it hasn’t changed in a
hundred years. But I have learned that
systems put into place by society can actu­
ally be changed.
September 2022 Inc. 89
 N O.

193 Andy Hill went on vacation in Cuba in 2018,

SIONO • C E O : A N DY H I LL
CATE G O RY: H U M A N
R E S O U RC E S
TH R E E -Y E A R
R E VE N U E G ROW TH : 2 , 7 4 7 %
and while the beaches were great, he’s not
one to lounge. Instead, Hill went around
saying “¡Hola!” and—with the help of a
friend who actually speaks Spanish—pep-
pering locals with questions about business
opportunities. He is, after all, a guy who has
founded 12 companies since his college
days. (He also runs those startups while
holding down a day job as chief revenue
officer for City Furniture, a nearly $1 billion
company near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.)
All of which explains why, after he kept
hearing “software engineering” in Cuba,
Hill launched a firm to staff U.S. companies
with Latin American software engineers.
He named it Siono, riffing on a recurring—
and somewhat rhetorical—question from
that trip: “Want another beer? ¿Sí, o no?”
The refrain has become central to the com-
pany’s growth culture, with Hill and team
continually asking, “Are we the best partner
they’ve ever had? ¿Sí, o no?” With $5.5 mil-
lion in revenue in 2021, the Delray Beach,
Florida, company appears to have its
answer. —AS TOLD TO STEVEN I. WEISS
Others have hobbies like skiing; I start
companies. I devote 50 hours a week to
my full-time job, but I have breakfasts, I
have dinners, I have weekends, and that’s
when I grow my company—that’s my
hobby. I build companies because I just
can’t not. I know there are better ways to
make money, have a stronger work-life
balance, or leave a more lasting impact. But
for me, I love bringing things into the world
and empowering my team to grow. That’s
what drives me.
My second startup ended poorly. When
I was 23, I left a job to launch a social-good
startup that got through a seed round and
a Series A round, but then the Series B fell
through; August 2015 was the worst month
in my life, when I had to tell 30 of my clos-
est friends and family that we’ve got a
three-month burn rate and we don’t have
any more cash coming in.
Fast-forward to 2018: After my trip to
Cuba, I started looking into it, and I real-
ized that all of Latin America had incred-
ible software engineering schools. You
have quality software engineers in the
Eastern Time Zone, speaking English,
doing the work at a fraction of the cost
you’d have in the U.S. My friends and I
started to realize, candidly, that we had
found gold—at below market value. We
could identify the talent, handle the first
parts of the interview process, and get
them placed as outsourced talent at U.S.
companies. We started reaching out to
friends and family in business in the U.S.
and found enough demand to start the
company a month later.
I was in lean startup mode to find our
first customers. There’s no magic formula.
It’s the same drill for any entrepreneur—
personal reach-outs. About half weren’t
interested. We learned our pitch with our
early customers, and discovered that our
secret sauce was around the compatibility
and the culture fit that we could promise
through our more human-focused hiring
process. When we would get that right, the
assessment and the retention factor were
high. And that’s where we have focused.
One reason our business model works
is because hiring sucks. It’s arduous,
takes a lot of time, and most people can-
not do it well. The average recruiter
spends 20 seconds looking at a résumé,
which is an accumulation of 20 years of
someone’s life.
Hiring is especially bad for companies
and candidates in tech recruiting. We fix
all that with a better process that’s
quicker and more focused on the human
beings, and finding a fit based on who’s
already on the team. With a typical soft-
ware engineer hiring process, there isn’t
a consideration of the skills and focus of
the existing team, and candidates are put
through long coding challenges that often
don’t match the actual work they’d be
doing on the job. If our candidate gets
hired, customers pay the engineers
through us, and we handle payroll and
everything else for that offshore talent.
Now that we have 100 engineers, and
remote work is so popular, we’re ready for
what’s next. I’m transitioning us into a
growth company. We have made massive
investments, hired an executive team, and
are expanding our services beyond just
software engineering—adding offerings
like graphic design and bookkeeping.
We’re expanding from Latin America to 20
cities in 10 countries around the globe.
I’m also stepping back from day-to-day
operations, to let our executive team really
scale it up. I believe that I can keep found-
ing and funding companies: find great
people, and let the operating model scale
the business profitably. I still have my full-
time job, and I still love startup culture.

90
 UNO MÁS
Andy Hill rarely
misses an
opportunity to
launch a
business.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALFONSO DURAN September 2022 Inc. 91

 393
N O.
U S H Y D R OVAC CATE G O RY:
C E O : K U LD I P C O N S TR U C TI O N
PA N C H A L
Kuldip Panchal arrived at Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis
in 2012, ready to study construction man-
agement. He’d emigrated with his family
from India to Indiana, and grew up working
the front desks, pulling overnight shifts, and
doing construction at the motels his family
had come to own. He watched his parents
sweat and struggle, and resolved that,
someday, he’d help his father run his reno-
vation projects. But on his very first day on
campus, Panchal received the worst kind of
phone call: His father had fallen three sto-
ries off a hotel roof and sustained critical
injuries; Mahesh Panchal died eight days
later. Devastated, Kuldip took time off
before returning to school, got his MBA,
and looked for construction-related oppor-
tunities upon which to build a business. In
2018, he launched US Hydrovac in India-
napolis, in the fast-growing field of hydro
excavation. Never heard of it? Neither had
Panchal. —AS TOLD TO PETER KEATING
After college, I got married and lived in
Chicago for about a year, working for a
large general contractor. My dad’s thing
was renovating hotels, but he would over-
promise, overdeliver, and then get under-
92
TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
1,521%
paid. I also wanted to be in construction,
but I wanted to find a niche industry still
in its innovative stage. A couple of my col-
lege buddies, Tyler Vuurman and Dwight
Cliff, and I noticed line items for some-
thing called hydro excavation in budgets
for projects. It was an emerging trend.
Tyler said, “Let’s start a hydrovac com-
pany.” And that was it; the idea stuck.
Hydro excavation involves, basically, a
pressure washer on steroids, which sits on
the chassis of a semitruck. A long hose
extends into the ground, shooting air and
water into the dirt and creating a liquid
slurry that gets sucked up into a debris
tank. It exposes power or sewer or water
lines without the risk of striking them with
a mechanical device like a backhoe. I’m
sure you’ve heard about contractors hitting
gas lines and houses blowing up.
It’s not an easy business to develop,
because the equipment is expensive—one
truck costs about half a million dollars. In
2017, I learned that before he died, my dad
had a small partnership in a motel; when
it sold, I inherited about $125,000. That
was my mom and dad’s life’s work, and, in
my mind, the money had to be invested
back into the family.
 I quit my job, and my wife and I moved
back to Indianapolis, where my partners
and I knew something about the construc-
tion market.
We did our due diligence for six
months. We read whatever we could on
hydro excavation—there wasn’t much.
And we started US Hydrovac with two
truck operators and my inheritance—
which lasted about three months. I had to
ask my wife’s parents for more money, and
luckily, they were able to loan it to us.
In the beginning, I was the sales guy, the
head of business development, and—if we
needed extra labor—I would get in the hole.
People would say, “Is this the owner of the
company?” And I’d be like, “So what?” Over
time, Tyler, who landed our first five
accounts, took less of a day-to-day role in
the business, and Dwight sold his stake.
The company that dominates hydrovac
is Badger Daylighting, which basically cre-
ated this industry 30 years ago in the oil
fields of western Canada. It’s a public
company with over $500 million in annual
revenue, and services the entire continent.
There really weren’t regional players until
we came along. We hustled. We chased the
work, we chased the customers. We had to.
As our company grew, I looked for
people in construction who were long on
dedication. My number-two man is a guy
three years older than I am who had been
overworked and underappreciated at his
last company. This dude is amazing, and he
cares about me and the company more than
anyone else would. About two years in,
we added complementary services like
pipeline assessment—basically sending a
robotic camera down water and sewer
lines to inspect and clean them. We now
have 35 employees and 12 crews, and we
did $6.3 million in revenue in 2021.
When Covid hit, some transportation
departments sped up projects because
there was less traffic on the road. That kept
us afloat through that first critical part of
the pandemic. Then we got some massive
projects. In Louisville, a brick sewer that’s
eight feet in diameter and more than 100
years old runs down Broadway, and in 2020
it started caving in—they had sinkholes in
DIG THIS the street. We were there for 10 months.
Kuldip Panchal That’s us. When your toilet’s not work-
leveraged an
ing, when your power’s not working, that’s
inheritance to start
his excavation when we’re on the call. It’s not really glori-
company. ous, but we’ve got a niche. It’s interesting.
And the industry is booming.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN SERNA September 2022 Inc. 93

 553
N O.
B O U N D LE S S I M M I G R ATI O N • C E O : X IAO WA N G
CATE G O RY: LE G A L
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH : 1 , 1 3 1 %
Xiao Wang, 36, was working as a senior
product manager at Amazon Go when he
met someone who had spent more than
$10,000 on an immigration attorney for a
green card application. It reminded him of
the story of his own family, who’d spent
nearly five months’ worth of rent money
on attorney fees after immigrating to the
U.S. from China when Wang was a child.
To address such nightmarish predica-
ments, in 2017 Wang founded Boundless
Immigration, a Seattle-based technology
company that helps people complete their
application for citizenship via its online
platform. Now a prime online resource for
immigration information as well, the com-
pany has raised $45 million in funding, and
last year it recorded revenue of $7.1 million.
Wang’s data-driven dream is to connect
immigrants with the services they need.
—AS TOLD TO MELISSA ANGELL
Like many immigrants, I had lived my
entire life in America with this assumption
that immigration is supposed to be hard.
It never crossed my mind that there was a
different way, because everyone has been
suffering from the same set of bureaucra-
cies and challenges for generations. When
94
I started Boundless, I wanted to better
understand the specific pain points cus-
tomers were experiencing.
I interviewed hundreds of immigrant
families, along with attorneys and govern-
ment and policy officials, and I discovered
that legal immigration is challenging
largely because of a major information gap.
The only two groups that are truly knowl-
edgeable—the government and immigra-
tion attorneys—benefit from the status quo.
The application packages are upwards
of 400 pages, so there’s a lot of stress in
putting them together. Before Boundless,
families looking for help often had to
choose between an expensive immigration
attorney or an unlicensed consultant, with
no guarantee of outcomes. My family spent
multiple months of income to get our green
cards to stay in this country, and my dad
was constantly taken advantage of at his
work, because they knew that if he left his
job he’d jeopardize his green card.
This sort of problem is precisely what
technology and data can solve by democ-
ratizing information and services. Fortu-
nately, I had been talking about all this with
a startup called Pioneer Square Labs. To
quickly get a grasp on customers wanted,
 we created webpages that promoted dif-
ferent types of services. I then was able to
talk to customers and understand their
needs. By the time I actually started hiring
a team and building the product, I had a
strong view of what could work, because
we’d already tested multiple iterations
with real people.
When we launched, I wore many hats.
My personal cellphone number was listed
as our customer support line, so I would
receive calls at all hours with questions
about our service. That was great input.
We’ve also taken many wrong turns. In
mid-2018, we were trying to acquire cus-
tomers through paid marketing on Face-
book and Google. Unfortunately, because
of competition from attorneys advertising,
our customer acquisition cost grew to over
$800, so we were losing significant money
per customer. We had been investing in
content marketing and SEO, but it was
unclear what the ROI would be and how
long it would take. We were about a year
away from running out of money if we
couldn’t turn it around. Finally, that August,
our organic traffic exceeded our paid traffic
for the first time. From then on, it just
snowballed, from 100,000 unique visitors
a month to over 1.5 million now, making us
the most popular immigration website
outside of the federal government.
We’ve helped process more than
70,000 successful applications, and we
have a 99.97 percent approval rating. We
turned a process that took weeks and
months into something that takes a couple
of hours to complete online. The majority
of our customers are filing for fiancé visas
or marriage green cards, which tend to
cost more than temporary travel or visitor
visas. Compared with typical immigration
attorney fees of more than $3,000, our fees
for helping with these visas are $995. This
isn’t like other purchases that allow you to
have a do-over. You get one shot at produc-
ing an application that can change the
course of your life.
During our time as a company, we’ve
been through a presidential administration
that was basically tweeting out immigra-
tion changes on Friday nights, and then a
global pandemic that shut down immigra-
GREENLIT
tion, migration, government, and process-
Xiao Wang built his
business around ing across the world. It’s a testament to the
slashing through team’s resilience that we take on each
immigration red tape. challenge and roll with it. It’s true that
startups succeed when you refuse to die.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MERON MENGHISTAB September 2022 Inc. 95

 This American
tech company
CEO didn’t lose
hope when Russia
invaded Ukraine,
where he had
150 employees.
Instead, he
joined them.
BY K E V I N J. RYA N

IN THE FALL of 2021, as rumors of a potential Russian invasion of

Ukraine began to swirl, Vlad Kytainyk knew what he needed to do:
make a plan. The 33-year-old CEO of a U.S.-based tech company
with offices in Ukraine, Kytainyk had expected a full-scale attack
ever since Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. “That was a clear sig-
nal,” he says, “that we have a crazy neighbor with nuclear weapons
that was willing to take our country.”
He was hardly daunted by the challenge, though. Vlad Kytainyk
was accustomed to surviving hard times—and those hard times had
taught him well.
Growing up in Ukraine, he had never known his father. His
mother had struggled to find work. His family had to rely on the
COURTESY COMPANY (3)

government and charities to pay for groceries. They could not

From top: Members of Kitrum’s lead generation
team in Kharkiv before the war. The Kharkiv
office in April, serving as a shelter. Kitrum’s
Eugenia Kuzmenko in her temporary home in
Chernivtsi. Opposite: Vlad Kytainyk.
afford electricity for more than a few hours each day. As a teen,
he’d worked a series of odd jobs—delivering cakes, working secu-
rity at McDonald’s—saving enough money to attend college in
Ukraine and earn a degree in computer science before ultimately
co-founding Kitrum.

96
 50
N O.

K ITR U M
C E O : V L A D K Y TA I N Y K

CATE G O RY:
IT S E RV I C E S

TH R E E -Y E A R
R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
6,799%

PHOTOGRAPHY BY K ATHRYN HARRISON September 2022 Inc. 97

 “IT’S THE needed to flee to other parts of Europe. They
had estimated this would cost the company
PEOPLE THAT about $150,000, but hadn’t expected to have

MAT TER.
to spend it. “Most of us never believed that
something like this was going to happen,” says
WITHOUT Nazarenko. “Even until the day before.”
When the attack began—as Kytainyk had
THEM, YOUR all-too-well predicted—Kitrum would turn to
COMPANY IS that contingency plan and shift focus to the
real goal: keeping its workers safe. “Ulti-
NOTHING.” mately, yes, we do this for profits, but in all
businesses, it’s not the things that matter,”
—Vlad Kytainyk Kytainyk says. “It’s the people that matter.
Without them, your company is nothing.”
The war in Ukraine would test the resolve
“When you eat shit in life, like, tons of it, you of Kitrum’s employees. It would force its
understand how not to treat people,” says Kytainyk. co-founder into a leadership role far beyond
“So when I started my own business, I knew exactly that of the usual CEO. But first, they would all
how I wanted to treat people. I wanted to make have to simply survive the ordeal.
people’s lives better.”
Kitrum would come to mean everything to
Kytainyk, who had long believed he could build a
more efficient and customer-friendly software com-
pany and had started Kitrum as a side hustle in 2014.
After a road trip across the U.S.—“I wanted to see
what was so special,” he says—in 2017 he moved to
Clearwater, Florida, where he would base the com-
pany and hire his first employees. Within four years,
the company had added offices in Mexico, Israel, and
Ukraine, and was operating as an outsourced soft-
ware development team, building apps and digital
products for other firms. By the end of 2021, Kitrum
had amassed more than 60 clients, most of which
were based in the U.S., including e-book subscription
service Scribd and beauty firm Ziip. Annual revenue
had topped $9 million by 2021.
Meanwhile, some 150 of Kitrum’s 360 employees
were working in four offices in Ukraine, including
Kyiv, the capital city, and, near the Russian border,
the town of Kharkiv, which would be largely reduced
to rubble by early March.
So it was that back in the fall, Kytainyk called a
virtual meeting with members of his leadership
team, including VP of people Veronika Vorsul, who
was based in Kharkiv, and VP of delivery Victoria
Nazarenko, who worked in Kyiv. Together, the group
forged a six-page plan to relocate workers in the
event of invasion, which would become the road map
for getting them to safety. They decided the com-
pany would pay all expenses, including transporta-
tion, hotels, first month’s rent, and any fees
associated with signing a new lease, if employees

98

FEBRUARY 18, 2022: President Biden declares the
assessment of U.S. intelligence: that Russia will
launch an attack in the coming days. In the days after
that announcement, having spent six months in
Florida after the birth of their daughter, Kytainyk
and his wife follow through with a weekslong sched-
uled trip to Ukraine, where Kytainyk plans to meet
with his staff and give performance reviews. “I told
my wife, ‘I have more than 100 people who are
expecting me,’ ” says Kytainyk. “They were relying
on me. In the end, I’m thankful I was there.”
FEBRUARY 23: As news outlets report that Russian
OPPOSITE PAGE: COURTESY COMPANY (2); THIS PAGE: GETTY IMAGES (2)
troops have mobilized at the Ukrainian border,
Kitrum starts preparing for an invasion by creating
companywide communication channels in Slack,
WhatsApp, and Telegram. Some employees, includ-
ing Nazarenko, pack suitcases so they can flee at a
moment’s notice.
FEBRUARY 24, 5 A.M.: Kitrum employees wake to the
sound of explosions as Russian attacks begin in sev-
eral cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv.
From his hotel in Kyiv, Kytainyk leaves a voice
memo for employees in the company’s Slack channel.
“He told us, ‘No panic, guys, no panic,’ ” says content
marketing director Eugenia Kuzmenko. “ ‘Just try to
be cool. Eat something, drink your coffee, get your
family, and go to a safe place.’ ”
A building in Kyiv hit by a missile
strike in February. Opposite, top:
A Kitrum developer works from
an underground café in Mykolaiv.
Bottom: Veronika Vorsul and Julia
Stalnaya reunite in Croatia.
Kytainyk isn’t as composed as he
sounds. Before heading west, he drives
to a gas station to load up on supplies—
and vomits from stress.
9 A.M.:Kuzmenko arrives at Kitrum’s
Kharkiv office and finds about 25
other employees collecting their
laptops and other belongings.
The mood is unexpectedly
calm, even as explosions ring
out in the distance. At Vor-
sul’s request, Kuzmenko
grabs banking information
and other sensitive company
documents. Many employees
take the Kitrum hoodies the
company provided as gifts sev-
eral months before.
10:15 A.M.: Kytainyk emails Kitrum’s
employees outlining the process to get
reimbursed for relocation costs. Staff-
ers who need cash immediately can mark their requests as urgent.
Though some employees choose to stay in Kyiv, Nazarenko and a
number of others evacuate. “My grandmother used to tell me stories
about Russian troops during World War II,” she says. “They would
enter a village, shoot people in flocks, rape women. I thought about
that and immediately had tremors all over my body that lasted for
several hours. But even while I was shaking, I got in the car and drove.”
12 P.M.:Vorsul’s four-person HR team helps coordinate hotels and
temporary housing in western Ukraine for employees, many of whom
believe the attacks will last for only a few days. They book extra rooms
in case other employees need them and make note of which employ-
ees’ families have spare beds and couches in their homes.
Evacuating employees relay information about safe routes to the
HR team, which passes it along to other staffers. Vorsul’s team
shares departure times for trains and buses, coordinates rides, and
keeps up-to-the-minute track of employees’ locations. “We were
like the Red Cross help line,” recalls Vorsul. “It was 24 hours, seven
days a week.”
4 P.M.: The Ukrainian army begins destroying bridges to hinder the
westward movement of Russian troops. In doing so, they make it
more challenging for citizens still in the eastern part of the country
to escape—including Nazarenko, who heads from Kyiv toward a
relative’s home in the west. Roads with two lanes in each direction
have become six to eight lanes in one direction, with people driving
on shoulders and sidewalks. Nazarenko finds a bridge she can cross
and drives for 24 hours straight, stopping only for gas.
“It took a lot of effort and strength to just keep driving,” she
September 2022 Inc. 99
recalls. “You would hear the explosions and see the glow and realize
there’s nowhere to go. You’re here in this mess, and if they hit here,
you’re dead. You just have to accept that.”
7 P.M.: Kytainyk sends emails to all of Kitrum’s clients telling them to
expect delays in response times, but stressing that the company is
still functioning and expects to be able to complete its projects on
schedule. Clients respond expressing their support and asking how
they can help.
FEBRUARY 25: Kitrum cuts ties with a team of contract developers in
Belarus, which is aiding the Russian attack, and reassigns the project
they’d been working on to an internal team.
FEBRUARY 26: Vorsul leaves Kharkiv, where residential buildings are
being destroyed by Russian shells and rockets. She drives west with
her two children and Kitrum VP of solutions Julia Stalnaya. Vorsul
and Stalnaya respond to employees’ housing and transportation
requests from the car. At the HR team’s urging, many employees
turn on their phones’ geolocation features so they can be tracked—
and so the HR team can check in on anyone they notice not moving.
Kitrum sends computers, monitors, and other equipment to those
who left without them. Gas stations in major cities have run out of
fuel. The team helps coordinate deliveries of gas between several
employees so they can get out of Kyiv and Kharkiv. One of the HR
team members loses 10 pounds from stress and lack of sleep in the
days following the attack.
“I can’t speak enough to the bravery of these four women,” Kytainyk
says of the HR team.
Adds Nazarenko: “Even when they were under constant shelling
100
themselves, they were helping other people find
ways to escape.”
FEBRUARY 28: A new workweek begins, and many
displaced employees, astonishingly enough, man-
age to turn their focus back to their jobs. Kytainyk,
now in central Ukraine, continues leaving voice and
video messages for his team. “They needed to hear
my voice,” he says. He models his addresses after
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s. “I had
to show confidence, even though I didn’t know for
sure what would happen or what needed to be done.
Ninety percent of it was me faking it. But whether
you’re the president or the CEO, part of the job is
that at some point, when things are crap, you need
to ensure that you can still find the light. If you can’t
do that, why are you running this business?”
MARCH 1–4: Some clients send Kitrum money and
ask the company to route it to developers working
on their projects. Kitrum sends its clients a list of
charities and other groups in need, including the
Ukrainian army and organizations that help dis-
placed or orphaned children. Nearly 90 percent of
the company’s clients donate to a cause.
Kitrum employees raise $5,000 in a matter of
minutes for a staffer’s uncle, who needs to buy a car
to drive to the frontlines.
Some employees temporarily relocate to safer
areas in western Ukraine or to countries including
 Opposite: Kytainyk and
his daughter in Florida.
Below: Kitrum’s Masha
Kuchuhurna with her
family after relocating
to the Netherlands.
Poland, Italy, and Spain. Many leases in Europe
require tenants to pay six months’ rent in advance,
so Kitrum offers to pay for the first month and extend
interest-free loans for the rest. Odesa-based software
engineer Dmytro Suvorov and some other staffers
stay put. He’s been taking target practice with his
shotgun at the tactical shooting range and traversing
an obstacle course. “If they attack, I will just put my
computer aside and go and shoot,” he says. “This is
my hometown, and I will protect it anyway I can.”
MARCH 5: After a week of trying unsuccessfully to
escape Kyiv, account manager Mariya Kanifolska
locates a temporary bridge across the Dnipro River
installed by the Ukrainian army. Troops tell her she
can’t pass while the air raid sirens are sounding.
While she waits, she receives an inquiry from a cli-
ent asking about a project. “I’m like, OK, so I will
be exploded now, and who will know about it?” says
Kanifolska with a laugh. She works on the issue
while waiting in her car for the sirens to stop. When
they do, she crosses the bridge and heads west.
Centralizing all of Kitrum’s client information—
a practice the company put into place long before
the war—has made it easier for teammates to step
COURTESY COMPANY
in for one another. Kanifolska recalls a fellow
account manager based in Kharkiv asking if she
could join her for a client video call. The sounds of
artillery would be booming in the background, the
colleague said, but she could mute her microphone.
“I was like, ‘Oh, God, please just go to the shelter,’ ” Kanifolska
recalls. “She said, ‘No, the fighting is still far away. When it gets
closer, I will escape.’ I was scared for her, but maybe that’s why we
are winning this war—because we have people like this.”
APRIL: Kitrum hires nannies for employees who are forced to work
from home. The company calculates that its employees have worked
95 percent of their total possible hours since February 24. In mid-
April, speaking to his staff from Florida, Kytainyk announces that
the company has gained four clients since the war began.
MAY: Kitrum begins offering free therapy sessions for its employ-
ees. By now, many of them have found more permanent hous-
ing—which has created new challenges, as members of the same
team now live all over the world. Customer success manager Vitalii
Lebediev, who oversees 16 teams of
“IF THE Y Ukrainian-based developers, now
lives with his brother in California.
AT TACK, I The nine-hour time difference from
WILL JUST his colleagues back home means he
sometimes has to work through the
PUT MY night. “It takes additional energy,”
COMPUTER says Lebediev. “But it’s honoring your
word that you gave to your client, your
ASIDE AND GO team, and your employer.”
AND SHOOT.” JUNE:
With Russian troops forced out
—Dmytro Suvorov of the city, Kitrum’s Kyiv office reopens.
Dozens of employees return.
In late June, members of Kitrum’s
HR team take their first vacation days
since the war began. They travel to
Italy, where they drink wine and eat
gelato. Vorsul is living in Croatia but hopes to return to Ukraine
soon. “The Kharkiv office is my place of strength, where I get my
energy,” she says. “I want to come back home and see all our team
together. To have big meetings, to have a party of victory for
Ukraine—I need it very much.”
In the meantime—and for the foreseeable future—Kitrum’s work
remains a testament to the resilience of a company facing the
ultimate test of its systems and its people. Amazingly, during
the four months that followed the invasion, only one Kitrum em-
ployee quit, and no clients cut ties with the company. Kytainyk
projects that Kitrum’s revenue will double to $19 million in 2022.
The new state of affairs isn’t ideal, and the war is far from over, but
Kytainyk remains hopeful about what comes next.
“It’s hard to run a business as a pessimist. How can you inspire
people if you yourself don’t believe?” he says. “I’m optimistic about
the future of Kitrum. I believe that Ukraine will win. I believe that
everything will be OK.”
KEVIN J. RYAN is a freelance journalist and author based in New York City.
September 2022 Inc. 101
LIFE IS SWEET
If Denise Woodard
has her way, food
allergies won't
take the fun out
of eating.
 N O.
45 PA R TA K E
FO O D S
CEO: DENISE
WO O DA R D
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
7, 4 8 9%

A B U S I N E S S - M I N D E D M O M C R E ATE D SAF E TR E AT S FO R
H E R DAU G HTE R , O N LY TO D I SC OVE R THAT H E R
N E W C O M PANY WAS R E ALLY ABO UT I N C LU S I O N FO R ALL

Woodard settled on baked goods because

she wanted Vivienne to be able to join her
friends when they enjoyed sweet treats at
birthday parties and sleepovers. She also

D
enise Woodard’s parents didn’t go
to college. Their advice for their daugh-
ter? Find job security. Woodard, 39,
listened. She went to school and worked a
series of corporate jobs at Philip Morris,
FedEx, and Coca-Cola. Then, in 2015, she gave
birth to her daughter, Vivienne, and on subse-
quent multiple trips to the emergency room,
learned that her child was severely allergic to
ingredients found in many foods. Stability be
damned: In 2016, Woodard wrote her corpo-
rate exit plan and founded Partake Foods, a
New York City-based maker of cookies,
brownies, and baking mixes that are free from
the nine ingredients responsible for more than
90 percent of food allergies.
wanted to make life easier for allergy-affected
people than it had been for her. “I’d try to bake
things and I had to get all these ingredients I’d
never heard of to substitute for eggs and
wheat,” she says. “It was so expensive, and a
chore for a working parent.”
To bootstrap the business, Woodard
maxed out her credit cards, cashed in her
401(k), and sold her engagement ring. Eighty-
six investors turned her down before she
heard her first yes—from Jay-Z’s Marcy
Venture Partners, which invested $1 million
in 2019. The following year, Partake saw its
revenue increase 10-fold, and it expanded its
distribution to around 5,000 stores nation-
wide. Today, it employs 19 people.
Although Partake was inspired by Vivienne,
Woodard now views her brand as a tool to
create radical inclusivity in the food industry.
Her team is 90 percent women and 60 per-
cent people of color, and she draws on a
diverse roster of retailers and suppliers.
Partake also founded the Black Futures in
Food & Beverage fellowship for students at
Historically Black Colleges and Universities,
which Woodard thinks will broaden Partake’s
appeal beyond people looking for allergen-
free treats. “There are customers who just
want to support conscious companies,” she
says, “and understand that their dollar is
having a positive social impact.”
—kayla solino

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATHAN BAJAR September 2022 Inc. 103

 TOP HONORS
The 500 fastest-growing U.S. companies, by industry.
To see the complete Inc. 5000 rankings, go to
inc.com/inc5000/2022

ADVERTISING & MARKETING • MATTIO COMMUNICATIONS

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
2017 69 5,734% 62
Includes traditional advertising agencies and public relations firms, as
well as SEO specialists, data-analysis experts, and developers of online CEO: Rosie Mattio; mattio.com
marketing platforms. Marketing agency supporting the cannabis industry to
normalize perceptions and remove stigmas.
Number of companies 35 | Total revenue $539.6M | Median revenue $6.6M |
Median growth rate 2,536% | Total employment 1,952 MATTER MADE 2017 DENVER, COLORADO 81 5,109% 24
CEO: Elias Rubel; mattermade.co
Marketing firm offering demand generation, paid
media, operations, and go-to-market strategy
services.
NEATO 2018 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 39 8,205% 34
CEO: Anthony Connelly; thisisneato.com MOLOCO 2013 REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA 95 4,455% 250
Online marketplace accelerator helping brands grow CEO: Ikkjin Ahn; moloco.com
and deliver their products. Enables performance marketers to quickly scale user
acquisition and achieve greater value.
THE SNOW AGENCY
• CROWDPHARM
2017 MIAMI, FLORIDA 47 6,953% 67
CEO: Daniel Snow 2017 KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI 134 3,449% 38
thesnowagency.com CEO:
Mike Myers, Steve Bernstein; crowdpharm.com
Full-service digital marketing agency supporting Health care creative agency that uses crowdsourcing
businesses looking to grow online. to develop brand communications.

FRANCHISE RAMP 2017 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 49 6,830% 19 CROSS COUNTRY CREATIVE 2017 136 3,426% 11
CEO: Brian Holmes; franchiseramp.com GILBERT, ARIZONA
Marketing agency focused on assisting franchise CEO: Julie O’Neil, Jason O’Neil
owners with digital marketing strategies. crosscountrycreative.com
Full-service digital marketing agency offering law
• MOVERS&SHAKERS
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
2016 52 6,720% 62
firms results-driven boutique services.

CEO: Evan Horowitz; moversshakers.co SPONSORUNITED 2016 STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT 145 3,339% 77
Creative agency helping well-known brands, CEO: Robert Lynch; sponsorunited.com
including Netflix and Target, with high-energy Database company providing research and informa-
campaigns. tion for sports and entertainment partnership deals.

ARTSAI 2018 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 56 6,285% 23 GRO 2018 TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 157 3,223% 32
CEO: Yuri Khidekel; artsai.com CEO: Matt Pavlick; letsgro.io
Delivers attribution and A.I. personalization for digital Marketing agency specializing in digital marketing,
marketing, including for audio and video. creative services, branding, SEO, and more.

• ADOUTREACH
CEO:
2016 AUSTIN, TEXAS
Aleric Heck; adoutreach.com
60 6,052% 24 •• DIGITAL
CEO:
THRIVE 2012 AUSTIN, TEXAS
Jennifer Mansfield; digthrive.com
168 3,056% 16

Helps businesses with video marketing, especially Full-service marketing firm specializing in direct-
YouTube Ads, to drive sales growth. response media and call-center strategies.

$ FOR MORE EXCLUSIVE INC. 5000 COMPANY DATA, VISIT DATA.INC.COM

RANK THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES •The number of red dots indicates how many times a company has been a past Inc. 5000 honoree.
104 Inc. September 2022
 RAGNAROK 2012 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 320 1,789% 53
CEO: Steven Aldrich, Spencer Barrett
ragnaroknyc.com
Marketing agency that works with clients of all sizes,
including A&E and Dropbox.

CANOPY MANAGEMENT 2018 AUSTIN, TEXAS 325 1,758% 65

CEO: Brian Burt; canopymanagement.com
Has helped build more than $1 billion in annual
managed revenue for Amazon seller clients.

• THEChad
STABLE
CEO:
2015 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
Hetherington; thestable.com
329 1,734% 414

Commerce agency connecting brands and consumers

by leveraging omnichannel capabilities.

SAKS HEALTH 2017 SKILLMAN, NEW JERSEY 331 1,730% 15

CEO: Khawar Khokhar; sakshealth.com
Marketing company partnering with health care
clients for strategic planning and more.

LIMELIGHT MEDIA 2015 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 332 1,725% 88

CEO: Mike Barron; mikebarron.com
Sales training company that focuses on educating
digital marketing consultants.

MY AMAZON GUY 2017 BERKELEY LAKE, GEORGIA 334 1,715% 150

CEO: Steven Pope; myamazonguy.com
Full-service Amazon services agency specializing in
boosting sales for retailers.

TESTIMONIAL HERO 2018 342 1,696% 40

SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS
CEO: Sam Shepler; testimonialhero.com
Firm creating B2B video testimonials to build trust
and accelerate sales.

HOME & LOCAL SERVICES 2018 EDINA, MINNESOTA 365 1,612% 42

CEO: Katie Donovan; homelocalservices.com
Offers digital marketing for home service, HVAC, and
plumbing companies.
QONKUR MEDIA GROUP 2018 173 2,983% 43
FERNDALE, MICHIGAN DIGITAL OX 2017 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 380 1,580% 16
CEO: Mike Berro; qonkur.com CEO: Stephen Johnston; digitalox.com
Multimedia marketing agency that specializes in the Turnkey digital marketing agency providing online
cannabis sector. appointment scheduling for private health clinics.

• SOLAR DIRECT MARKETING

HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY
2016 187 2,820% 8 BRITEVOX 2018 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 383 1,576% 4
CEO: Michael Scully; britevox.com
CEO: David Stodolak; solardirectmarketing.com Marketing agency specializing in acquiring customers
Digital and direct marketing firm generating sales for recurring revenue companies and organizations.
leads for solar companies.
500 DESIGNS 2017 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 426 1,444% 80
CLIENT ACCELERATORS 2016 207 2,574% 42 CEO: Stephen Brett; 500designs.com
WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY Strategic marketing agency using data to deliver
CEO: Michael Buontempo; clientaccelerators.com groundbreaking brand and digital experiences.
Advertising agency managing more than $25 million
in ads across Facebook and Google. BOLD ORANGE COMPANY 2018 470 1,332% 87
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
CONNECTING THE DOTS 2017 214 2,536% 10 CEO: Margaret Murphy; boldorange.com
MORRISVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA Customer experience company helping brands with
CEO: Edmond Pain; connectingdotsllc.com acquisition, engagement, growth, and retention.
Strategic marketing agency focusing on mortgage,
solar, insurance, and home services. AD ADVANCE 2017 DULUTH, MINNESOTA 500 1,248% 18
CEO: Joe Shelerud; adadvance.com
• CYGNUS EDUCATION
CONSHOHOCKEN, PENNSYLVANIA
2014 257 2,090% 21 Advertising agency specializing in Amazon sponsored
ads and demand-side platform ads.
CEO: Marcelo Parravicini; cygnuseducation.com
Higher education service provider helping institutions

AGRICULTURE
achieve their marketing objectives.

MASSIVE 2017 PARK CITY, UTAH

& NATURAL RESOURCES
272 2,006% 18
CEO: Zach Pritchett; mass1ve.net
Marketing firm specializing in dedicated email
acquisition campaigns for brand growth. Pertains to companies engaged in farming, horticulture, forestry, and fishing,
as well as agtech.
SEVEN FIGURE AGENCY 2015 275 1,988% 17 Number of companies 1 | Total revenue $48.9M | Median revenue $48.9M |
PALMETTO BAY, FLORIDA Median growth rate 14,708% | Total employment 25
CEO: Joshua Nelson; sevenfigureagency.com
Consulting firm specializing in helping
digital marketing agencies grow
and scale.

THREADLINE 2017 HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS 314 1,814% 2 FOHSE 2015 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 19 14,708% 25
CEO: Kristian Alomá; threadline.co CEO: Brett Stevens; fohse.com
Branding agency offering solutions in narrative and Horticulture science and engineering company
consumer psychology, and behavioral economics. delivering sustainable solutions to accelerate farming.

I L L U S T R AT I O N S BY R O M UA L D O FAU R A

105
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT HERBL 2016 SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Mike Beaudry; herbl.com
79 5,227% 320
Companies that provide services and platforms to support artists in the music Cannabis supply chain company servicing storefront
and entertainment industries. and non-storefront retail licensees.
Number of companies 2 | Total revenue $48.3M | Median revenue $24.1M |
Median growth rate 3,262% | Total employment 339 SUMMIT FACILITY SOLUTIONS 2018 85 4,938% 309
WESTBURY, NEW YORK
CEO: Michael Marrazzo Jr.; summitfacilitysolutions.com
Facilities management company with a focus on
commercial cleaning services.

• SONGTRADR 2014 SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA 135 3,440% 313

•• CMP.JOBS 2018 TOMKINS COVE, NEW YORK 93 4,577% 6
•• Job website
CEO:
Paul Wiltshire; songtradr.com
Music licensing company helping artists, creators, and CEO: Boris Rozman; cmp.jobs
brands secure fair music rights. •• helping companies find talent.

SONGFINCH 2016 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

•
CEO: John Williamson; songfinch.com
Music platform connecting consumers with song-
166 3,084% 26
• STUDIO503
CEO:
2013 MAPLE GROVE, MINNESOTA
Michael Walters; studio503.com
160 3,192% 1

writers for personalized, custom-crafted songs. Strategic business development firm.

RIVELLEPRO 2014 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA 175 2,960% 7

AUTOMOTIVE
CEO: Timothy Frailly; rivellepro.com
E-commerce retailer offering marketing and brand
Companies that provide everything from maintenance to collision repair. management solutions for third-party marketplaces.

Number of companies 1 | Total revenue $3.3M | Median revenue $3.3M | AVM CONSULTING 2014 194 2,732% 25
Median growth rate 1,516% | Total employment 16 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Alexey Moseyev
avmconsulting.net
Global technology consulting firm serving as a
partner for Amazon Web Services.
CHICO’S AUTO PROS 2013 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 398 1,516% 16
CEO: Jeff Welch, Brian Welch; chicosautopros.com FLYCORE DISTRIBUTION 2017 240 2,196% 10
Automotive services company that provides preven- DOVER, NEW JERSEY
tive maintenance, major collision repair, and more. CEO: Jason Innella; flycoredistribution.com
Wholesale beauty distributor offering custom
e-commerce services to startups and established
companies.

BUSINESS PRODUCTS WHITTLEY AGENCY LLX 2018 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 252 2,144% 8

& SERVICES CEO: Dora Whittley, Michael Whittley

whittleyagency.com
Global talent and business management, media,
Companies that sell products and services primarily to other businesses.
communications, and consulting firm.
Number of companies 41 | Total revenue $3,684.6M | Median revenue $9.4M |
Median growth rate 1,943% | Total employment 3,130
TRAINUAL 2018 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA 255 2,113% 87
CEO: Chris Ronzio; trainual.com
Software developer helping small businesses onboard,
train, and scale teams.

TEAMBUILDING.COM 2015 15 17,649% 193 LABRUUTORIES 2017 FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA 256 2,111% 7
COVINGTON, WASHINGTON CEO: Eric Fragola, Francia Raelyn Fragola
CEO: Michael Alexis; teambuilding.com labruutories.com
Provides virtual and in-person team-building events Provides product preparation and logistics software
for organizations around the world. for online retailers.

SUMMIT HUMAN CAPITAL 2018

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
20 14,413% 124
•• SPRINGBIG
CEO:
2012 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA
Jeffrey Harris; springbig.com
269 2,013% 160
CEO: Nina Ildari; summithumancapital.com
Consultant connecting talent to opportunity through Communications and customer-loyalty firm
project-based, contract-to-hire, and direct-hire specializing in solutions for cannabis dispensaries
engagements. and retailers.

HARVESTONE GROUP 2017 FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE 22 14,308% 32 HIOPERATOR 2016 BUFFALO, NEW YORK 276 1,983% 214
CEO: Chad Martin; harvestonegroup.com CEO: Liz Tsai; hioperator.com
Global commodity merchant deploying capital in the Customer service firm offering A.I. and human agents
biofuels sector. to quickly resolve tickets.

GLOBETOPPER 2015 MAPLE GLEN, PENNSYLVANIA 61 6,013% 3 NIKOLA LABS 2014 WESTERVILLE, OHIO 280 1,966% 49
CEO: Craig Span; globetopper.com
CEO: Brian Graham; nikola.tech
B2B gift card concierge company helping clients Predictive maintenance firm offering sensor-based
navigate digital payments. condition monitoring for global manufacturers.

• WEBFORCE
CEO:
2015 AUSTIN, TEXAS
Luis Madrid; webforce.io
62 6,009% 36
KELLY ROACH COACHING 2012 287 1,943% 36
E-commerce and CRM company providing funnels, DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA
payments, upsells, fulfillment, and more. CEO: Kelly Roach; kellyroachcoaching.com
Consulting company for entrepreneurs across
TRUEWORK 2017 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 64 5,950% 110 the globe.
CEO: Ryan Sandler; truework.com
Employment verification software company that
maximizes employee coverage and accelerates WEECARE 2017 MARINA DEL REY, CALIFORNIA 292 1,928% 50
CEO: Jessica Chang; weecare.co
applications.
Child care benefits software platform connecting
providers, families, employers, and employees.
INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 76 5,271% 100
2014 ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
CEO: Ambreen Javed ROVE SUPPLY 2017 TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA 301 1,893% 11
integratedmanagementstrategies.com CEO: Zachary Osness; rovesupply.com
Health care and program management consulting firm Product design, development, manufacturing, and
offering a personalized approach. logistics company catering to lifestyle industries.

15 Inc.
106 Inc. September
September2022
2022
 SHAMECA INTERNATIONAL 2018 310 1,836% 4 PGLS (PIEDMONT GLOBAL LANGUAGE 461 1,353% 57
ANAHEIM HILLS, CALIFORNIA SOLUTIONS) 2013 ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
CEO: Shameca Tankerson; shamecatankerson.com CEO: Mohamed Hussein; pglsinc.com
Consulting and coaching firm offering education and Language solutions provider specializing in translation,
strategies for wealth generation. interpretation, and language training.

K.PACK MANUFACTURING 2016 311 1,830% 12 URB SCIENCES 2017 HOLMDEL, NEW JERSEY 472 1,329% 6
MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA CEO: Louis Elwell; urbsciences.com
CEO: Sam Ho; kpackco.com Multivendor e-commerce platform providing bio-
Produces high-quality packaging materials for the logical fertilizer for the cannabis industry.
pharmaceutical and food service industries.

• OMNIChristopher
INTERACTIONS
COMPUTER HARDWARE
2016 DENVER, COLORADO 341 1,696% 63
CEO: Carrington; oiteam.com
Provides outsourced customer experience services
Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell computer-related hardware.
with remote and on-demand scalability.
Number of companies 2 | Total revenue $44.8M | Median revenue $22.4M |
• SNAPPY
CEO:
APP 2015 NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Hani Goldstein; snappy.com
356 1,645% 255 Median growth rate 2,720% | Total employment 649

Gifting platform for organizations to offer fun,

personal rewards to employees and customers.

BENT EAR SOLUTIONS 2017 357 1,635% 20 INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION CO. 2018 110 3,963% 15
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
CEO: Christopher McIntosh; bentearsolutions.com CEO: Will Jacobsen; industrialautomationco.com
Financial software company specializing in asset Provides industrial electronic replacement parts to
visualization and implementing geospatial information manufacturers and builders.
systems.

SIFIVE 2015 SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA 413 1,477% 634

SNAPCELL 2015 TAMPA, FLORIDA 366 1,607% 25 CEO: Patrick Little; sifive.com
CEO: Brent Williams; snapcell.us.com
Creates commercial RISC-V processors.
Video marketing platform helping car dealerships
engage customers with personalized videos.

ANALYSIS PRIME 2018

CONSTRUCTION
384 1,564% 73
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
CEO: Paul Davis, Graylin Johnson; analysisprime.com
Business services company delivering platform Companies and contractors that erect buildings, and sell or install windows,
solutions including cloud and data warehousing. doors, flooring, plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
Number of companies 17 | Total revenue $336.2M | Median revenue $11.8M |
11TEN INNOVATION PARTNERS 2017 385 1,564% 21 Median growth rate 2,027% | Total employment 613
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
CEO: James Lewis; 11ten.com
Consulting firm focusing on innovation strategies
and services for health care partners.

• 7TH LEVEL COMMUNICATIONS

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
2016 391 1,536% 82
BLUE HAMMER ROOFING 2008 DALLAS, TEXAS 17 15,911% 102
CEO: Matthew Boon; 7thlevelhq.com CEO: Sinithro Miguel Taveras, Nehal Kaiser
Sales coaching company working with businesses bluehammerroofing.com
and sales professionals. Roofing company providing recovery teams for areas
affected by natural disasters.

• SWAGUP
CEO:
2017 PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY
Michael Martocci; swagup.com
401 1,506% 200
OPTIONS EXTERIORS 2018 24 13,526% 20
Handles the logistics of providing clients with EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA
branded swag packages. CEO: Aaron Bible, Christina Bible; optionsexteriors.com
General contracting company specializing in all

• SITATION
CEO:
2001 APEX, NORTH CAROLINA
Steven Engelbrecht; sitation.com
418 1,471% 35
aspects of exterior construction.

Product information management company serving HOMEPRIDE BATH 2018 CENTENNIAL, COLORADO 106 4,126% 48
CEO: Matt Colligan; homepridebath.com
retailers, distributors, brands, and manufacturers.
Home improvement services company offering rapid
•• CALDWELL INTELLECTUAL 434 1,424% 40
bathroom remodeling and more.
PROPERTY LAW
2016 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS •• CITI APPROVED ENTERPRISE
HARVEY, LOUISIANA
2006 120 3,767% 7
CEO: Keegan Caldwell; caldwellip.com
Provides intellectual property services aimed at CEO: Ingrid Thibodeaux; citiapprovedenterprise.com
maximizing profits. A woman-owned general contracting firm specializing
in construction and roofing.
PHYSICAL THERAPY BIZ 2017 447 1,394% 16
ATLANTA, GEORGIA ACHUTI 2016 RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 178 2,921% 4
CEO: Danny Matta; physicaltherapybiz.com CEO: Daniel Patrick; achuti.com
Provides entrepreneurial coaching and training for Provides construction services for military and federal
independent health care clinicians. clients.

PRYSM GROUP 2018 MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 451 1,378% 14 ROI CONSTRUCTION 2018 SAVAGE, MARYLAND 182 2,865% 3
CEO: Guido Molinari; prysmgroup.io CEO: Dominic DiPietro; roiconstruction.com
Economic consulting and executive education firm Family-owned construction firm specializing in roofing
focused on emerging technologies. and exterior construction services.

FIDELMAN & COMPANY 2015 452 1,375% 8 THE DESOTO GROUP 2008 ORLANDO, FLORIDA 219 2,477% 20
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT CEO: Sonya Montgomery; desotogroup.com
CEO: Jeffrey Fidelman; fidelmanco.com An engineering, procurement, and construction firm
A management consulting firm for early to midstage for energy and telecom utilities.
businesses.

INSTAWORK 2015 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 456 1,367% 301

• MARTIN
CEO:
EXTERIORS 2006 ROSCOE, ILLINOIS
Justin Martin; martinexteriors.com
239 2,201% 21

CEO: Sumir Meghani; instawork.com Provides roofing and siding services in Northern
Staffs businesses with local hourly workers. Illinois and Southern Wisconsin.

107
CONSTRUCTION (CONT.) CONSUMER PRODUCTS
Companies that make or distribute products to individual consumers,
as opposed to businesses.
Number of companies 52 | Total revenue $1,248.4M | Median revenue $10.3M |
PRECISION CONSTRUCTION SERVICES 2013 266 2,027% 40 Median growth rate 2,165% | Total employment 2,843
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Jared Malapit, Erik Wright; precision.services
Commercial construction company focusing on
specialized facilities and historical restorations.

DOUGLAS BROOKE HOMES 2017 278 1,976% 11 MUD\WTR 2018 VENICE, CALIFORNIA 30 10,430% 21
CAPE CORAL, FLORIDA CEO: Shane Heath; mudwtr.com
CEO: Craig Evans; douglasbrookehomes.com Maker of coffee alternative helping build rituals to feel
Builds workforce housing. present and grounded.

THESIS 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK

• BIRDSEY CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
2012 ATLANTA, GEORGIA
371 1,596% 30 CEO: Dan Freed; takethesis.com
Offers personalized brain supplements targeted to
34 9,442% 25

CEO: Sandford Birdsey; birdseyconstruction.com improve cognitive function.

Residential contractor working with institutional asset
managers, REITs, government agencies, and i-buyers. ZIMBA & PLUS ULTRA 2012 35 9,349% 67

• VIKING INDUSTRIAL PAINTING

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA
2001 389 1,542% 126 CEO: Christina Ramirez; liveplusultra.com
OMAHA, NEBRASKA Oral care brand focused on creating ecoconscious
CEO: Rory Sudbeck; viptanks.com and sustainable products.
Company specializing in tank painting, repair, and
maintenance for the water tower industry. THE BRAND SUNDAY 2017 63 5,967% 5
GOLDEN VALLEY, MINNESOTA
US HYDROVAC 2018 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 393 1,521% 22 CEO: Zach Windahl; thebrandsunday.com
CEO: Kuldip Panchal; ushydrovac.com Creator of resources helping Christians better
Utility contractor specializing in hydro excavation, understand religious texts.
pipeline cleaning, and robotic pipeline inspections.
BEARABY 2018 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 82 4,999% 24
SURFCO RESTORATION & CONSTRUCTION 397 1,517% 65 CEO: Kathrin Hamm; bearaby.com
2016 FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS Weighted-blanket manufacturer that uses organic
CEO: Brock Emanuel, Dillon Emanuel materials and innovative upcycled fabrics.
surfcorestoration.com
Construction company whose technicians provide ATHENA CLUB 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 84 4,960% 23
water, fire, and natural disaster restoration. CEO: Charles Desmarais, Maria Markina
athenaclub.com
•• RESTOREMASTERS
CEO:
2006 ARDMORE, OKLAHOMA
Matt Irvin; restoremastersllc.com
437 1,420% 28 Direct-to-consumer retailer offering self-care prod-
ucts in body, wellness, and period care categories.
Roofing and restoration contractor serving
commercial and residential clients across Oklahoma. PRINTFRESH 2016 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 103 4,196% 14
CEO: Amy Voloshin, Leo Voloshin; printfresh.com
LIFETIME HEATING, COOLING AND 486 1,273% 44 Lifestyle brand focused on patterned sleepwear,
ELECTRIC 2016 SNOHOMISH, WASHINGTON accessories, and home goods.
CEO: Dwight Miller, Darrick Philp; lifetimeheating.com
Contractor installing and repairing HVAC systems, BONNIE & POP 2018 FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA 105 4,141% 6
water heaters, EV chargers, and more. CEO: Mookie Deitsch; bonnieandpop.com
Offers carefully curated and crafted edible gift
•• CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
2008 497 1,251% 22
options to consumers.

CEO: Joshua Weisman; buildithouston.com HOODSLY.COM 2015 DENVER, NORTH CAROLINA 109 4,048% 23
Designs and builds commerical real estate in Houston CEO: Kevin Garrison, Myra Holt; hoodsly.com
and Austin. E-commerce company focused on wooden range
hoods, floating shelving, and ventilation.

• HOMESTEAD
CEO:
BRANDS 2014 AUSTIN, TEXAS
Brenden Marquardt, Kyle Marquardt
117 3,839% 9

homestead-brands.com
Firm that acquires, scales, invests in, and operates
furniture e-commerce companies.

• HYDROJUG
CEO:
2017 OGDEN, UTAH
Hayden Wadsworth; thehydrojug.com
119 3,819% 80

Reusable water bottle company that revolves around

the flagship HydroJug product.

HERB’N EDEN 2016 DOUGLASVILLE, GEORGIA 125 3,568% 20

CEO: Quinton Lewis; herbneden.com
Soap and body care company that creates products
made exclusively from plants.

HERO COSMETICS 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 132 3,505% 48

CEO: Ju Rhyu; herocosmetics.com
Skin care brand focused on treating and preventing
acne and other blemishes.

CUSTOM PATCH HATS 2018 140 3,390% 70

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
CEO: Brian Cox, Scott Alexander
custompatchhats.com
Custom hat and apparel company creating innovative
products with thoughtful customization.

JEETER 2018 DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA 144 3,346% 1,000

CEO: Sebastian Solano, Lukasz Tracz; jeeter.com
Pre-roll cannabis company that focuses equally on
product and on brand activations.

15 Inc.
108 Inc. September
September2022
2022
 CIGARCLUB 2016 MOBILE, ALABAMA
CEO: Jeff Zeiders; cigarclub.com
147 3,331% 12 • GYMREAPERS
CEO:
2014 BOISE, IDAHO
Roc Pilon; gymreapers.com
291 1,930% 21

Cigar subscription service matching premium cigars Fitness company that manufacturers training apparel,
to consumers’ food and beverage preferences. gear, and equipment.

• VEGAMOUR
CEO:
2016 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Dan Hodgdon; vegamour.com
152 3,284% 30 COZY EARTH HOLDINGS 2010
BLUFFDALE, UTAH
299 1,906% 54
Hair care and beauty company using science-driven CEO: Tyler Howells; cozyearth.com
approach to address hair health. Luxury home goods retailer offering sustainable
bedding, bath, and apparel products.
GUARDIAN BASEBALL 2017 180 2,874% 54
SKIATOOK, OKLAHOMA SHEETS & GIGGLES 2017 DENVER, COLORADO 309 1,849% 12
CEO: Matt Kubancik; guardianbaseball.com CEO: Colin McIntosh; sheetsgiggles.com
Digital retailer of baseball and softball gear, with A bedding company whose sustainably made
emphasis on price and service. products include sheets, duvet covers, and blankets.

LETTUCE GROW 2017 183 2,862% 59 ULTRAVIEW ARCHERY 2017 316 1,801% 13
MARINA DEL REY, CALIFORNIA NORCROSS, GEORGIA
CEO: Jacob Pechenik; lettucegrow.com CEO: Kolby Hanley; ultraviewarchery.com
Produces efficient, vertical vegetable-garden systems Archery accessories company offering products and
for home-grown produce. educational services.

PERGOROOF 2017 SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA 204 2,603% 35 KNACK 2015 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 333 1,721% 75
CEO: Seymur Musayev; pergoroof.com CEO: Laura Jennings; knackshops.com
Makes motorized, retractable awnings and pergolas A digital platform for creating customized gifting
for commercial and residential projects. experiences.

• BELLZI
CEO:
2013 CHINO, CALIFORNIA
En Lin; bellzi.com
210 2,558% 20 PROSE 2017 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
CEO: Arnaud Plas; prose.com
337 1,706% 254

Designs and manufactures stuffed animal toys and Direct-to-consumer beauty brand offering made-to-
accessories for children and collectors. order hair products with natural ingredients.

APPLE BLVD 2016 FRISCO, TEXAS 212 2,555% 12 PAINT THE TOWN 2016 338 1,705% 10
CEO: Johnny Apple, Katie Apple; shopappleblvd.com SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Makes quality, affordable clothing for women of all CEO: Celia Ma; paintthetown.com
shapes, backgrounds, and ages. Hosts live painting experiences for private groups,
online and in-person, worldwide.
MARC NOLAN 2018 ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILLINOIS 222 2,390% 9
CEO: Sebastian Malczewski; marcnolan.com
GOLDMINE & COCO 2017 BARTLETT, TENNESSEE 339 1,703% 8
CEO: Felicia Jarrell; goldmineandcoco.com
Luxury footwear company offering shoes and boots
with modern designs for men. Online stationery and accessories company whose
products depict everyday Black women.
BEAR WALKER 2017 DAPHNE, ALABAMA 225 2,357% 46
CEO: Bear Walker; bearwalker.com STUDIO 88 2017 CHINO, CALIFORNIA 346 1,677% 14
Company that makes handcrafted, limited-edition CEO: Joe Ko; studio-88.com
skateboards. A direct-to-consumer e-commerce company whose
brands and products span multiple verticals.
ZOOMGET 2017 BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON 241 2,194% 18
CEO: Selina Heckendorf; zoomget.com
Provides disposable gloves to health care, automotive, • CASELY
CEO:
2017 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Mark Stallings; getcasely.com
354 1,650% 5
and other industries.
A phone case and tech-accessory company whose

• PATHWATER
products feature new designs each month.
2015 SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA 243 2,189% 36
CEO:
Shadi Bakour; drinkpathwater.com NED 2017 BOULDER, COLORADO 364 1,622% 21
Sells bottled water in sturdy, refillable aluminum CEO: Ret Taylor, Adriaan Zimmerman; helloned.com
bottles that help reduce single-use plastics. Wellness retailer specializing in CBD-infused products
for sleep, stress, and more.
•• LOVEBUG
CEO:
PROBIOTICS 2014 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 253 2,141% 6
Ashley Harris; lovebugprobiotics.com RASA 2018 BOULDER, COLORADO 369 1,603% 18
Creates premium probiotic supplements focusing on CEO: Lopa van der Mersch; wearerasa.com
mothers and babies. Maker of adaptogenic herbal coffee alternatives to
naturally nourish the nervous system.
• SUGARWISH 2012 DENVER, COLORADO
CEO: Elisabeth Vezzani; sugarwish.com
262 2,053% 47
VADE NUTRITION 2016 WIXOM, MICHIGAN 392 1,523% 25
Personalized and experiential gifting model that allows CEO: Joe Johnson; vade-nutrition.com
the recipient choices. Creates portable, convenient nutrition supplements
without excess waste.
LOVEVERY 2015 BOISE, IDAHO 263 2,049% 237
CEO: Jessica Rolph; lovevery.com THE INDOOR GOLF SHOP 2017 CELINA, TEXAS 400 1,507% 25
Early-learning system supporting families with stage- CEO: Rene Delgado; shopindoorgolf.com
based play essentials for children. Sells indoor golf equipment and provides information,
resources, and golfer support.

FUN IN MOTION TOYS 2010 DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA

CEO: Kevin Daniels, Jimi Dennison
281 1,966% 15 • PACKED WITH PURPOSE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
2016 422 1,461% 18
funinmotiontoys.com CEO: Leeatt Rothschild; packedwithpurpose.gifts
Toymaker focusing on “fun in motion” products that A gifting company devoted to empowering under-
stimulate the mind. served women with job skills.
PETSCREENING 2017 428 1,435% 37
ELEMENT 26 2017 AUSTIN, TEXAS 285 1,948% 7 MOORESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
CEO: Jason Franciosa; element26.co CEO: John Bradford; petscreening.com
Weightlifting gear company helping athletes improve Helps housing providers digitally manage residents’
their personal records while preserving their bodies. pets and assistance animals.

JIMINY’S 2016 BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 289 1,942% 7 JKR WINDOWS 2018 ST. GEORGE, UTAH 440 1,415% 26
CEO: Anne Carlson; jiminys.com CEO: Jefferson Rogers; jkrwindows.com
Dog food company using cricket protein to offer Installs high-performance, energy-efficient windows
nutritious and sustainable products. in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada.

109
CONSUMER EDUCATION
PRODUCTS (CONT.) Companies that provide instruction or coaching, or sell educational
materials, or whose primary market is schools or universities.
Number of companies 5 | Total revenue $29.3M | Median revenue $3.8M |
Median growth rate 2,021% | Total employment 72

LEVO OIL INFUSION 2017 449 1,385% 15

DENVER, COLORADO
CEO: Christina Bellman; levooil.com
Kitchen device that uses innovative technology to dry,
activate, and infuse herbal creations. GENERATION GENIUS 2017 88 4,891% 18
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Jeffrey Vinokur; generationgenius.com
MARYRUTH’S 2014 469 1,336% 103 Produces science and math videos and other teaching
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
resources.
CEO: MaryRuth Ghiyam; maryruthorganics.com
Health and wellness brand offering vegan, non-GMO
vitamins and supplements. HUGHES TECHNOLOGY/SMARTDATA 89 4,668% 18
DASHBOARD 2013 MOUNTAIN HOME, ARKANSAS
CEO: Harvey Hughes; smartdatadashboard.com
CBD CARE GARDEN 2016 476 1,315% 4 Analyzes data to identify at-risk students and
AURORA, COLORADO enhance school safety and success.
CEO: Vanessa Elawar; cbdcaregarden.com
Hemp-based wellness and beauty company
specializing in 100 percent natural CBD topicals. SPROUTBRITE 2016 YONKERS, NEW YORK 267 2,021% 7
CEO: Domenick Filopei; sproutbrite.com
Provides high-impact classroom decorations for
today’s students and teachers.

CONSUMER SERVICES ARCHER REVIEW 2009 DALLAS, TEXAS 466 1,341% 18

Companies that provide services to individual consumers, as opposed to CEO: Karthik Koduru, Pranathi Koduru
businesses. archerreview.com
Provides testing resources for nursing and medical
Number of companies 6 | Total revenue $129.8M | Median revenue $17.1M | students and physicians.
Median growth rate 2,417% | Total employment 1,153

• MANUSCRIPTS 2017
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
468 1,336% 11

CEO: Eric Koester; manuscripts.com

• HARDBODY COACHING
Offers educational programs, writing and publishing
2014 18 15,064% 35 services, resources, and community for authors.
OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS
CEO: Law Payne, Patricia Payne
teamhardbodycoaching.com
Online coaching company helping people reach their
full fitness potential. ENERGY
Companies that source or provide power for business and residential customers,
• AIR Anthony
CEO:
PROS 2017 HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA
Perera; airprosusa.com
139 3,392% 500
as well as companies that provide specialized services to energy firms. Also
includes consultancies that help clients reduce energy consumption.
HVAC repair and service company for residential and Number of companies 12 | Total revenue $501.3M | Median revenue $20.9M |
commercial clients. Median growth rate 3,610% | Total employment 1,219

• NOTARIZE
CEO:
2015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Pat Kinsel; notarize.com
167 3,064% 435

Online notary company providing simple, safe, and

convenient legal notarization services.
PENGUIN HOME SOLUTIONS 2017 21 14,347% 81
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA
CARADVISE 2017 WESTMONT, ILLINOIS 322 1,769% 52
CEO: Bryan Perkins; penguinhomesolutions.com
CEO: Greg Tepas; caradvise.com
Automotive software platform connecting vehicle A PV solar installer focusing on residential customers
owners to local repair shops. in California.

MĀLAMA SOLAR 2017 HONOLULU, HAWAII 41 8,185% 20

TRADEBLOC 2017 DALLAS, TEXAS 425 1,444% 21 CEO: Rachel Ah Sue, Chris Ah Sue; malamasolar.com
CEO: Timothy Clark; tradebloc.com Full-service solar photovoltaic installation company
Provider of debt management, contract cancellation, specializing in battery storage.
and discounted travel solutions.

MACROS 2016 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 480 1,295% 110

•• POWUR
CEO:
2014 DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA
Jonathan Budd; powur.com
43 8,042% 135
CEO: James Woith; macrosinc.net A clean-energy platform bringing providers together
Online service and software providing one-on-one to accelerate solar energy adoption.
health and wellness coaching.
SIMPLE SOLAR 2018 WALNUT, CALIFORNIA 44 8,006% 115
CEO: Moe Falah; simplesolarllc.com

CRYPTO
Direct-to-consumer solar company helping
homeowners make the switch.

& BLOCKCHAIN MODERN PRO SOLUTIONS 2018

CHINO, CALIFORNIA
87 4,906% 50
Companies that offer services related to blockchain and CEO: Robert Tetsch; modernprosolutions.com
cryptocurrency technology. Offers solar, generator, battery, and roofing services
Number of companies 1 | Total revenue $37.1M | Median revenue $37.1M | and installation.
Median growth rate 28,650% | Total employment 22
• KAYOAaron
CEO:
ENERGY 2017 TEMPE, ARIZONA
Weymann; kayoenergy.com
108 4,052% 105

Energy solutions company that provides community

access to affordable solar energy.
DISTRIBUTED LEDGER 2017 7 28,650% 22
DAPHNE, ALABAMA ZENERNET 2017 PHOENIX, ARIZONA 162 3,167% 30
CEO: Mike Francis; distributedledgerinc.com CEO: J. P. Gerken; zenernet.com
Blockchain services and cryptocurrency mining Customizable residential solar systems and other
company connecting blockchain and business. clean-energy innovations.

15 Inc.
110 Inc. September
September2022
2022
 ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES
Companies whose primary focus is on restoring or maintaining
clean and safe environments.
Number of companies 2 | Total revenue $4.9M | Median revenue $2.4M |
Median growth rate 1,585% | Total employment 19

ERIE ENVIRONMENTAL 2017 PORT CLINTON, OHIO 373 1,592% 12

CEO: Jacob Cramer; erie-environmental.com
Environmental services company that specializes
in non-evasive abatement, remediation, and
mitigation procedures.

POWER 22 2011 CHANDLER, ARIZONA 382 1,578% 7

CEO: Danny Prassas, Lauren Prassas
solarpower22.com
Environmental services firm providing residential
customers affordable energy through solar power.

FINANCIAL SERVICES
Companies that provide financing or products and services that facilitate
financial transactions, including lenders, mortgage brokers, and financial advisers.
Number of companies 40 | Total revenue $3,270.9M | Median revenue $22.2M |
Median growth rate 2,042% | Total employment 8,518

• TEXAS SOLAR INTEGRATED

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
2006 209 2,559% 125
BLOCKFI 2017 JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY 1 245,616% 818
CEO: Mike Sardo; txsolar.com CEO: Zac Prince; blockfi.com
Specializes in design, development, installation, and Financial services company bridging the gap between
maintenance of residential solar energy projects. traditional finance and cryptocurrency.

GREENBRILLIANCE 2007 HERNDON, VIRGINIA 326 1,756% 75 TAX RELIEF ADVOCATES 2017 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 10 20,541% 194
CEO: Sumit Bhatnagar; greenbrilliance.com CEO: Jeff Nickel; tra.com
Provides turnkey solar solutions, customized for Provider of professional tax relief for complex IRS
residential and commercial needs. problems.

•• RESOURCE INNOVATIONS
HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA
2016 328 1,743% 439
FACET WEALTH 2016 BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
CEO: Anders Jones; facetwealth.com
46 7,383% 299

Financial services company that offers clients financial

CEO: Lauren Casentini; resource-innovations.com and investment planning advice.
Consulting firm that delivers high-performing
clean-energy solutions. EMPOWER 2016 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 55 6,363% 50
CEO: Warren Hogarth; empower.me
LIVINGSTON ENERGY GROUP 2016 377 1,584% 35 Bank specializing in helping customers increase
SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK savings and improve credit scores.
CEO: Schuyler Poukish, Jason Zarillo; solution.energy
Develops electric vehicle charging infrastructure for
commercial, government, and fleet customers.
• NUMERATED
CEO:
2017 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Dan O’Malley; numerated.com
65 5,887% 140

Loan origination firm for business banking that

RENEWABLE POWER 2017 YUMA, ARIZONA 465 1,341% 9 reduces work for financial institutions.
CEO: Jimmy Esparza, Rocio Corrales
renewablepowerusa.com GOLD ALLIANCE CAPITAL 2016 RENO, NEVADA 71 5,614% 51
Installs solar systems in Arizona and several CEO: Joseph Sherman; goldalliance.com
other states. Specializes in helping investors diversify their
retirement savings with precious metals.

STEADY 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 86 4,913% 73

ENGINEERING
CEO: Adam Roseman; steadyapp.com
Helps hourly workers make better-informed decisions
Companies that provide engineering and related services, including construction about how and where to work.
or architectural work, and that manage engineering projects for clients.
BYTE FEDERAL 2016 VENICE, FLORIDA 90 4,646% 65
Number of companies 2 | Total revenue $16.1M | Median revenue $8M | CEO: Lee Hansen; bytefederal.com
Median growth rate 1,691% | Total employment 204 Financial technology company specializing in crypto-
currency and the manufacture of Bitcoin kiosks.

• COINFLIP
CEO:
2015 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Benjamin Weiss; coinflip.tech
92 4,580% 201

Financial services platform that operates a network of

ALBERS AEROSPACE 2015 M C KINNEY, TEXAS 340 1,700% 174 cryptocurrency kiosks.
CEO: John Albers; albers.aero
Defense technology firm providing aerospace and
aviation services, engineering, and aerospace ASPIRATION 2013 MARINA DEL REY, CALIFORNIA 115 3,881% 273
manufacturing. CEO: Andrei Cherny; aspiration.com
Financial services company offering spending

• DMR CONSULTING
programs that help combat climate change.
1998 343 1,682% 30
PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA PCF INSURANCE SERVICES 1987 LEHI, UTAH 118 3,830% 2,400
CEO: Mary Carmichael; dmrcinc.com CEO: Peter Foy; pcfins.com
Delivers engineering services and products to the Full-service consultant and insurance brokerage firm
Department of Defense. offering a range of employee benefits.

111
FINANCIAL SERVICES (CONT.) •• BITCOIN
CEO:
DEPOT 2016 ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Brandon Mintz; bitcoindepot.com
367 1,606% 102

Operates a network of more than 6,800 crypto-

currency ATMs.

• CRESTMONT
CEO:
CAPITAL 2015 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA
Gregory Keleshian; crestmontcapital.com
127 3,548% 38 TRIUS LENDING PARTNERS 2003
TOWSON, MARYLAND
372 1,593% 19

Lender providing funding and advisory services to CEO: Josh Shein; triuslendingpartners.com
support small-business financial goals. Direct, private-money, and hard-money lender
specializing in residential investment properties.
M1 2015 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 150 3,284% 297
CEO: Brian Barnes; m1.com KDM FINANCIAL 2016 CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA 388 1,543% 28
Personal finance platform providing a suite of tools CEO: Holly MacDonald-Korth; kdmfinancial.com
for financial well-being. Lender, servicer, underwriter, and securitizer of
first-lien commercial real estate debt.
• MAXWELL
CEO:
2015 DENVER, COLORADO
John Paasonen; himaxwell.com
164 3,137% 285 ASTAR HOME CAPITAL 2018 MONROE, NEW YORK 390 1,541% 80
CEO: Shmiel Stern; astarhomecapital.com
Financial tech company providing a mortgage
Offers creative mortgage solutions for real estate clients.
solutions platform for midsize lenders.
GOLDEN TAX RELIEF 2018 THOMASVILLE, ALABAMA 410 1,487% 19
LEASE END 2018 BURLEY, IDAHO 171 3,001% 30 CEO: Ben Golden; goldentaxrelief.com
CEO: Brandon Williams; leaseend.com
Tax firm assisting clients to resolve IRS issues and
Financial services company facilitating cost-effective reduce tax liability.
auto lease termination services for consumers.

• VAROColinBANK 2015 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 191 2,757% 784

•• AMERICAN HARTFORD GOLD
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
2015 415 1,472% 96

CEO: Walsh; varomoney.com CEO: Sanford Mann; americanhartfordgold.com

A financial services firm that operates an online-only Dealer of precious metals helping clients diversify
bank with transparent fees. their investment portfolios.

RED ROCK SECURED 2009 EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 211 2,555% 60 CFO HUB 2016 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 419 1,465% 27
CEO: Sean Kelly; redrocksecured.com CEO: Jack Perkins; cfohub.com
Converts clients’ retirement savings into physical gold Financial consulting firm supplying companies with
and silver. outsourced CFO, controller, and accounting services.

BRANCH 2015 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 220 2,417% 101 I80 GROUP 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 421 1,462% 12
CEO: Marc Helwani; i80group.com
CEO: Atif Siddiqi; branchapp.com
A workforce payments platform, partnering with An investment firm offering bespoke financing
businesses to accelerate payments. solutions of $25 million or more.

KEYCITY CAPITAL 2018 SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS 433 1,428% 65

COINME 2014 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 227 2,349% 86 CEO: Tie Lasater; keycitycapital.com
CEO: Neil Bergquist; coinme.com Private equity firm offering clients investment
Finance company operating a cryptocurrency cash diversification, tax, income, and savings plans.
exchange facilitating Bitcoin sales and purchases.
VESTWELL 2016 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 435 1,423% 171
TAX HARDSHIP CENTER 2015 259 2,078% 22 CEO: Aaron Schumm; vestwell.com
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA Savings and investment platform helping support
CEO: Arian Azimzadeh; taxhardshipcenter.com financial services, payroll, and state partnerships.
Tax assistance firm helping individuals and businesses
with collection issues. THE FORBES M&A GROUP 2004 446 1,397% 17
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLORADO
•• Chris Hurn; fountainheadcc.com
FOUNTAINHEAD 2015 LAKE MARY, FLORIDA 271 2,006% 40 CEO: Bob Forbes; forbesma.com

• Nonbank, direct commercial lending firm specializing

CEO: Investment bank specializing in helping businesses
create shareholder liquidity.
in funding commercial real estate projects.
ATLANTIC HOME MORTGAGE 2018 458 1,357% 41
XACTUS 1992 BROOMALL, PENNSYLVANIA 288 1,942% 750 ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA
CEO: Perry Steiner; xactus.com CEO: Tony Davis, Naveed Bhurgri; atlantichm.com
Firm using technology to simplify the verification Mortgage company focused on simplifying the
process for the mortgage industry. process as much as possible through technology.

• MAVERICK PAYMENTS 2011 304 1,878% 50 • SIMPLIFY HOME LOANS

AMERICAN FORK, UTAH
2016 483 1,284% 128
CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Jacob Deegan; simplifyhomeloans.com
CEO: Alan Griefer; maverickpayments.com
Payment processing company offering analytics, Mortgage broker specializing in VA loans to improve
reporting, chargeback management, fraud prevention, customers’ financial situations.
and more.

SUNBIT 2016 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

CEO: Arad Levertov; sunbit.com
306 1,874% 300
FOOD & BEVERAGES
Financial technology company offering “buy now, Companies that manufacture, sell, or distribute food or beverages
pay later” solutions for multiple industries. or offer related services, including meal-delivery services.
Number of companies 15 | Total revenue $349.1M | Median revenue $21M |
UPSIDE SERVICES 2016 308 1,858% 247 Median growth rate 2,682% | Total employment 2,460
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CEO: Alex Kinner; app.getupside.com
Retail technology company offering digital promotion
solutions to retailers and consumers.

UNBANKED 2018 MILTON, GEORGIA HIGHKEY 2018 ORLANDO, FLORIDA 5 41,585% 58

327 1,749% 48
CEO: Aditya Patel, Joseph Ens; highkey.com
CEO: Ian Kane, Daniel Gouldman; unbanked.com
Food manufacturer making healthier versions of
Global fintech company connecting traditional
people’s favorite snacks.
banking systems with the blockchain.

ATHLETIC BREWING COMPANY 2017 26 13,071% 180

ZAP MORTGAGE 2016 COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO 335 1,715% 11 STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT
CEO: Anthony Lee; zapmortgage.com
CEO: Bill Shufelt; athleticbrewing.com
Crypto-friendly lender focusing on younger clients, Brewing company producing great-tasting non-
using tech for simpler mortgage processes. alcoholic beer options for adults.

15 Inc.
112 Inc. September
September2022
2022
•• LIFEBOOST
CEO:
2015 NOBLESVILLE, INDIANA
Charles Livingston; lifeboostcoffee.com
29 11,283% 3 RP PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
ASHBURN, VIRGINIA
2011 74 5,300% 286
Produces low­acid coffee with sustainable farming CEO: Rish Patel; rpproservices.com
methods while protecting our wildlife. Provides skilled professionals to federal agencies for
complex projects.
QWICK 2018 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA 32 10,076% 147 BLACK BAY AEROSPACE 2015 TAVERNIER, FLORIDA
CEO: Jamie Baxter; qwick.com 113 3,905% 2
CEO: Conor Aucoin; blackbayaero.com
A platform for food and beverage professionals to Aerospace and defense reseller to the U.S. military,
connect with event venues. NATO, and its allies.

PARTAKE FOODS 2016 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 45 7,489% 15 NEMEAN SOLUTIONS 2017 SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA 158 3,221% 62
CEO: Denise Woodard; partakefoods.com CEO: Simon Ortiz; nemeansolutions.com
Creator of allergy­friendly cookies serving retailers Provides advanced military intelligence, cybersecurity,
such as Target and Trader Joe’s. and special operations training to governments.

FEAST & FETTLE 2016 83 4,996% 100 •• FEDERAL RESOURCES CORPORATION 1998 235 2,236% 85
EAST PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
CEO: Carlos Ventura; feastandfettle.com
• Jeremy Young; fedresources.com
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA
CEO:
Premium meal delivery service for customers in Designs cybersecurity, data privacy, and IT strategies
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. for federal clients.

LITTLE SPOON 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 91 4,626% 52 •• KERN TECHNOLOGY GROUP
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA
2010 261 2,053% 25
CEO: Ben Lewis; littlespoon.com
CEO: David Kern; ktg-llc.com
Offers delivery of fresh, organic, and healthy children’s
meals and snacks. Creates teams of experts and data analysts that work
with the U.S. Navy.

GREATER THAN 2010 HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS 198 2,682% 4 IGNITE IT 2018 ASHBURN, VIRGINIA 298 1,906% 43
CEO: Mark Sider, Jon Sider; drinkgt.com CEO: Steven Pichney; igniteitservices.com
Energy drink featuring electrolytes, coconut water, IT firm offering digital solutions and human­centric
fruit juices, and sea salt. design to government clients.

HAWAIIAN BROS ISLAND GRILL 2018

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
203 2,613% 1,675 • AXIOM
CEO:
CONSULTANTS 2008 ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND
Bhavana Rakesh; axiomconsultants.com
352 1,656% 55

CEO: Scott Ford, Cameron McNie; hawaiianbros.com Consulting firm offering IT modernization, cyber­
Hawaiian restaurant featuring island­inspired plate security, cloud services, and business transformation.
lunches for fast­casual dining.

TRACTOR BEVERAGE CO. 2015 216 2,520% 22

• WINDSOR
CEO:
GROUP 2014 CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND
Diedre Windsor; windsorgroup-llc.com
368 1,603% 36

DALTON GARDENS, IDAHO Provides professional services and solutions to the

CEO: Kevin Sherman; drinktractor.com federal government and commercial entities.
Certified organic and non­GMO full­line beverage
solutions for food service. IRON EAGLEX 2017 TAMPA, FLORIDA 370 1,600% 122
CEO: Michael Grochol; ironeaglex.com

• PROUD
CEO:
SOURCE WATER 2016 BOISE, IDAHO
Carl Pennington; proudsourcewater.com
223 2,360% 71
Company providing talent and technology
primarily to the Department of Defense.
Bottled water company focused on sustainability
through the use of aluminum bottles. • AUDLEY CONSULTING GROUP
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND
2017 407 1,492% 200

CEO: Jatinder Sehmi; audley.io

FELTMAN’S OF CONEY ISLAND 2015 297 1,909% 6 Enables the government to provide better digital
NEW YORK, NEW YORK services to taxpayers.
CEO: Joe Quinn; feltmansofconeyisland.com
Food company specializing in hot dogs, burgers,
bacon, and bratwurst.
SIERRA7 2009 FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA 457 1,362% 362
CEO: Rafael Fagundo; sierra7.com
Provides services that help federal clients with
DRAKE’S ORGANIC SPIRITS 2017 321 1,774% 18 technology adoption.
MINNETONKA, MINNESOTA
CEO: Mark Anderson; drakesorganic.com DAS FEDERAL 2016 GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND 475 1,317% 32
Beverage company with vegan, gluten­free, CEO: Desma Balachandran; dasfederal.com
non­GMO, kosher, and organic spirits and mixers. Specializes in digital transformation, critical infrastruc­
ture protection, and project management.
• CLEVELAND
CEO:
KITCHEN 2014 CLEVELAND, OHIO
Drew Anderson; clevelandkitchen.com
430 1,431% 33

HEALTH PRODUCTS
An innovative culinary brand producing tasty and
healthy fermented foods.
Companies that manufacture and sell supplements, diagnostic tests, medical
MARKET WAGON 2016 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 450 1,385% 76 devices, and other health care products.
CEO: Nick Carter; marketwagon.com
Online farmers’ market that directly connects local Number of companies 8 | Total revenue $154.1M | Median revenue $15.5M |
farms and chefs to customers. Median growth rate 2,838% | Total employment 571

GOVERNMENT SERVICES LIVINGOOD DAILY 2018 CARY, NORTH CAROLINA 6 38,448% 25

Companies that provide consulting services—especially IT, health care, CEO: Blake Livingood; livingooddaily.com
and procurement—primarily to government entities. Provides diagnostic tests.
Number of companies 13 | Total revenue $262.7M | Median revenue $12.2M |
Median growth rate 1,906% | Total employment 1,684 • HARDBODY SUPPLEMENTS
OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS
2016 9 25,785% 35

CEO: Law Payne, Patricia Payne

hardbodynutritional.com
Sells various supplements, including protein powders
and pre­workouts.
AMA CONSULTING GROUP 2015 58 6,218% 374
WINTER PARK, FLORIDA
CEO: Stephanie Rosario­Smith
• 20/20 GENESYSTEMS
GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND
2011 131 3,512% 41
amaconsultinggroup.com CEO: Jonathan Cohen; 2020gene.com
Consulting firm supporting government agencies and Developer of lab­based diagnostic tests for early
nonprofits with housing program development. disease detection and prevention.

113
HEALTH PRODUCTS (CONT.)

•• PAINTEQ
CEO:
2013 TAMPA, FLORIDA
Sean LaNeve; painteq.com
149 3,316% 58

Medical device innovator focused on managing pain

from sacroiliac joint dysfunction.

VERANTOS 2013 MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 224 2,360% 40

CEO: Dan Riskin; verantos.com
Uses A.I. to anaylze health records and other data
sources to predict patient outcomes.

RIGHTWAY 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 362 1,627% 242

CEO: Jordan Feldman; rightwayhealthcare.com
Provides care navigation and pharmacy benefit
management platforms.

MIXLAB 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 394 1,520% 120

CEO: Frederic Dijols; mixlab.com
Pharmacy working to make veterinarians’ jobs easier

LIFEVAC 2012 NESCONSET, NEW YORK 443 1,408% 10

CEO: Arthur Lih; lifevac.net
Manufacturer of a choking rescue device that has
saved more than 300 lives.

HEALTH SERVICES
Companies that include health care worker staffing agencies, physician
support services, clinics, veterinarians, pharmacy services, and clinical
research platforms.
Number of companies 30 | Total revenue $4,756.1M | Median revenue $42.2M |
Median growth rate 2,336% | Total employment 15,817

SNAPNURSE 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 2 146,319% 350 CURIS FUNCTIONAL HEALTH 2018 142 3,380% 205
CEO: Cherie Kloss; snapnurse.com FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS
Tech-enabled health care staffing platform CEO: Andre Angel; gocuris.com
transforming the way nurses are recruited. Operates multidisciplinary health centers for
chiropractors, therapists, and nutritionists.
ETRUENORTH 2013 MANSFIELD, TEXAS 4 42,428% 20
CEO: Coral May; etruenorth.com VETERINARY EMERGENCY GROUP 2014 156 3,238% 1,857
Network of retail pharmacies increasing access to VALHALLA, NEW YORK
health and wellness services. CEO: David Bessler, David Glattstein; veg.vet
Specializes in after-hours emergency care for pets.
• STAFFDNA 2013 PLANO, TEXAS 13 19,699% 57

• ARRIVE
CEO:
Sheldon Arora; staffdna.com
Health care staffing platform built on the industry’s HEALTH 2013 DENVER, COLORADO 181 2,873% 80
most advanced technology. CEO:
Kyle Kiser; arrivehealth.com
Health care software platform offering patient-
COMPLETE HEALTH PARTNERS 2018 31 10,285% 50 specific coverage and cost data at point-of-care.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
CEO: Ty Babcock; completehealthpartners.com SELECT DENTAL MANAGEMENT 2018 185 2,833% 600
Telehealth and in-person urgent care provider. FLORHAM PARK, NEW JERSEY
CEO: Elliot Zibel; selectdentalmanagement.com
CAPITAL RX 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 33 9,895% 353 Provides practice management services to dental
CEO: AJ Loiacono; cap-rx.com offices across eight states.
Pharmacy benefit manager using technology to
stabilize prescription drug prices. • EVERLY
CEO:
HEALTH 2015 AUSTIN, TEXAS
Julia Cheek; everlyhealth.com
201 2,643% 626

CORE CLINICAL PARTNERS 2017 40 8,200% 40 Digital health company providing lab testing,
ATLANTA, GEORGIA technology, logistics, compliance, and other services.
CEO: Boykin Robinson; coreclinicalpartners.com
A physician services company specializing in CHEXOUT 2010 VIENNA, VIRGINIA 221 2,403% 30
improving emergency and hospital medicine. CEO: Joseph Paulini; chexout.com
Health care IT company providing software to manage
INTEGRATIVE PSYCHIATRY INSTITUTE 2018 98 4,387% 17 patients, clinics, and data.
LONGMONT, COLORADO
CEO: Keith Kurlander, Will Van Derveer VIVO HEALTHSTAFF 2016 DUBLIN, CALIFORNIA 231 2,270% 8
psychiatryinstitute.com CEO: Jacob Horn; vivohealthstaff.com
Provides educational programs for psychedelic- Staffing firm placing physicians and clinical staff.
assisted therapy and integrative medicine.

AMERICAN ONCOLOGY NETWORK 2017 107 4,059% 1,503 • SOMA

CEO:
TECH INTL 1997 BLOOMFIELD, CONNECTICUT
Peter Leonidas; somatechnology.com
283 1,955% 56
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA
CEO: Todd Schonherz; aoncology.com
Medical equipment supplier offering new and
Oncology physicians’ network providing access to refurbished products at affordable prices.
patient financial counseling, IT, and more.
VECTOR REMOTE CARE 2017 BEND, OREGON 315 1,802% 63
CEO: Kevin Hoffman; vectorremote.com
TIMELYMD 2017 FORT WORTH, TEXAS 116 3,852% 115 Health care technology company specializing in
CEO: Luke Hejl; timely.md
monitoring solutions for cardiac care.
Virtual health company for higher education students.

15 Inc.
114 Inc. September
September2022
2022
 CHI-MATIC 2018 VERONA, WISCONSIN 347 1,670% 54 HCM UNLOCKED 2018 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA 99 4,385% 90
CEO: Chirag Bhargava; chi-matic.com CEO: John Wallace; hcmunlocked.com
Provides revenue cycle technology consulting services Human resources and payroll platform with
to health systems nationwide. automation features.

PATIENTWING 2016 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

CEO: Zikria Syed; patientwing.com
348 1,669% 20
• SUMMIT MEDICAL STAFFING
FREMONT, NEBRASKA
2014 114 3,893% 52
Rare disease patient recruitment company connecting CEO: Bill Watts; summitmedstaff.com
patients with clinical pharmaceutical researchers. Temporary medical staffing company that focuses
on nursing, allied health professionals, and therapy.
BEHAVIOR NATION 2018 DANVILLE, CALIFORNIA 359 1,633% 43
CEO: Rushal Patel; behaviornation.com
Provides services to those with autism spectrum • ACTRIV HEALTHCARE
TACOMA, WASHINGTON
2017 138 3,409% 1,800
disorder and other developmental disabilities. CEO: Allan Njoroge; actriv.com
Health care staffing company improving the
ABLEPAY HEALTH 2016 BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA 381 1,578% 26 relationship between providers and patients.
CEO: John Fistner; ablepayhealth.com
Patient engagement program that streamlines pay-
ments between medical providers and consumers. SUPERIOR SKILLED TRADES 2018 153 3,275% 50
ROCKLEDGE, FLORIDA
LONGEVITI HEALTH 2017 WESTON, FLORIDA 399 1,509% 6 CEO: Seth Sandler; superiorskilledtrades.com
CEO: Daniel Gladstone; longeviti.health Staffing provider for construction, heavy industrial
Health firm offering medical services, solutions for work, and other skilled trades industries.
personalized medicine, and preventive care.
TURN TECHNOLOGIES 2016 169 3,052% 104
MISSION VETERINARY PARTNERS 2017 409 1,490% 5,974 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN CEO: Rahier Rahman; turning.io
CEO: Michael Aubrey; missionvetpartners.com Labor infrastructure platform helping businesses
Network of general practice animal hospitals handle the challenges of a temporary workforce.
providing care to companion animals.
24HOURNURSE STAFFING 2017
•• RESTORE
CEO:
HYPER WELLNESS
Jim Donnelly; restore.com
2015 AUSTIN, TEXAS 411 1,483% 232 PITTSBURG, TEXAS
CEO: Daniel Hayes; 24hournurse.com
188 2,801% 140

Wellness services provider offering expert guidance Medical employment agency providing temporary
and cutting-edge health modalities. staffing for nursing homes and hospitals.

• CONNECTRN
CEO:
2014 WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
Ted Jeanloz; connectrn.com
416 1,472% 127 SIONO 2018 DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA
CEO: Andy Hill; siono.io
193 2,747% 115

Health agency connecting nurses with job oppor- Talent management and acquisition firm specializing
tunities and a community of peers. in developers and designers.

SLEEPSCORE LABS 2016 CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 417 1,471% 47 ELITE BUSINESS STRATEGIES 2011 196 2,699% 15
CEO: Colin Lawlor; sleepscore.com TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
Enables organizations to strengthen their health and CEO: Princess Ousley; ebsleaders.com
wellness offerings through better sleep. Emergency management services provider

•• PARADIGM LABORATORIES
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
2012 432 1,428% 168
specializing in project management, staffing,
training, and more.
CEO: Ethan Sasz; paradigmlaboratories.com
•• PROLINK STAFFING 2011 CINCINNATI, OHIO 206 2,578% 747
•• OffersTony
Molecular laboratory serving patients, schools, first
responders, and government entities. CEO: Munafo; prolinkstaffing.com
business staffing services, including contract,
•• FASTER WAY TO FAT LOSS
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
2013 445 1,401% 30 contract-to-hire, and direct placement.

CEO: Amanda Tress; fasterwaytofatloss.com INSTANT TEAMS 2016 208 2,572% 450
Nutrition and fitness company specializing in meal CARTHAGE, NORTH CAROLINA
plans, workouts, and one-on-one coaching. CEO: Liza Rodewald; instantteams.com
Marketplace for the military spouse community
ACTION BEHAVIOR CENTERS 2017 499 1,249% 2517 offering career development and more.
AUSTIN, TEXAS
CEO: Hersh Sanghavi; actionbehavior.com
WE ARE ROSIE 2018 232 2,267% 41
Health care centers providing support for children CHATTAHOOCHEE HILLS, GEORGIA
with autism and their families. CEO: Stephanie Nadi Olson; wearerosie.com
Marketing talent firm offering on-demand, indepen-
dent experts to augment in-house teams.

HUMAN RESOURCES LRB GROUP 2018 WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

CEO: Luke Vasold; lrbtalent.com
277 1,982% 6
Staffing, payroll, executive-search, and outsourcing companies, as well
as firms involved with employee or management training. Enterprise technology services firm providing talent
for IT and business transformation.
Number of companies 26 | Total revenue $1,922.8M | Median revenue $11M |
Median growth rate 2,419% | Total employment 6,042
AMPLIFY HR MANAGEMENT 2017 313 1,819% 32
WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
CEO: Todd Beutel; amplifyhrm.com
National provider of human resources technology.

AGM TECH SOLUTIONS 2018 38 8,749% 161 •• COVER DESK 2018 AUSTIN, TEXAS 317 1,800% 700
RED BANK, NEW JERSEY
•• Specializes
CEO: Andy Priesman; coverdesk.com
CEO: Mirtes Lobaito; agmtechsolutions.com
Provides top-tier IT talent to Fortune 500 companies. • in virtual assistants for insurance agencies.

INK STAFFING 2011 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 51 6,796% 165 SPIRE 2013 ROSWELL, GEORGIA 344 1,681% 19
CEO: Arun Jeldi; inkstaffing.com CEO: Michael Jacoutot; spireworkforcesolutions.com
Health care workforce solutions company operating A clinical staffing firm that works with hospitals and
in 43 states. health care systems.

GET STAFFED UP 2018 MIAMI, FLORIDA 67 5,807% 102

NEARSURE 2018 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 374 1,587% 137
CEO: Giuliana Corbo; nearsure.com
CEO: Brett Trembly; getstaffedup.com
Provides virtual assistants to law firms. Staffing company helping clients manage IT projects
with remote-first software development teams.

115
HUMAN RESOURCES (CONT.) IT SERVICES
Companies that provide services to develop, operate, and manage information
technology systems.

•• LEAN SOLUTIONS GROUP 2011 395 1,520% 54

Number of companies 27 | Total revenue $542.2M | Median revenue $12.3M |

• Roberto Cadena; leangroup.com

Median growth rate 1,795% | Total employment 1,985
CORAL SPRINGS, FLORIDA
CEO:
Staffing firm that fills technology, marketing, and sales
positions.

• EMONICS 2016 PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY 405 1,495% 350

• LAUNCHTECH
CEO:
2016 HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA
Venus Quates; welaunchtech.com
42 8,054% 22
CEO:
Brijesh Tripathi; emonics.com Technology consulting firm servicing the space, health
Staffing firm providing recruitment services to a wide care, financial, and public sectors.
variety of industries nationwide.
KITRUM 2018 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA 50 6,799% 389
PULSE CLINICAL ALLIANCE 2016 453 1,371% 150 CEO: Vlad Kytainyk; kitrum.com
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA Software development company helping CTOs build
CEO: Garrett Caplin; pulseca.com dedicated development teams.
Joint commission-certified clinical staffing agency for
public and private health care systems.
COMPUTE NORTH 2017 EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA 96 4,427% 67
CEO: Dave Perrill; computenorth.com
HIRERISING 2018 PHOENIX, ARIZONA 454 1,370% 51 Data center providing infrastructure for distributed
CEO: Graham Greytak; hirerising.com computing and cryptocurrency mining clients.
Local IT staffing and recruiting company operating
in the Phoenix area.
ONEZERO SOLUTIONS 2017 111 3,948% 68

• WHITECAP
CEO:
SEARCH 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Jerry Battipaglia; whitecapsearch.com
463 1,351% 62
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
CEO: Al Sowers; onezerollc.com
Veteran-owned company that leverages cyber-
Staffing firm placing accounting, financial services, security and technologies to increase workforce
corporate service, and health care professionals. productivity.

•• STYNT
CEO:
2014 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Alex Adeli; stynt.com
471 1,331% 35 SURELOCK TECHNOLOGY 2009 112 3,931% 15
LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA
A staffing platform that enables clinicians and hiring CEO: Bob Kopesky; surelocktechnology.com
facilities to connect directly. Technology customer care company for business,
government, and educational institutions.
KWIKLY DENTAL STAFFING 2017 491 1,258% 414
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
CEO: Pedram Nastaean, Yomiyu Hirpa; joinkwikly.com
• OPENEXCHANGE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
2009 124 3,650% 307
On-demand dental staffing platform connecting CEO: Mark Loehr; openexc.com
temporary workers with dental offices nationwide. Helps companies securely connect, curate, and dis-
seminate vital information critical to drive investment
and business decisions.

INSURANCE • PINGWIND
CEO:
2012 ANNANDALE, VIRGINIA
Aaron Moak; pingwind.com
129 3,522% 128

Companies that sell insurance products or help the insurance industry Provides IT, cybersecurity, and infrastructure services
with different forms of risk mitigation. to government clients.
Number of companies 6 | Total revenue $159M | Median revenue $28.3M |
Median growth rate 2,863% | Total employment 1,293 • DISTRIBUTED TECHNOLOGY GROUP
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
2009 190 2,764% 10

CEO: Mark Matheson; dtg.com

Helps organizations implement and secure cost-
effective IT strategies.
• INNOVATIVE FINANCIAL GROUP
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
2014 78 5,232% 31
• GLOBAL ALLIANT 2017 COLUMBIA, MARYLAND 254 2,122% 112
CEO: Tyler Rees; teamifg.com CEO:
Rajan Natarajan; globalalliantinc.com
Platform helping insurance agents and managers IT consulting and software development company
brand and grow their businesses. serving state and federal agencies.

CLEARCOVER 2016 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 151 3,284% 445 EPIGEN 2016 M C LEAN, VIRGINIA 270 2,008% 27
CEO: Kyle Nakatsuji; clearcover.com CEO: Terry Rice; epigentechnology.com
Tech-driven car insurance firm offering consumers Professional services firm providing A.I. readiness,
smart decision-making options for coverage. information security and compliance, and more.

PIE INSURANCE 2017 163 3,139% 340 •• READY IOT/READY WIRELESS 2008 282 1,961% 20
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
•• Dennis Henderson; readywireless.com
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA

•• Internet-of-things
CEO: John Swigart; pieinsurance.com CEO:
Insurance firm leveraging technology to offer solutions integrator with broad
competitive pricing for small-business clients. • expertise in wireless technology.
NEPTUNE FLOOD 2018 205 2,587% 37 TOMORROW 2018 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 296 1,911% 48
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA CEO: Joe Tatarski
CEO: Trevor Burgess; neptuneflood.com tomorrowagency.com
Flood insurance company using A.I. to improve E-commerce digital agency offering web architecture,
processes for consumers and agents. strategy, and build solutions.

KIN INSURANCE 2016 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 349 1,668% 411 NEXCORE 2017 MADISON, NEW JERSEY 300 1,894% 14
CEO: Sean Harper; kin.com CEO: David Mastrogiovanni; nexcoreserv.com
Direct-to-consumer insurtech firm specializing in IT firm offering service coverage solutions for retailers
finding convenient, affordable insurance policies for and branch-centric organizations.
homeowners.
GEN3 TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING 2017 318 1,795% 26
MILE AUTO 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 477 1,311% 29 WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CEO: Fred Blumer; mileauto.com CEO: Elise Roemer; gen3technology.com
A pay-per-mile insurance provider using technology Company providing cybersecurity, privacy, and IT
to collect accurate mileage data. services to federal and commercial clients.

15 Inc.
116 Inc. September
September2022
2022
 MONOGRAM 2017 ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA 323 1,765% 8
CEO: DJ Patel; monogram.io
A Jamstack digital agency helping clients build
well-designed, cutting-edge technologies.

CLOUDQNECT 2017 GLEN ALLEN, VIRGINIA 350 1,666% 19

CEO: David Cano; cloudqnect.com
Salesforce consulting partner focused on helping
clients maximize their investment.

IT ALLY 2017 MASON, OHIO 361 1,630% 2

CEO: Michael Fillios; itallyllc.com
Helps small and midsize businesses meet resource
and financial challenges.

• CLUTCH
CEO:
SOLUTIONS 2017 MESA, ARIZONA
Garrette Backie; clutchsolutions.com
414 1,476% 45

IT consulting firm combining talent, partners, and

products to provide turnkey solutions.

BLUVIUM 2016 SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA 420 1,465% 55

CEO: Nishit Rawat; bluvium.com
IT firm specializing in lead-to-cash processes for
subscription-based companies.

ITERO GROUP 2017 444 1,406% 115

NEW CUMBERLAND, PENNSYLVANIA
CEO: Erin McKenzie-Brahms; iterogroup.com
Women-owned small business helping clients become
more optimized, digitally enabled, and data-driven
organizations.

• 4TEKGEAR
CEO:
2016 FORT MILL, SOUTH CAROLINA
Michael Miller; 4tekgear.com
464 1,343% 7

The premier source for all of your technology needs

at deep discounts.
GUARDIAN LITIGATION GROUP 2018
• RESPONSIVE TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS
176 2,953% 41
2007 474 1,319% 69 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA
METTER, GEORGIA CEO: John Greenway; guardianlit.com
CEO: Steven McComas Multistate law firm specializing in employment, estate
responsivetechnologypartners.com planning, personal injury, and more.
Technology solutions provider offering managed
technology and security services to businesses. ALEXANDRA LOZANO IMMIGRATION LAW 247 2,155% 50
2014 TUKWILA, WASHINGTON
LUCIDIA IT 2018 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 482 1,287% 22 CEO: Alexandra Lozano; abogadaalexandra.com
CEO: Janet Stiller; lucidiait.com Humanitarian immigration law firm helping the
Engineering consulting company providing advanced undocumented gain legal status in the U.S.
IT solutions within a client’s infrastructure.

MANAGECORE 2016 FRANKLIN, WISCONSIN

CEO: Frank Powell; managecore.com
488 1,266% 47
LOGISTICS
& TRANSPORTATION
Provides SAP technical managed services, public
cloud solutions, and Basis-managed services.
Freight shipping, trucking, and other companies that move products
STACKNEXUS 2017 SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK 490 1,260% 227 and people, as well as brokers of those companies’ services and providers
CEO: Suman Akula; stacknexus.io of services to the industry.
Low-code/no-code digital solutions provider helping
Number of companies 20 | Total revenue $714.3M | Median revenue $22.2M |
enterprises transform and modernize their processes.
Median growth rate 2,754% | Total employment 1,982

APTINO 2018 IRVING, TEXAS 495 1,255% 15

CEO: Venky Ramasamy; aptino.com
Consulting firm providing recruitment, IT statement of
work, and managed direct sourcing.
CDL 1000 2018 LYONS, ILLINOIS 3 56,135% 200

• HUMANIT
CEO: Andrew Sobko; cdl1000.com
SOLUTIONS 2016 BEAVERCREEK, OHIO 498 1,249% 101 Provides a one-stop solution from port to door for
CEO:
Mark Human; humanit.us B2B clients.
Technology company providing services and
consulting across the IT spectrum. TRANSLOOP 2018 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 12 20,267% 55
CEO: Nicholas Reasoner; transloop.io
Technology-driven logistics company partnering
with prominent U.S. shippers and carriers.

LEGAL • STORD
CEO:
2015 ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Sean Henry, Jacob Boudreau; stord.com
57 6,247% 502

Firms that provide legal counsel and representation to clients. Connects businesses with supply chain needs,
including transportation, fulfillment, and integrated
Number of companies 3 | Total revenue $33.1M | Median revenue $4.3M |
software.
Median growth rate 2,953% | Total employment 106
3SIX5 LOGISTICS 2015 FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 59 6,093% 40
CEO: Steven Sandi; 365-logistics.net
Trucking company specializing in hauling dry and
refrigerated goods.
FORESTER HAYNIE 2017 DALLAS, TEXAS 172 2,984% 15
CEO: Matthew Haynie FLUID TRUCK 2016 DENVER, COLORADO 101 4,311% 271
foresterhaynie.com CEO: James Eberhard; fluidtruck.com
National law firm specializing in labor, personal injury, App-based 24/7 commercial vehicle rental platform
criminal defense, and more. serving businesses and individuals.

117
LOGISTICS
& TRANSPORTATION (CONT.)

EVE INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS 2017 102 4,306% 35

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
CEO: Aleksandar Ristovic; eveinternational.org
Logistics company offering full truckload (FTL), less-
than-truckload (LTL), container freight, and more.

PIECE OF CAKE MOVING 2018 104 4,174% 350

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
CEO: Vojin Popovic; mypieceofcakemove.com
Moving company offering long-distance moving,
flat-fee pricing, GPS tracking, and more.

AFC LOGISTICS 2016 OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS 133 3,465% 14

CEO: Steven Maly; afclogistics.com
Third-party logistics company with a nationwide
network providing flatbed transportation services to
medium and large manufacturers.

GLOBAL TRUCK PERMITS 2017 155 3,244% 5

LATHROP, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Rajinder Singh, Lakhvir Singh
globaltruckpermits.com
Provides compliance management and permit
services to transportation and logistics companies.

• FREIGHTPLUS
CEO:
1988 QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS
Stephen Aborn; freightplus.io
184 2,845% 37

Transportation management firm delivering data-

driven transportation solutions to midsize and growing
companies.
MANUFACTURING
• NUTRIFRESH HOLDINGS
EDISON, NEW JERSEY
2014 200 2,663% 128 Companies that make both intermediate and finished goods for
sale to businesses and consumers.
CEO: Guy Ironi; nutrifreshservices.com
Cold-chain logistics provider for perishable meal kits, Number of companies 8 | Total revenue $128.3M | Median revenue $12M |
groceries-in-a-box, and more. Median growth rate 1,616% | Total employment 215

BUYLOW WAREHOUSE 2017 228 2,334% 5

BRENTWOOD, TENNESSEE
CEO: Matthew Leavell; buylowwarehouse.com
Wholesale liquidation company facilitating sales and KGM TECHNOLOGIES 2012 27 12,970% 62
transportation of liquidated inventory. PEACHTREE CORNERS, GEORGIA
CEO: Richard Cope; kgm-tech.com
FLAVORCLOUD 2018 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 251 2,144% 40 Sound-suppressor company specializing in small-arms
CEO: Rathna Sharad; flavorcloud.com technology and weapon enhancements.
Shipping firm offering low-cost international shipping
with fast, fully tracked deliveries. STYLECRAFT 2018 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA 122 3,733% 26
CEO: Austin Russo, Kenneth Russo; stylecraftus.com
FOX LOGISTICS 1991 STARKE, FLORIDA 268 2,018% 24 Beauty and grooming tool company that focuses on
CEO: Matt Lawrence; foxlogistics.com quality, design, and innovation.
Asset-based freight brokerage company providing
ground, air, and ocean services. SOLVUS GLOBAL 2017 293 1,927% 39
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
FREIGHTPOP 2017 LAKE FOREST, CALIFORNIA 319 1,789% 31 CEO: Aaron Birt, Sean Kelly; solvusglobal.com
CEO: Kurt Johnson; freightpop.com Manufacturing technology firm specializing in additive
Logistics software company offering A.I. and single manufacturing, machine learning, and sustainable
login services for transportation management. materials.

SUMMIT LOGISTICS GROUP 2016 353 1,654% 27 ECOTECH 2016 SPANISH FORT, ALABAMA 345 1,677% 8
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA CEO: Stephen Ballard; ecotechamerica.com
CEO: Gary Sholar; slg-nc.com An industrial distributor of pumps, valves, mechanical
Third-party logistics company that offers customers seals, and automatic lubrication.
service, communication, and cost savings.
QUICKEN STEEL 2017 CLAXTON, GEORGIA 386 1,554% 40
• THE DINGMAN GROUP
DENVER, COLORADO
2007 404 1,499% 6 CEO: Jonathan Sherrill; quickensteel.com
Company that manufactures steel buildings, building
CEO: Christopher Dingman; dingmangroup.com components, and metal roofing.
Company facilitating relocation of professional sports
franchises, athletes, coaches, and support staff.
• CRG AUTOMATION
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
2000 387 1,550% 30
PORTAGE LOGISTICS 2017 429 1,432% 10
WAYZATA, MINNESOTA CEO: James DeSmet; crgautomation.com
CEO: Jeff Stewart, Jack Stewart; portagelogistics.us Robotics and engineering company helping customers
A transportation brokerage specializing in power-only solve industry challenges to improve products.
and multimode logistics.
AZNUT 2017 HIALEAH GARDENS, FLORIDA 427 1,440% 6
• RCGVick
CEO:
LOGISTICS 2005 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
Kuzmenko; rcgauto.com
448 1,385% 96 CEO: Samir Kazimov; bpwlab.com
Private-label manufacturer of nuts, dried fruits, and
Provides automotive shipping and logistics solutions dog treats.
for dealers, auctions, and financial institutions.
TEMPO CHEMICALS & SOLUTIONS 2017 493 1,256% 4
• EVOBOX
CEO:
2015 AMERICAN FORK, UTAH
Lisa Evenson; goevobox.com
479 1,307% 106 LAGUNA HILLS, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Brandon Bethke; tempochem.com
Shipping business to get your company moving in Chemical distributor specializing in raw materials for
the right direction. energy-efficient building materials.

15 Inc.
118 Inc. September
September2022
2022
MEDIA ORCHARD 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK
CEO: Court Cunningham; orchard.com
226 2,350% 617
Companies whose primary business is creating or distributing content Mortgage brokering software firm offering purchasers
in any kind of communications medium. a streamlined digital buying experience.
Number of companies 5 | Total revenue $48.9M | Median revenue $4.5M |
Median growth rate 1,501% | Total employment 105 72SOLD 2018 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA 260 2,065% 23
CEO: Greg Hague; 72sold.com
Home-seller featuring an auction-like process that
creates a competitive environment.

MORTGAGEONE 2012 CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 284 1,952% 80

THE NEWSETTE 2015 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 16 16,581% 25 CEO: Bryce Schetselaar; mortgageonehomeloans.com
CEO: Daniella Pierson; thenewsette.com Mortgage company aiming to provide loans tailored to
Media company featuring a daily e-newsletter every borrower’s situation.
empowering women through content and
connections. PADSPLIT 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 290 1,937% 125

• OCTILLION
CEO:
2010 BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA
Gabriel Greenberg; octillion.tech
68 5,793% 34
CEO: Atticus LeBlanc; padsplit.com
Shared-housing marketplace specializing in housing
designed for the workforce.
Media-buying software platform offering marketers
tools and analytics across multiple channels. IVUEIT 2016 WESTERVILLE, OHIO 302 1,885% 10
CEO: Mike Popadak; ivueit.com
OFFBEAT MEDIA GROUP 2018 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 403 1,501% 34 Visual verification platform providing real-time remote
CEO: Shep Ogden; offbeat.xyz insights for property managers.
Creator of media propelling branded virtual
influencers to reach the social-first generation.
SCGWEST DEVELOPMENT 2012 307 1,860% 9
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA
RAPTV 2017 MIAMI, FLORIDA 431 1,429% 10 CEO: Kyle Gorman, Brandon Lehman; scgwest.com
CEO: Daniel Snow; raptv.com
Real estate development firm offering turnkey
Media company offering news, original content, and solutions for corporate and commercial clients.
an outlet for record labels.

IZZARD INK PUBLISHING 2013 467 1,337% 2 SKYSTONE ACQUISITIONS 2018 324 1,759% 10
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
CEO: Jacob Naviaux; skystoneusa.com
CEO: Tim McConnehey; izzardink.com
Collaborative publisher connecting self-publishing Real estate brokerage acquiring and reselling
authors with publishing world experts. properties for clients’ investment needs.

HOMELIGHT 2012 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 351 1,663% 486

CEO: Drew Uher; homelight.com

REAL ESTATE Company whose technology enables all-cash offers,

finding top agents, and more.
Includes real estate developers and brokers and those providing services to
brokers, buyers, and sellers. Also includes real estate-related investment firms.
Number of companies 21 | Total revenue $1,211M | Median revenue $10.7M |
• OJOJohn
CEO:
LABS 2015 AUSTIN, TEXAS
Berkowitz; ojo.com
355 1,650% 696

Median growth rate 1,952% | Total employment 3,802 Real estate technology platform that helps with
buying, selling, and managing homes.

MORTY 2016 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 363 1,624% 55

CEO: Nora Apsel; morty.com
THELENDER 2018 LAKE FOREST, CALIFORNIA Company that lets customers shop, compare, and
11 20,489% 390
CEO: Cory Tona; thelender.com
close on mortgages, completely online.
Group of proven industry leaders helping prospective
homebuyers secure mortgages.

HQO 2018 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 75 5,291% 200

CEO: Chase Garbarino; hqo.com
Assists companies and commercial property teams in
creating modern workplaces.

•• SPARTAN INVESTMENT GROUP

GOLDEN, COLORADO
2015 128 3,539% 73

CEO: Scott Lewis; spartan-investors.com

Real estate firm offering turnkey property purchasing
and management services for investors.

RIBBON 2017 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 161 3,172% 215

CEO: Shaival Shah; ribbonhome.com
Real estate firm providing homebuyers with opportu-
nities to make cash-backed, non-contingent offers.

POINT DIGITAL FINANCE 2015 165 3,103% 155

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Eddie Lim; point.com
Home equity platform enabling homeowners to
access funds and eliminate debt.

DISRUPT EQUITY 2017 HOUSTON, TEXAS 174 2,975% 130

CEO: Feras Moussa, Ben Suttles; disruptequity.com
Real estate firm providing passive income opportuni-
ties through real estate syndications.

THE SUREFIRE GROUP 2014 179 2,919% 450

WYNNEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA
CEO: Joseph McCabe; thesurefiregroup.com
Invests in real estate, tech, and health care.

THE SAN DIEGO HOME BUYER 2017 192 2,749% 9

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Brian Daly; thesandiegohomebuyer.com
Real estate i-buying agency specializing in off-market
home purchases in San Diego.

119
REAL ESTATE (CONT.) PETALURA 2017 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
CEO: Allan Shiffrin; petalura.com
233 2,244% 31

Online retailer sourcing clothing, jewelry, and home

goods from around the world.
POST REAL ESTATE GROUP 2018 402 1,503% 8 IMAGE STUDIOS 2010 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 238 2,205% 12
CASTLE PINES, COLORADO CEO: Jason Olsen; imagestudios360.com
CEO: Jacqueline Post Ladha, Munira Virany Nationwide salon suite franchiser offering beauty
postrealestategroup.com entrepreneurs turnkey co-working spaces.
Firm focused on investment opportunities, asset and
property management, and development. BIOPTIMIZERS 2018 RENO, NEVADA 245 2,159% 76
CEO: Matt Gallant; bioptimizers.com
DASH CAROLINA 2012 RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 436 1,422% 25 Nutritional health supplements company focused
CEO: Quentin Dane; dashcarolina.com on brain performance and digestive health.
A residential real estate brokerage that also offers title
and insurance services. • ALABASTER
CEO:
CO 2016 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
Brian Chung, Bryan Ye-Chung; alabasterco.com
246 2,159% 7

•• ONICX GROUP 2004 TAMPA, FLORIDA 441 1,414% 36 Publishing company producing Bibles, books, and gift
•• Firm Dhvanit
CEO: Patel; onicx.com items for a Christian market.
offering development, construction, acquisi-
tion, management, investment, and capital markets • CAREWELL
CEO:
2017 CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
Bianca Padilla; carewell.com
248 2,154% 105
expertise.
Online retailer providing home health products for
family caregivers.

FERNISH 2017 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

RETAIL
250 2,144% 70
CEO: Michael Barlow; fernish.com
Direct-to-consumer rental service providing
Companies that sell products and services directly to consumers, either convenient, flexible home furnishings.
online or at brick-and-mortar stores.
Number of companies 28 | Total revenue $415M | Median revenue $8.9M | SARIS AND THINGS 2011 NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS 264 2,043% 10
Median growth rate 2,157% | Total employment 953 CEO: Shital Daftari; sntbiotech.com
Online retailer featuring Indian apparel and jewelry,
as well as Covid-19 medical supplies.

FARM HOUNDS 2015 SMYRNA, GEORGIA 273 2,005% 22

CEO: Jean Finney; farmhounds.com
HOMETHREADS 2017 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA 8 25,851% 19 Company making and selling dog treats and chews
CEO: Neil Marcus, Brad Bruckner; homethreads.com with ingredients sourced from family farms.
Online retailer offering quality home furnishings.
CADEN LANE 2005 BOERNE, TEXAS 279 1,974% 32
BALTIC BØRN 2016 AMERICAN FORK, UTAH 14 18,162% 94 CEO: Katy Mimari; cadenlane.com
CEO: Angela Liljenquist, Allison Hunt, Retailer offering premium products for new moms,
Marianne Liljenquist; balticborn.com newborns, and older children.
Online women’s apparel company specializing in attire
for special occasions. BIRDY GREY 2017 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 305 1,877% 28
CEO: Grace Lee; birdygrey.com
MARIE NICOLE CLOTHING 2017 23 14,106% 37 Direct-to-consumer company specializing in on-trend
GALLATIN, TENNESSEE bridesmaid dresses, gifts, and accessories.
CEO: Jane Zhu; marienicoleclothing.com
Children’s clothing company providing adorable, GRIDIRON TIRE 2016 LANGHORNE, PENNSYLVANIA 336 1,706% 2
affordable, and comfortable attire. CEO: Pete D’Amelio; gridirontire.com
Offers DIYers auto parts and tires with free shipping
HAPPY BOX 2015 HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY 53 6,620% 34 from suppliers nationwide.
CEO: Hannah Redmond, Ariel Redmond
happyboxstore.com BLAKELEY DESIGNS 2017 LEANDER, TEXAS 358 1,634% 7
Custom gifting platform allowing users to build their CEO: Blakeley Smart; blakeleydesigns.com
own care packages. Size-inclusive women’s clothing brand that wholesales
apparel to boutique retailers.
BIRD & CO. 2018 ADVANCE, NORTH CAROLINA 126 3,566% 29
CEO: Sara King, Tyler King; birdandcoboutique.com
GIVENLY 2015 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 378 1,582% 2
Women’s clothing and accessories company offering CEO: Mark Mancini; givenly.com
swimwear, graphic tops, shoes, and more. Corporate gifting platform centralizing and stream-
ZAPPS WHOLESALE 2017
lining incentive programs.
137 3,426% 15
SHELBY, NORTH CAROLINA
CEO: Anthony Zappitelli, Jamie Pocatko AVARA 2018 DALLAS, TEXAS 406 1,493% 25
zappswholesale.com CEO: Emily Wickard; shopavara.com
Wholesale liquidator that sells overstock and returns Retailer offering curated, online shopping for moms
from big-box retailers by the truckload. wanting trendy, affordable, age-appropriate pieces.

TIL VALHALLA PROJECT 2017 197 2,697% 57 CONQUERING 2001 MILFORD, OHIO 478 1,307% 11
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA CEO: Tammy Nelson; myconquering.com
CEO: Korey Shaffer; tilvalhallaproject.com Jewelry brand featuring interchangeable fidget pieces
Apparel company that supports service member to help people feel calm and focused.
memorials and veteran suicide prevention.
•• KATEKateQUINN
CEO:
2006 LYNNWOOD, WASHINGTON
Quinn; katequinn.com
481 1,294% 134
BAD BIRDIE 2017 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA 202 2,632% 16
CEO: Jason Richardson; badbirdiegolf.com
Online retailer of boutique-quality, stylish, and
Men’s and women’s golf apparel brand emphasizing affordable clothing for babies and families.
fashion, comfort, and performance.
GIT THE TRUCKING COMMERCIAL TIRES 485 1,276% 12
• POMCHIES
CEO:
2002 TEMPE, ARIZONA
Heather Clark; pomchies.com
229 2,295% 6
2016 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
CEO: Kamard Johnson; gttcommercial.tires
Tire store chain offering new and retread tires for
Fashion accessory maker featuring unique and custom commercial trucks.
color combinations.
IVY CITY CO. 2016 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 492 1,256% 25
FASHIONPASS 2016 GARDENA, CALIFORNIA 230 2,285% 35 CEO: Natasha Thomas, Madeline Hamilton
CEO: Brittany Avery; fashionpass.com ivycityco.com
Online retailer offering a subscription clothing and A women-owned and operated e-commerce apparel
accessories rental service for women. company with more than 20 sizes available.

15 Inc.
120 Inc. September
September2022
2022
 ANVIL SECURE 2017 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 303 1,880% 25
CEO: Chris Elbring; anvilsecure.com
Security consulting firm focusing on penetration test-
ing of tech systems.

• SOLKOA
CEO:
2005 COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Bart Combs; solkoasurvival.com
376 1,585% 77

Focuses on risk mitigation and personnel security for

at-risk travelers and organizations.

SOFTWARE
Companies that design, develop, manufacture, and market software
and software-related services for businesses or individuals.
Number of companies 54 | Total revenue $1,110.6M | Median revenue $8.2M |
Median growth rate 2,188% | Total employment 7,108

XEVANT 2017 LEHI, UTAH 28 11,853% 40

CEO: Brandon Newman; xevant.com
Pharmacy benefits platform streamlining data analysis
for health plans, brokers, and consultants.

• RATEFORCE
CEO:
2014 ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Randy Luton; rateforce.com
36 9,099% 16

Platform offering insurance quotes from top providers.

• EMERGE
CEO:
2017 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
Andrew Leto; emergemarket.com
37 8,953% 240

Transportation and logistics startup offering software

SECURITY for better freight visibility.

Companies that provide services related to surveillance systems, ONERAIL 2018 ORLANDO, FLORIDA 48 6,879% 93
risk management, physical security, and cybersecurity. CEO: Bill Catania; onerail.com
Number of companies 10 | Total revenue $154.3M | Median revenue $12.7M | Logistics operating system connecting shippers with
Median growth rate 2,638% | Total employment 1,492 modes of last-mile delivery.

• NEIGHBORLY SOFTWARE
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
2016 72 5,549% 51
CEO: Jason Rusnak; neighborlysoftware.com
Provides cloud-based software supporting housing
VANTA 2016 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 25 13,096% 158 and community development program administration.
CEO: Christina Cacioppo; vanta.com
Provides consumer data protection, automated
monitoring, and security compliance services. IDEAL AGENT 2016 TAMPA, FLORIDA 73 5,514% 101
CEO: Steve Johnston; idealagent.com
Real estate software platform that connects home
CASCADIA GLOBAL SECURITY 2018 54 6,608% 509 sellers with top agents.
RENTON, WASHINGTON
CEO: Rory O’Flaherty; cascadiaglobalsecurity.com
THEMATHCOMPANY 2016 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 77 5,245% 890
Security firm that provides guards, unmanned aerial
CEO: Sayandeb Banerjee; themathcompany.com
devices (UAVs), cameras, and more.
Analytics and engineering firm offering data
engineering and project delivery services.
ASIMILY 2017 SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA 170 3,005% 45
CEO: Shankar Somasundaram; asimily.com
Risk management platform providing security for • THREEKIT
CEO:
2018 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Matt Gorniak; threekit.com
80 5,150% 115
medical devices.
Visual commerce platform offering 3-D product con-

• SEMPERIS 2015 HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY 186 2,827% 200

figurations, lifelike photorealistic renders, and more.
CEO:
Mickey Bresman; semperis.com
Security technology firm protecting identities from • QUALSIGHTS
CEO:
2012 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Nihal Advani; qualsights.com
94 4,555% 66
cyberattacks, data breaches, and operational errors.
Consumer insights company offering A.I. tools and

•• YOURSIX
consumer observation and interaction services.
2015 ROSEVILLE, MINNESOTA 195 2,724% 64
CEO:Eric Styles; yoursix.com
Combines aspects of physical security to deliver • ACCELEVENTS
CEO:
2015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Jonathan Kazarian; accelevents.com
97 4,393% 119
singular operational service.
Events management platform offering engagement
tools, lead generation, community-building, and more.
FLOCK SAFETY 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 213 2,552% 343
CEO: Garrett Langley; flocksafety.com
Public safety operating system helping communities FOXBOX DIGITAL 2018 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 121 3,735% 105
and law enforcement work together. CEO: Rob Volk; foxbox.com
Digital product agency partnering with clients from
SHRED AMERICA 2016
design through delivery.
217 2,506% 60
FORT MILL, SOUTH CAROLINA
CEO: Ryan Richard; shredamerica.com TRENDSPIDER 2017 DEERFIELD, ILLINOIS 130 3,514% 27
A shredding service provider offering hard drive CEO: Dan Ushman; trendspider.com
destruction, data security, and more. Retail investor trading platform offering a suite of
automation and analysis tools.
• ICU TECHNOLOGIES
ROSEVILLE, CALIFORNIA
2010 265 2,029% 11
SOMA GLOBAL 2017 TAMPA, FLORIDA 141 3,382% 57
CEO: Tommy Smith; icu-techinc.com CEO: Peter Quintas; somaglobal.com
Security firm providing public safety solutions to K-12 Software firm delivering cloud-based public safety
schools and government agencies. platform focused on saving lives.

121
SOFTWARE (CONT.)
POINT PICKUP 2015 STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT 143 3,363% 210
CEO: Tom Fiorita; pointpickup.com
An e-commerce platform empowering enterprises
with end-to-end fulfillment solutions.

MEDEFY 2013 TULSA, OKLAHOMA 146 3,338% 34

CEO: Matthew Scovil; medefy.com
Mobile application firm guiding employees to navigate
their employers’ health plans.

SMARTLIGHT ANALYTICS 2015 PLANO, TEXAS 148 3,317% 12

CEO: Asha George; smartlightanalytics.com
Analytics company using statistics and clinical
expertise to manage health plan costs.

365LABS 2016 BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA 154 3,247% 35

CEO: Mohit Vij; 365labs.com
Software company modernizing systems for first
responders and public safety agencies.

FAIRMARKIT 2017 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 159 3,202% 105

CEO: Kevin Frechette; fairmarkit.com
Software firm equipping procurement and supply
chain teams with automation and data.

EXYN TECHNOLOGIES 2014 177 2,937% 67

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
CEO: Nader Elm; exyn.com
Provides autonomous aerial robot systems for
complex, GPS-denied environments.

EBLU SOLUTIONS 2012 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY 189 2,769% 84 BITWERX 2011 LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY 274 1,993% 36
CEO: Mark Murphy; eblusolutions.com CEO: Jason Jaggers; bitwerx.com
Software platform providing prior authorization and Data-driven software firm specializing in the
benefits verification for specialty medications. veterinary and dental markets.

POLYGON.IO 2016 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 199 2,681% 20 SOCIALBOOK 2018 FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA 286 1,946% 30
CEO: Quinton Pike; polygon.io CEO: Heidi Yu; socialbook.io
Software platform providing developers with historical Software-as-a-service company helping creators
and real-time market data. grow and make money.
GETIDA 2016 TEANECK, NEW JERSEY 215 2,525% 95
CEO: Eytan Wiener; getida.com
UNITE US 2013 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 294 1,926% 926
CEO: Daniel Brillman; uniteus.com
Develops auditing tools for third-party Amazon sellers,
monitoring processes in real time. Technology company helping health and social care
providers better serve at-risk populations.
• FOXJuan
CEO:
ORDERING 2014 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA
Pico; foxordering.com
218 2,481% 25
LEXTEGRITY 2017 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 295 1,920% 35
Software developer improving the restaurant ordering CEO: Parth Chanda; lextegrity.com
experience for customers, owners, and staff. Software company specializing in risk management to
monitor, spend, and automate diligence.
APPTEGA 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 234 2,237% 28
CEO: Armistead Whitney; apptega.com BOOSTLINGO 2016 AUSTIN, TEXAS 312 1,821% 53
Software firm helping companies build, manage, and CEO: Bryan Forrester; boostlingo.com
report cybersecurity and compliance programs. Software firm specializing in interpretation
communications and interpretation business
SEEKOUT 2017 BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON 236 2,231% 140 management technology.
CEO: Anoop Gupta; seekout.com
Software firm providing A.I.-powered talent platform BLANKFACTOR 2018 MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 330 1,731% 200
to help businesses grow internal talent. CEO: Michael Wear; blankfactor.com
Provides digital services including software, app
ORDWAY 2018 WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 237 2,229% 51 development, cloud DevOps, UI/UX, and more.
CEO: Sameer Gulati; ordwaylabs.com
Billing and revenue automation platform designed for •• QLOO
CEO:
2013 NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Alex Elias; qloo.com
360 1,632% 48
today’s business models.
Software company enabling taste predictions across
AIMPOINT DIGITAL 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 242 2,191% 48 categories: music, film, dining, and more.
CEO: William Miller; aimpointdigital.com
Software firm advising clients about data so they can MEMBERHUB 2016 RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 375 1,586% 22
become analytics-driven organizations. CEO: Will Bowen; memberhub.com
Software company enabling K-12 educational groups
SOURCEGRAPH 2013 244 2,185% 248 to raise money and engage with supporters.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Quinn Slack; sourcegraph.com
Improves productivity of developers by enabling them • LINKSQUARES
CEO:
2015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Vishal Sunak; linksquares.com
379 1,582% 189
to quickly and better understand code. Contract management software firm helping legal
teams draft, review, and execute agreements.
AUDIGENT 2015 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 249 2,153% 56
CEO: Drew Stein; audigent.com
A data activation, curation, and management platform
•• MYTONOMY
CEO:
2011 BETHESDA, MARYLAND
Anjali Kataria; mytonomy.com
396 1,518% 35
serving publishers and advertisers. Software company producing health care content to
remotely educate and engage patients.
AUTOBOOKS 2015 DETROIT, MICHIGAN 258 2,087% 119
CEO: Steve Robert; autobooks.co
Payments and accounting platform supporting
• LEAFLINK
CEO:
2015 NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Ryan G. Smith; leaflink.com
408 1,490% 249
business delivered through online banking. A unified B2B platform for the legal cannabis industry.

122 Inc. September 2022

• ARKOSE
CEO:
LABS 2016 SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA
Kevin Gosschalk; arkoselabs.com
412 1,480% 200
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Software company offering its A.I.-powered platform Companies that transmit voice, video, or data services on a mass scale,
to protect consumers from fraud activity. and companies that sell services primarily to telecom firms.

• USCREEN
CEO:
2015 NORTH BETHESDA, MARYLAND
PJ Taei; uscreen.tv
423 1,451% 125
Number of companies 1 | Total revenue $7.8M | Median revenue $7.8M |
Median growth rate 1,278% | Total employment 19
Offers a platform helping creators and businesses
monetize their videos online.

• LOCUS ROBOTICS 2015

WILMINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
424 1,450% 282
• XTREMELTE 2014 WELLSBORO, PENNSYLVANIA 484 1,278% 19
CEO: Rick Faulk; locusrobotics.com CEO:
David Tews; xtremelte.com
Creator of a robotics-enabled execution platform for Distributes and supports Ericsson wireless equipment
fulfillment warehouses. providing internet access to remote communities.

• KENNECTED
CEO:
2017 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Devin Johnson; kennected.io
438 1,420% 143

Software company using LinkedIn automation to

provide lead generation, automation, and education.
TAPCART 2017 SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Eric Netsch; tapcart.com
A mobile commerce platform that enables Shopify-
powered brands to launch mobile apps.
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY
Travel agencies, tour operators, and other companies that help plan
439 1,416% 105 travel and provide vacation-related services, or operate leisure destinations.
Number of companies 4 | Total revenue $60M | Median revenue $12M |
Median growth rate 2,554% | Total employment 415

• KEYLENT
CEO:
2010 WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
Ravi Mudunuri; keylent.com
455 1,369% 160

Software company providing staffing for North

America and the Asian Pacific. HARVEST HOSTS 2010 VAIL, COLORADO 70 5,697% 40
CEO: Joel Holland; harvesthosts.com
THINKNIMBLE 2017 459 1,357% 37 Membership club for RVers offering unique overnight
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA stays at more than 5,800 locations.
CEO: Neil Shah; thinknimble.com
Software agency focused on early-stage startups and THE NIGHTFALL GROUP 2018 123 3,698% 42
socially focused businesses. BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA
CEO: Mokhtar Jabli; nightfallgroup.com
GOODUNITED 2014 CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 460 1,355% 73 Hospitality company providing concierge services and
CEO: Nick Black; goodunited.io rentals to high-net-worth individuals and businesses.
Deploys data science and human judgment to democ-
ratize the nonprofit supporter experience.
SEXTANT STAYS 2014 MIAMI, FLORIDA 442 1,410% 235
CEO: Andreas King-Geovanis; sextantstays.com
OCTANE LENDING 2014 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 462 1,351% 472 Hospitality brand combining hotels and vacation
CEO: Jason Guss; octane.co rentals for an improved customer experience.
Innovative credit solutions provider.

NEXHEALTH 2017 SAN FRANCSICO, CALIFORNIA 473 1,320% 150

CAMPSPOT 2015 GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 487 1,266% 98
CEO: Michael Scheinman; campspot.com
CEO: Alamin Uddin; nexhealth.com
Health care data software platform facilitating safe, Booking company providing research and online
secure, and efficient data sharing. reservations for the U.S. camping industry.

• OPENREEL
CEO:
2016 NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Lee Firestone; openreel.com
489 1,266% 55

Remote video creation platform helping enterprises

produce studio-quality video at scale.

LOST BOYS INTERACTIVE 2017 494 1,255% 177

MADISON, WISCONSIN
CEO: Shaun Nivens; lostboysinteractive.com
Game development company creating titles for the
PC and console video game market, using the latest
technology and tools.

LET’S TALK INTERACTIVE 2001 496 1,252% 9

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
CEO: Arthur Cooksey; letstalkinteractive.com
Technology solutions provider specializing in custom
telemedicine solutions to improve access.

SPORTS
Companies that specialize in providing products or services to consumers and
companies within the athletic and sporting industries.
Number of companies 2 | Total revenue $60.2M | Median revenue $30.1M |
Median growth rate 5,080% | Total employment 74

PRIZEPICKS 2017 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 66 5,836% 70

CEO: Adam Wexler; prizepicks.com
Daily fantasy sports platform serving more than
600,000 members.

PERFORMANCE GOLF 2016 100 4,323% 4

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
CEO: Brixton Albert; performancegolf.com
Online publishing platform specializing in golf and
golf training.

123
 N O.
222 MARC NOLAN
I
n 2005, Sebastian Malczewski stumbled on
a mom-and-pop men’s shoe store in the old
industrial neighborhood of Greenpoint,
Brooklyn. Stunned by the merchandise—
“showstoppers,” he says, “with a bolder vibe”
that spoke to the lifelong love of fashion
instilled in him by his grandmother—he got to
talking with the owner, Marc Wilczewski, like
him a Polish immigrant. A mentorship of sorts
followed. Malczewski worked for Wilczewski
for the next 12 years, absorbing all he could
about running a small business, from day-to-
day operations to finding the best manufactur-
ers in China. In 2018, eager to parlay those skills
into an e-commerce business, Malczewski set
up in Chicago and founded men’s footwear
brand Marc Nolan, named for his mentor and
his infant son. He was the sole employee.
Malczewski usually lets his gut guide inven-
tory decisions. Before the pandemic hit, he had
already eliminated most of his dress shoes in
favor of footwear with flexible outsoles, and he
doubled down on that bet during lockdown,
sensing homebound consumers would want
dressy sneakers. But even his intuition couldn’t
prepare him for the success of the Aiden, a
124
C E O : S E BAS TI A N
M A LC Z E WS K I
AS C O N S U M E R S
K I S S E D O F F I C E AT TI R E
G O O D BYE , TH I S
C H I CAG O -AR E A MAVE N
O F C O LO R F U L FO OT WE AR
G AI N E D A LE G U P
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E
G R OW TH : 2 , 3 9 0 %
$160 combat boot that Malczewski says drew
from the fluid lines of Michael Jordan’s Air
Jordan 11s. It debuted in September 2020. “The
design has enough eye candy to make it inter-
esting, but not overpowering,” he says.
The problem was, customers started com-
plaining that laces were breaking and eyelets
tended to pop out. Malczewski used the feed-
back to up the boot’s quality, adding memory
foam insoles and sturdier laces and eyelets.
As pandemic restrictions began to lift, buzz
picked up and Malczewski started having
trouble keeping the Aiden in stock—which
became impossible after November 2021,
when all six members of the R&B group New
Edition wore the Aiden during their televised
performance at the American Music Awards.
Sales of the boot jumped from 614 pairs a
month to 1,032, and Malczewski was on the
phone with his manufacturers in China every
night checking on shipments. “The perfor-
mance just added fuel to a fire,” he says. The
boot accounted for 14 percent of sales in 2021,
driving revenue for the nine-person company
to $5.1 million. Call it the payoff for designing
a showstopper shoe. —jill krasny
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUCY HEWET T
 HIGH KICKS
Sebastian
Malczewski says his
best-selling
Aiden boot (left
foreground) is an
homage to the
iconic Air Jordan 11
and its namesake.
 FOUND IN
TRANSLATION
Mohamed Hussein
turned a knack for
languages into a
booming business.

126
 461
N O.
PIEDMONT GLOBAL L ANGUAGE SOLUTIONS
CATE G O RY: B U S I N E S S PR O D U C T S & S E RV I C E S
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH : 1 , 3 5 3 %
As a first-generation Somali American and
the oldest of eight kids who grew up in
a packed household in Northern Virginia,
Mohamed Hussein, 32, has been honing
his skills as an interpreter and an entrepre-
neur since childhood. He and his siblings
would respond in English to his parents’
Somali, and he was always running a
hustle to earn pocket money. In his early
20s, he taught English and facilitated occa-
sional livestock deals in Saudi Arabia, after
which, in 2013, he founded PGLS (Piedmont
Global Language Solutions), in Arlington,
Virginia. The company, which recorded
nearly $32.5 million in 2021 revenue, has
57 employees and provides translation,
interpretation, and related services for
those speaking more than 200 languages in
18 countries; it’s a $60.5 billion industry.
And to think that he almost became a
doctor. —AS TOLD TO BEN SHERRY
I’ve always had that entrepreneurial mind-
set. I was the kid selling candy out of his
locker and flipping cars before I could
drive. I graduated from high school two
years early, and started college before I was
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG K AHN
• CEO: MOHAMED HUSSEIN
16. I planned to go to med school, but
decided to go to Yemen after my freshman
year to study Arabic for a year. I ended up
spending about five years in Saudi Arabia,
studying Arabic, along with religion and
philosophy, at a university there. That’s
where I became aware of language ser-
vices as an industry—and a path for me.
I needed a job, so I started teaching
English on the side. The elite schools in
Saudi Arabia were spending a lot of money
on English teachers. Eventually, I started
a private tutoring business and began trav-
eling around the country to teach English.
That was when I started really making
money—around $30 an hour.
Once I began making contacts in the
language industry, I started getting offers
to work on all types of projects, like book
and website translations. I also worked
with some major cattle importers in Saudi
Arabia to help broker deals for sacrificial
sheep and goats between the importers and
the travel agencies representing American
Muslims making the pilgrimage to Mecca.
When I got back to the States in 2013, I
was sure I didn’t want to be a doctor. I had
just gotten married and was finally finish-
ing up my degree, and also running an
e-commerce platforming company, flip-
ping real estate, consulting, and day trad-
ing. But I kept translating on the side. A
friend told me about some contract work
translating and interpreting Somali and
Arabic, and that’s how I originally founded
the company—as an LLC for this side gig.
It wasn’t until two years later that I
thought, “There’s something here. Let me
double down and see what happens.” It
was then that the business really began to
scale. I divested from most of my other
commitments so I could focus entirely on
growing PGLS. I’d been hiring contractors
to handle translation work in languages I
wasn’t familiar with, and now I was able to
hire my first actual employee.
Refocusing my efforts paid off immedi-
ately: In 2015, we jumped from making
$34,000 to half a million dollars. It made
sense to initially focus on winning govern-
ment contracts because of our location, and
we had steady growth from 2016 up until
2020. The pandemic was definitely a chal-
lenge, but we also won some big federal
contracts and acquired a local language
training company, resulting in 2021 being
our best year ever, by far.
Our mission is to help organizations
thrive in a global, multilanguage environ-
ment, so we work on everything from
marketing materials to training manuals
and website copy, but we also help govern-
ment agencies translate foreign documents
and provide linguists. Knowing whom to
assign to a specific project is key, because
they need to understand the context. If
we’re working for a health care company,
the translator needs to understand the
terminology as well as the language. Find-
ing that mix of language mastery and
knowledge of the subject matter is what
makes our people so impressive.
I’m still keeping myself busy with side
hustles, but mostly as a minority share-
holder. At the same time, I’m trying to
expand my own language knowledge. I’m
fluent in English, Arabic, and Somali, but
I’d like to have at least five languages in my
back pocket, so I’m working on improving
my high school Spanish and learning
American Sign Language, which I think
will be a major focus for us going forward.
I know from experience that being able to
talk directly with a client can go a long way
in strengthening relationships.
September 2022 Inc. 127
 N O.
481
K ATE Q U I N N • C E O : K ATE Q U I N N
CATE G O RY: R E TA I L
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH : 1 , 2 9 4 %
More than a decade after founding her
eponymous children’s clothing brand, Kate
Quinn was still struggling to make a name
for herself in the world of fashion. So, in
2018, she did what many in the sector have
done of late and placed a bet on direct-to-
consumer. Pivoting to a strategy that cut
out the middleman turned her Seattle-
based company into a cult brand, thanks
in part to moms’ penchant for sharing cute
pics on social media. Quinn’s prints of
jungle animals and botanicals on every-
thing from onesies to quilts are in such
high demand that some products fetch
many times the retail price on mom-run
secondary markets. Now, the company
faces a fun new challenge: How do you
acquire new customers when brand loyal-
ists snap up your products as soon as they
drop? —AS TOLD TO GRAHAM WINFREY
I went to the Fashion Institute of Design
& Merchandising in Los Angeles wanting
to start my own company, but I didn’t
graduate. It was really expensive, so I
went for a year and chose classes I
thought would serve me in running my
own business. One of the things I learned
at FIDM is that baby clothes are much
less sensitive to the economy than
women’s stuff. People are always buying
baby gifts, even when the economy takes
a turn. That set me on a hunt worldwide
for manufacturers.
I ended up finding some family-
owned factories in India, and in 2006 I
started selling organic cotton baby
128
clothes on Craigslist. Seattle Magazine
did a little write-up on me and it got me
more attention than I thought possible,
so I went from Craigslist to specialty
boutiques pretty quickly. The designs
aren’t typically based on trends. I get a
lot of inspiration from interior design.
It’s often nature-based, and maximalist
for sure. We do a ton of prints.
I had international distribution and
was selling to Nordstrom and Target and
on Zulily, but as a brand we never really
broke through. We’d have a good year and
then a supplier wouldn’t ship. And if you
don’t ship a fall collection on time and
everybody cancels, it’s probably 40 per-
cent of your year. There were tons of
cancellations and tons of late shipments.
Another huge issue was not receiving our
samples in time, so then we couldn’t
presell or take them to the trade shows.
It was just one thing after another.
For the first dozen years, we really
struggled. Wholesale represented 70
percent of our revenue, but I was just
done with all of the extra costs, risks, and
challenges that came with being an and they’d sell it for $22. We took that
omnichannel brand. I’d do four big col- wholesale margin and just gave that back
lections a year, so you’re making four big to the consumer. We put the fall 2018
bets, and I didn’t even know if any would collection online, and it sold more in the
sell through at the retailer. On top of that, first couple of days than it would have
I was disconnected from the customer from the entire wholesale practice.
because it was all about the retailer. On October 3, 2019, the site did $90,000
So, in 2018, I decided to get rid of the in sales out of nowhere. It had been aver-
wholesale business entirely and sell only aging $10,000 to $20,000 a day up until
on our website. Until that point, we that point. We think what happened is one
would sell a bodysuit for $11 to a retailer of our creatives on Instagram caught the

eye of somebody with a lot of followers
and basically got a whole bunch of people
coming to the site. We had about 20,000
Instagram followers at the time. Today we
have more than 430,000.
Instead of doing four collections a year,
we now do 50 to 70. Each collection has
hundreds of items, and is its own purchase
order—and its own little bet. So instead of
making four big deposits, we make 50
little bets, and we can take more chances.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHONA K ASINGER
We can be more creative.
Today, we employ a flash-sale model.
When we announce a collection on Face-
book, there could be 1,500 comments.
The majority of those are one mom tag-
ging another. We get virtually all of our
awareness online through Facebook and
Instagram. Our customers are very
social. Parents love showing off pictures
of their babies. That’s just kind of part of
what you do as a parent.
PRINTING MONEY
Kate Quinn cut out
the middleman, and
now customers
can’t get enough.
If anything, our challenge right now is
how to acquire new customers when our
current customers are gobbling up all the
inventory. A lot of it sells out within the
first hour, so we still struggle with predict-
ing and forecasting. Being entirely boot-
strapped has also been hard. If we were to
take on an investment partner in the future,
they would have to support us in doing
what we do best. For now, we’re going to
stay obsessed with our customer.
September 2022 Inc. 129
 297
N O.
F E LTM A N ’ S O F C O N E Y I S L A N D
CATE G O RY: FO O D & B E V E R AG E S
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH : 1 , 9 0 9 %
Mike, Jimmy, and Joe Quinn spent their
childhood summers on the boardwalk of
Coney Island in Brooklyn, where their
grandfather, then in his 80s, would start
to eat a hot dog and then spit it out and
complain, “This isn’t how Feltman used to
make it.” Charles Feltman, a German
immigrant who started with a pie cart on
Coney Island, had invented the hot dog
back in 1867, and the brothers longed to
revive the brand to honor that legacy—and
their grandfather. Decades later, the
resulting company, Feltman’s of Coney
Island, would go head-to-head with one of
the giants of the $19 billion U.S. hot dog
and sausage market. But with Joe, 42, at
the helm and $3.1 million in 2021 revenue,
Feltman’s has more than held its own—on
the streets of New York City and well
beyond. —AS TOLD TO TOM FOSTER
My brothers and I grew up hearing about
Charles Feltman, who’d put a frankfurter
into an elongated bun and invented the hot
dog. And how it changed everything. Back
then, people wore fancy bathing suits and
ate with silverware and plates on the
beach. But the hot dog, you could hold it in
your hand; it became the quintessential
130
• CEO: JOE QUINN
New York City food.
Over the next few decades, Feltman had
turned his pie cart into the world’s largest
restaurant, at 1000 Surf Avenue, right on
the beach—with 18 grilling stations. It was
the place to be. But then, in 1916, a bun
slicer who’d worked at Feltman’s named
Nathan Handwerker started a competing
stand across the street, selling his hot dogs
for 5¢, undercutting Feltman, who sold his
for a dime. His place would go on to
become Nathan’s Famous, while Feltman’s
eventually faded away. It closed in 1954.
That story resonated with my older
brother, Michael, and my middle brother,
Jimmy, and they came up with a plan to
start a business when we grew up and bring
Feltman’s back to glory. Jimmy wanted to
make a couple of bucks first, so he went to
Wall Street right out of college. He was a
year and a half into the job when he was
killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11—
he was 23 years old.
Jimmy was the businessman in the fam-
ily. I was more of the athlete. Mike was
more of the creative type. So the Feltman’s
dream kind of died that day. I was a senior
at West Point, and I went on to do two tours
in Iraq and a tour in Afghanistan.
 One day in 2015, Mike and I were sitting
at McSorley’s Old Ale House, a classic New
York dive, and it might have been the beer
talking, but I said, “Why don’t we revive
the Feltman’s idea?” And suddenly we
couldn’t stop talking about it. The bar-
tender, Scott, looked us in the eyes and said,
“You know how many drunken Irish guys
come to this bar and tell us their hopes and
dreams and never follow through?” That
angered me so much that I stayed up all
night and made a website. My brother was
like, “Oh! Jojo is kind of serious about this!”
Nobody owned the brand—it had just
been lost to the sands of time. We dug into
the archives at the Brooklyn Public Library
and at Columbia University, to read all
these articles about how Feltman’s had
done it back in the day.
We use a natural lamb casing, which
gives our hot dogs that perfect snap that
they used to have. We also actually smoke
our hot dogs instead of using liquid smoke
to get that flavor. And we have more of an
old-world, delicate spice blend compared
with most dogs, which just get pounded in
garlic. We’re able to compete with Nathan’s
because our product is all natural.
We started in 2015 with a kitchen win-
dow in the East Village in Manhattan,
feeding people who’d been out drinking
and whatnot. Someone from Gothamist
visited and published a story that called us
New York City’s best hot dog. At that point,
we weren’t even buying our buns whole-
sale—it was costing us more to make a hot
dog than we got selling one. And suddenly
there was a line around the block.
Most people think a hot dog’s a hot dog.
But I love watching people bite into ours
for the first time: “Oh, my goodness!”
People started asking us if they could
buy packs of our hot dogs, so we pivoted
to a retail strategy. Today we’re in 1,200
Publix stores, 330 Whole Foods stores, and
a bunch of others. And we’re on the menu
at McSorley’s; it was the first menu change
the bar had made in 63 years.
When I tell people I sell hot dogs, 99.9
percent of the time they laugh. Then I get
into the details of cold storage and cold
distribution and a 60-day shelf life and the
logistical complexity.
WONDER WIENER Feltman’s is an incredible entrepre-
Joe Quinn in
Coney Island,
neurial story—an immigrant with a single
where the hot dog pie cart who transformed the restaurant
was invented. business and then lost to the commodity
hustle. We want to bring it full circle.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY LOMBARD September 2022 Inc. 131

 N O.
225 B E A R WA LK E R CEO: BEAR
WA LK E R
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
2,357%

A N
M
R
T E
R EA
C
TO

I
N
O
TI
C
N
FU
D
N
KS

A
A
M E C
R D
FO RD
Y A
RR BO
A E
M AT

H
ER SK
RK L
O NA
W I
D
O RIG
his technique during many an all-nighter after
O O working his various day jobs—the more elabo-
W Y

C
- L rate the grip became.
I ST OL His colorful, fanciful boards began attracting
RT WH attention—and business. Walker moved to
A
N Fairhope, Alabama, to work out of a small,
A
F open-air barn, and later secured a $25,000 loan
O
S from an investor he’d been pestering for a year.
N
G In 2016, he launched Kodiak Boards, which got
E SI buzz for its pop-culture-themed products. But
D
E it was the board based on the hit TV show The
TH Flash, which Walker shared on Instagram, that
put his business, newly rebranded in his name,
on the map. Actor Grant Gustin, star of the
show, commented, and Walker made him two
boards. A sold-out collaboration with Gustin
followed. “It was something unique to the

G
rowing up on his builder father’s con-
struction sites in Hilton Head, South
Carolina, Bear Walker knew he wanted
to work with his hands. His parents urged him
to avoid manual labor, so he studied graphic
design and print, but found the recession-era
job market less than welcoming when he
graduated in 2011. He worked a stint designing
book covers for Amazon and another at an
outfit where he carved signs out of unfinished
wood. “Every day, my hands were getting so
torn up,” he says. And that gave him an idea.
Walker had gotten into skateboarding at
college, and he realized that a carved design
in rough wood could make for great traction,
not unlike skateboard grip tape. “I wanted to
make art, but have it translate to something
real,” says Walker.
After building his first skateboard by hand
in 2012, he learned to use a laser cutting
machine, carving line art into the surface of the
wood to create grip. His early attempts resem-
bled tire tread more than fine art. But the more
Walker learned from his mistakes—and refined
market,” Walker says of the handcrafted, hand-
painted boards made from nine-ply Canadian
sugar maple.
The boards, which sell for $200 to $275 and
have featured collections from Marvel, Poké-
mon, and the Grateful Dead, arrived just as
comic book culture and collectible boards
were gaining momentum. The company has
tripled in size each year since 2018. “I think it’s
the most functional art that has ever been on
a skateboard,” Walker says. “What creates the
grip is what creates the art.” —jill krasny

132 PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAT THEW COUGHLIN

 RAMP TRICK
A surfer turned
skateboarder,
Bear Walker
taught himself
the art of
etching treads
into wood. Next
up: handmade
electric guitars.

Phil Dumontet
DASHED: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
WHOLE SOL BLEND BAR: 2022
Phil Dumontet started Dashed right
after he graduated from Boston
College in 2009. It was a few years
before on-demand delivery would
become ubiquitous, and the idea of
food from all kinds of restaurants
showing up at your front door—fast—
was a novelty in most cities. “From
day one,” he recalls, “we said we
needed to deliver faster than anyone
else.” The Boston-based company
expanded to nine cities and had
amassed an army of 2,000 drivers
before Dumontet sold it to Grubhub
in 2017 for an undisclosed sum. ● But
he wasn’t done. The following year,
Dumontet and his nutritionist wife,
Alexa Squillaro, founded Whole Sol
Blend Bar, a Denver-based chain of
smoothie-bowl restaurants. ● Today,
Dumontet thinks often about the most
important lesson from his experi-
ence with Dashed: “Do less to achieve
more.” While the focus at Dashed was
delivery in 45 minutes or less, Whole
Sol is optimizing the nutrition and
flavor profile of its principal menu
items. ● “Just having one core com-
petency to excel in was a difference
maker for Dashed,” Dumontet says.
“Whole Sol is obviously a very differ-
ent company, but from day one we’ve
said we will offer the world’s best
smoothie bowl.” —Tom Foster

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT.

TWICE.
OR MORE.
Making the Inc. 5000 is the achievement of a lifetime.
Do it more than once, and you can put a
crown on that achievement. Here’s how eight founders
managed to start multiple winning companies.

134
 When Phil
Dumontet and
his wife, Alexa
Squillaro, started
Whole Sol Blend
Bar, they dusted
off a key business
lesson from earlier
days: Get one
thing really right.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHANIE BASSOS September 2022 Inc. 135

 After reinventing
voice mail, Scott
Jones retired
at age 32. But the
entrepreneur just
couldn’t quit.

“Business is
more personal
and humane to
me; I’ve got a team
that I like to say
is welcome in my
lifeboat,” says serial
founder Iris Derke
(opposite, top).

Law Payne
(opposite, bottom)
couldn’t stomach
sending his cus-
tomers elsewhere,
so he built another
business to cater
136 to them.
Scott Jones
BOSTON TECHNOLOGY: 2010, 2011, 2012
CHACHA: 2011

“I was in my mid-20s when I set out to

revolutionize voice mail. It was 1986, and I’d
just come out of the MIT Computer Science
and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory as a
research scientist. There were probably three
dozen voice mail companies when we started
ours. But what I invented became how most
of the world would go on to use voice mail.
● I retired in 1992 at age 32—then vowed to

never retire again. While I had companies in

between, my next game-changing idea took
more than a decade to conceive. I got the idea
for ChaCha, a human-guided search engine,
when I picked up a book about search. It
Iris Derke drastically. Now the words
DCINY: 2012, 2015, 2016, that keep us going forward are
triggered me. At the time, with smartphones,
2017, 2019 ‘honesty,’ ‘transparency,’ ‘humor,’
you could have a wreck on the highway trying
ARTIST TRAVEL CONSULTANTS: ‘understanding,’ and ‘joy.’ ”
to Google something; it was so hard to sift
2016, 2017, 2018 —As told to T.F. by Iris Derke,
through results. I wondered, ‘What if I could
who in 2007 co-founded the
put a bunch of A.I. into search?’ ● I thought
“I hear ‘serial founder,’ and in New York City-based DCINY, a
it was groundbreaking; the world seemed to
my head it goes to ‘serial crazy classical-music concert produc-
agree. We raised $82 million. Still, in 2015,
person’ who just keeps doing this tion company. In 2010, she spun
the company ran out of money. I came to
over and over. It’s especially crazy out Artist Travel Consultants,
realize that the timing for great ideas matters.
now. Pre-pandemic, the culture also based in NYC, to book musi-
ChaCha is still a broadly popular idea, but it
and values that helped us build cians’ trips. Though both the
was a decade ahead of its time.”
and grow quickly were embodied concert and travel industries were
—As told to Nina Lawrence by Scott Jones,
by words like ‘passion’ and ‘hard decimated by the pandemic, Derke
who co-founded Marlborough, Massachusetts-
work.’ But that list has changed says recovery is under way.
based Boston Technology in 1986; in 2005, in
Carmel, Indiana, he founded ChaCha, which
became the early framework for Siri and Alexa.

Law Payne
HARDBODY COACHING: 2021, 2022
HARDBODY SUPPLEMENTS: 2021, 2022

“We started with our coaching business and built a huge, cult-
like group that would literally do or buy anything we recom-
mended. We started the supplement business mainly so we
could stop referring our coaching clients to other supplement
brands; we didn’t trust what was in their products. Now we
know what is really in the products we’re recommending to
them. Our obsession is not with growing our businesses—it’s
with helping our clients.”
—As told to Rebecca Deczynski by Law Payne, who with his wife,
Patricia, co-founded Hardbody Coaching in 2014 and Hardbody
Supplements in 2016. Both are based in Overland Park, Kansas.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY L AWRENCE AGYEI (OPPOSITE); IOULE X (TOP); BARRET T EMKE (BOT TOM) September 2022 Inc. 137

Leonora Valvo
GLOBAL EXECUTIVE: 2007
ETOUCHES: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,
2016, 2017
SWOOGO: 2020, 2021, 2022
The collapse of the World Trade Center
on 9/11 changed it all for Leonora
Valvo. Suddenly, commissions for the
then New York City-based travel and
events business she’d built were as
grounded as the airlines. What’s more,
she says, “all of our utilities were based
in the Trade Center.” The double
whammy prompted the first of three
key pivots she’d ultimately make—each
138
Trevor Burgess
C1 BANK: 2012, 2014
NEPTUNE FLOOD: 2022
Trevor Burgess’s journey as a serial entrepreneur
began with a gamble. In 2009, the then-managing
director at Morgan Stanley decided to move his
family to Florida and buy a failed bank. But it wasn’t
luck that catapulted Lakewood Ranch-based C1
Bank to the Inc. 5000 for the first time in 2012; it was
opportunity—and Burgess knows a good one when
he sees it. That skill helped the entrepreneur take
the bank public two years later, making him the first
openly gay CEO on the NYSE. He’d reluctantly sell
the company to a competitor in 2016 for $402 mil-
lion. Then he walked away. “At that time, I didn’t
think I’d get another bite at the apple,” he says. ● But
opportunity struck again, this time in the form of
a message over LinkedIn. A connection had an idea
to compete with the federal government to offer
flood insurance; Burgess was intrigued and, in 2016,
Neptune was born, in St. Petersburg. Unlike its
splashy DTC competitors, Neptune is profitable,
with more than 120,000 customers, and is on track
to do $1.5 million in revenue per employee in 2022.
Says Burgess: “I’m just so happy to actually get
another chance.” —Christine Lagorio-Chafkin
time to a new company that would
grow fast enough to make the Inc. 5000.
● The secret to her serial success? “The
greatest value to me as I’ve reinvented
myself and my companies is my repu-
tation,” she says. That her customers
trusted her, again and again, has carried
her through the ups and downs. That’s
something first-time founders rarely
experience, she admits: “When you’re
first in anything, you are swimming
upstream, convincing someone about
something they don’t know.” Even so,
she adds, “that’s what I love. Getting
people to see the future.” —C.L.C.
 The key to
serial success for
brothers Pirouz
(left) and Peyman
Nilforoush: “We’re
always on.”

After taking his

first company
public and selling
it, Trevor Burgess
(opposite, top)
wasn’t satisfied;
he felt empty. But
not for long.

With three Inc.

5000 wins,
Leonora Valvo
(opposite,
bottom) knows
she’s hooked on
starting up. Once
growth is stable,
she begins to
itch: “How do
we look at the
next thing?”

2013. The next year, again in San Francisco, they launched

Pirouz Nilforoush and Peyman Nilforoush
NETSHELTER TECHNOLOGY MEDIA: 2011, 2012
INPOWERED: 2020
In 1999, Peyman Nilforoush and his brother Pirouz, five years
his junior, were just teenagers when they started their first
company, NetShelter, out of Toronto. The platform for helping
creators monetize their websites eventually relocated to San
Francisco and grew into the largest community of technology
publishers on the web before it was acquired by Ziff Davis in
inPowered, a platform that uses A.I. to help brands like Citi­
bank and Comcast optimize content to boost engagement
and ROI. ● The brothers credit their success to their comple­
mentary skill sets, which has led to a natural division of labor:
Peyman, as CEO, focuses on sales, finance, and investor rela­
tions, while Pirouz, as president, oversees product, engineer­
ing, and operations. “That’s allowed us to have our own sense
of ownership,” Pirouz says. “Each of us can go deep in our own
area.” ● But, as Peyman says, they still work best together:
“We always have ideas. We’re always collaborating.” —R.D.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SEBASTIAN NEVOLS (OPPOSITE, TOP); HUY DOAN (OPPOSITE, BOTTOM); JESSICA CHOU (ABOVE) September 2022 Inc. 139
HAPPY HOUR
Matt Rollens’s
punchy goods
stand out in a
sea of traditional
glassware.
 N O.
715 D R AG O N
G L AS SWA R E
W
M hen Matt Rollens received the glass
tea bottle he ordered from Amazon
in 2016, he was so disappointed
with its quality that he decided to make a
better one himself. A former exec at a small ad
agency, Rollens had never designed a physical
product. But he’d always wanted to start his
own business. Soon he’d be doing both.
In 2017, working with manufacturers in
China, Rollens, 36, founded Sacramento-based
Dragon Glassware. Though he started by
developing his own tea bottle (double-walled,
for either hot or cold brews), he wondered what
else could be done with glass. Then he spotted
a gap in the specialty drinkware market: No
one was making bold, modern barware that
stood out on store shelves.
Rollens, who had dabbled in graphic design,
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELSEY MCCLELL AN
C E O : M AT T
R O LLE N S
TH R E E -Y E A R R E V E N U E G R OW TH :
882%
sketched out several shapes that he hadn’t
seen anywhere else. “I wanted to make some-
thing that looked artsy, geometric, and unique,”
he says. “I didn’t realize we could do all this
cool stuff with glass—different curvatures and
shapes.” Strong customer reviews of Dragon’s
early products inspired Rollens to ask those
reviewers what they wanted. “I started design-
ing products from what I was learning in the
community to bring out the flavors and the look
of different beverages.”
From the beginning, he’s run a remarkably
lean operation, outsourcing graphic design,
advertising, and social media to a handful of
contract workers. Fulfillment by Amazon, the
e-commerce giant’s outsourcing unit, takes
care of the picking, packing, and shipping. And
Rollens still owns 100 percent of the company.
TH I S MAN WITH A
MAR K E TI N G PL AN U S E D BO LD
D E S I G N —AN D S TR ATE G I C
O UT SO U RC I N G —TO S HAK E
TH I N G S U P I N BARWAR E
Annual revenue topped $3.8 million in 2021.
His fans have helped with marketing as
well. In March 2020, Rollens spotted one of
Dragon’s futuristic-looking martini glasses in
a scene of the HBO sci-fi series Westworld.
The next day, he posted about the product on
the Westworld Reddit page, which led to a
spike in sales—and more star turns. Dragon’s
barware has since appeared on Late Night With
Seth Meyers and Star Trek: Picard. Dragon even
released a line of pink, Barbie-themed glass-
ware in 2021 after Rollens pitched Mattel on a
licensing deal.
“There are all kinds of licensed products in
apparel and footwear, beauty, and makeup,”
Rollens says, “but no one’s really doing bar-
ware.” Perhaps another gap in the market?
We’ll drink to that. —graham winfrey
September 2022 Inc. 141
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 M U LT I P LY I N G Y O U R S U C C E S S
S P O N S O R E D B Y T H E I N C . H O N O R E E S W H O S E B R A N D P R O F I L E S A P P E A R I N T H E F O L L O W I N G PA G E S
Y
ou beat the odds. Obliterated expectations. Even
made this year’s Inc. 5000. Now your business is
officially a success. Congratulations! But while
you’ve certainly earned a glass of champagne and a victory
lap (though probably not in that order), we know how
entrepreneurs operate. The same drive that spurred you
to your latest milestone won’t let you rest until you’ve
reached the next one. And the one after that. There are
always more worlds (and markets) to conquer.
That’s why we asked dozens of past and present Inc.
5000 honorees for advice on where you go from here. We
ILLUSTRATION BY BRATISLAV MILENKOVIĆ
sought their guidance on how, once you’ve achieved a
goal—recording eye-popping revenue growth, landing
a coveted customer, locking down a deep-pocketed
investor—to parlay it into even bigger and better things.
Everything from some clever self-promotion to a
gimlet-eyed reassessment to a whole new strategic plan.
Rest assured that your success will bring a whole new
set of challenges, many of which you’ll never see coming.
There’s advice on that here, as well. First, though, try
to take a moment to be proud of all you’ve accomplished.
And pass the champagne.
September 2022 Inc. 145
RAISING YOUR BAR

Carrie Charles Vishal Sunak
Owner and CEO Co-founder and CEO
B R O A D S TA F F LINKSQUARES
“Instead of setting our revenue goal for 2022 as a “With a big company
leadership team, as we traditionally have, we set it milestone like beating
together with all of our team members. Our team chose our annual revenue goal
$33.3 million. This was a massive stretch, but each or raising a new round
person was engaged with this long-shot goal and ready of capital, we typically
to make it a reality. Soon, our team started a game of throw a party to gather
texting one another when we saw the number 33. Seeing the team and celebrate.
33 in the wild kept the goal alive. We even created fun, Everyone feels the
incentivizing games each month to keep pushing us energy that comes from
closer to 33.3. As of today, we are on track to hit it!” a huge win together, and
I find that to be the most
Tampa-based telecom and tech staffing firm Broadstaff made the
Inc. 5000 list in 2020 and 2021. powerful motivation.
A big milestone like a
capital raise also can
trigger us to reexamine
our operating plan as
an executive team and
look for opportunities to
accelerate hiring, inno-
vation, and revenue.”
In 2022, Sunak’s Boston-
based software company
raised a $100 million funding
round and earned a spot on
the Inc. 5000 for the second
straight year.
38%
of fast-growing
companies surveyed
focus their inno-
vation on activities
that increase reve-
nue, with the goal
of developing new
products that change
how the business
operates.
Source: Deloitte
Donie Yamamoto
Founder and CEO
V I TA L P E T L I F E
“To set new business
goals, we had to redefine
our brand strengths so as
not to be everything to
everyone. We took steps
to go deep rather than
wide, such as focusing on
our strongest products
and adding an industry
expert to directly engage
with our customers.”
In 2021, just four years after
its founding, Yamamoto’s
Los Angeles-based pet care
startup made the Inc. 5000.

146 Inc. September 2022

 Scott Cook Leah Caplanis
Co-founder Founder and CEO
INTUIT S O C I A L S PA R K LI N G W I N E

“When an “What’s most important is to take the time to celebrate

your successes, and that means slowing down and
upside surprise spending some time with the team doing something
happens, that’s fun, whether that’s a barbecue or pizza party or going
the market try- bowling or horseback riding. This gives everyone a break
to relax and socialize with one another in a personal way
ing to speak to and refreshes people to go back to the job renewed.”
you, telling you Caplanis founded her Chicago-based organic wine company in
something you 2013. It was an Inc. 5000 honoree in 2019.

don’t yet know,

so you need
to listen. You
need to savor
that surprise
and really try
to understand
it, because that
could be the
seeds of a great
new business.”
Cook has served as both
CEO and chairman of the
now-public financial soft-
ware firm, which made the
Inc. 5000 in 1990.
SPREAD, FROM LEFT: COURTESY SUBJECTS (3); GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY SUBJECT

147
BRANDED CONTENT

Inc. BWP Inc. 5000 Workforce All-Time Net

Winner Honoree 110 Promoter Score
3x 8x Employees +92

Making Craters: The Cybersecurity

Company on a Mission to Leave a Mark
At Praetorian, security specialists and software developers are
committed to making the world safer and more secure

“B uilding a company is incredibly hard,”

says Nathan Sportsman, founder
and CEO of Praetorian, a leading cyber-
security company. Entrepreneurs have
their greatest shot at success, though,
when they rally people around a common
pursuit that is meaningful to all involved.
“Do what you love, do it well, and make
enough money to keep doing one and
two,” he advises.
Sportsman is lucky enough to “skip
to work” to a team that shares his ardor.
Vision, mission, and values have been
Praetorian’s north star since the beginning.

A VALUES SYSTEM
BROUGHT TO LIFE
The company’s mission is to keep the world
safe and secure as society’s dependence
on the internet grows. One company creed
is to make craters—to leave a mark. Other
core values include intellectual curiosity,
customer obsession, radical candor,
generosity of spirit, a commitment to
performance, and extreme humility. “Our
core values attract those who are seeking
to live in service to something larger than
themselves and who have a commitment to
work excellence and the joy of truly being
part of a team,” Sportsman says.
Praetorian hires by these values,
emphasizing passion for the work,
cultural fit, and raw intelligence over a
candidate’s ability to do the job from day
one. Praetorian’s tech challenges and new
hire magazine are designed to attract
people that value the same things the
company does. And when new hires start,
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Praetorian’s motivated employees built a
Colosseum replica in just three days.
Sportsman presents the core values him-
self, emphasizing that they are a rubric for
helping people make the right decisions
and cultivating the behavioral traits the
team wants to reinforce.
CAREERS DESIGNED FOR
CYBERSECURITY ENTHUSIASTS
“Praetorian sits at the intersection of
security and technology. Things move so
fast in our space that when you wake up
each morning, you know less about cyber-
security than you did the night before. In
that kind of environment, you must love
what you do. If you don’t, the fast-paced
nature of cybersecurity will lead to burn-
out. But for cybersecurity enthusiasts,
the never-ending learning opportunities
are part of the fun,” Sportsman says.
And just like Praetorian’s employees,
the company must keep up with the
pace of evolving threats and industry
change. Praetorian invests heavily in
innovation, which creates ongoing learning
opportunities for employees and ensures
long-term relevancy for the company.
As a byproduct of that commitment,
Praetorian launched Chariot earlier this
year, a cutting-edge, managed, offen-
sive security platform making waves
in the industry. This innovation would
not be possible without the company’s
distinct culture, something Sportsman
describes as a competitive advantage.
“Culture has been foundational to the
company’s success and will continue to
be the critical path as Praetorian scales,”
he says. The company’s commitment
to culture has earned Praetorian its
Inc. Best Workplaces designation.

C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
 RAISING YOUR BAR

67
Buddy Hobart
Founder and president
SOLUTIONS 21
“There is a strategy we
have employed many
times after a significant of fast-growing
%
success that has allowed companies undertook
for both learning and a major performance
celebration. We take the improvement initia-
tive in the prior
time to ‘autopsy the vic- three years. 84% of
tory.’ Looking at why we them considered the
won teaches us what to effort successful or
do and how to replicate very successful.
Source: McKinsey
that best practice. This
process not only cements
a results-oriented cul-
Spencer Rascoff
ture that recognizes the Co-founder
team’s achievements, it ZILLOW
also develops a culture
“Growth can be the one
of continuous improve-
thing that challenges and
ment, innovation,
Shanda Sumpter drives entrepreneurs the
collaboration, and
Founder and queen visionary most. So whether you’re
accountability.”
HEARTCORE BUSINESS considering tapping into
Solutions 21, a leadership a new vertical or expand-
development firm headquar- “I started to hire people much smarter than I am. I
hired an expensive headhunter and asked for the caliber ing an existing one, it’s
tered in Pittsburgh, was a
2020 Inc. 5000 honoree. of person I wanted. My focus became about building important to assess the
leadership internally. This motivated the team and environment and reflect
forced me to step up to my own next level.” on your current strategy.
The most important
Sumpter’s Solana Beach, California-based leadership coaching aspect of vertical expan-
business made the Inc. 5000 list in 2018 and 2019.
sion is understanding the
reasons behind it.”
Brandon Downey to give them a reason Zillow, the Seattle-based
Co-founder, president, to stay. We don’t want online real estate market-
and CEO hostages here.” place, made the Inc. 5000 list
T R I L O G Y I N N O V AT I O N S in 2011 and went public the
FROM LEFT: COURTESY SUBJECTS (3); GETTY IMAGES

Based in Bridgeport, West same year.

“Complacency will kill Virginia, Downey’s systems
the organization quickly. and software engineering C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 5 2

So growth sustainment company makes its debut on

is one of our strategic the Inc. 5000 list this year.
priorities—not just in
terms of finding more
opportunities, but also
maintaining the oppor-
tunities that we have,
as well as the workforce
that we have. So we
always go out of our way
to make sure everyone
is taken care of and feels
comfortable. We want

September 2022 Inc. 149

BRANDED CONTENT
Year
Founded
2004
These Virtual Accounting Visionaries
Designed an Award-Winning Culture
A supportive, family-first culture has contributed to nearly 20 years
of steady growth for AccountingDepartment.com—and now it is executing
its most ambitious growth plan yet
AccountingDepartment.com Co-Founders, Dennis Najjar and Bill Gerber
A n internet ad and a bit of fate
brought Dennis Najjar, CPA and
Bill Gerber together in 2004. Within
days of their first phone conversation,
they met in person and agreed to build
a business together. Eighteen years
later, they are at the helm of what may
be the longest-running virtual accounting
company, AccountingDepartment.com.
With a team of 175 and counting
U.S.-based employees, Accounting-
Department.com offers businesses a
“complete takeover of the accounting
function,” Najjar explains. Najjar and
Gerber share a vision and values, but they
are markedly different. Najjar, a certified
Employees Resumes
175 and Received
Growing 12K+ annually
public accountant by background, excels
at operations and process. Gerber, a
gifted salesman, dreams big and moves
fast. Yet, building a family-first culture
came naturally to them both. Culture,
coupled with their complementary
talents—a medley they call the “magic
sauce”—has facilitated revenue growth
year after year, and now serves as a
launching pad for the company’s biggest
leap yet.
AN ONLINE ORIGIN STORY
Getting it done and getting it done
right are different things, Najjar notes.
He co-founded the company in part
SMBs
$2M - $100M
In revenue
because he had encountered too many
businesses with subpar books. “Account-
ants would end up doing tax returns on
incorrect data,” he says. The more he
worked with businesses, the more he real-
ized the need for accounting support—
something Gerber, a serial entrepreneur,
had experienced firsthand. Like many
founders, he knew how to sell, and how to
deliver what he was selling, but he never
knew where he was on the numbers.
This shortfall had led his prior company
to bankruptcy.
When Gerber met Najjar, he was
determined to create something huge,
because he needed to provide for his
son, who has special needs. He had been
planning to start an accounting services
business because of the struggles
accounting had caused him in the past
when he came across the online ad Najjar
had posted for a virtual accounting sales
position. Najjar had personal reasons for
building a remote business: he wanted
the option to move from his hometown in
New Jersey to someplace warmer once
his kids were grown.
Operating virtually had business
advantages, too. The co-founders could
work with clients and employees from
anywhere. But they had to convince the
market their business was legit, as remote
work was less common in 2004. To
attract skilled, personable bookkeepers,
they offered full-time positions with
benefits and no overtime. Prospective
accounting hires accustomed to long
hours, especially during tax season,
thought the opportunity too good to be
true. One person even asked how much
they had to pay to work there.
A REMOTE WORKPLACE AS GOOD,
OR BETTER, THAN THE OFFICE
Remote workplaces are ubiquitous
now, but few accounting companies
can say they have nearly two decades
of experience crafting a virtual culture.
AccountingDepartment.com strives to
create a work-life balance that is as
good, if not better, than the office expe-
rience. From book clubs and recipe
clubs to March Madness brackets and
pumpkin-carving contests, the found-
ers prioritize human connection. They
celebrate hard work, for example, with
an annual pizza party the first Friday in
February. (Coordinating the delivery of
175-plus pizzas across the country is a
logistical feat, Gerber notes.) Because a
virtual work environment can lead to a
sedentary lifestyle, they focus on fitness,
Najjar says, with initiatives such as an
annual summer walking challenge hosted
on the virtual race platform Racery.
Perhaps most important is the com-
pany’s foundational value: family first.
The founders make a point to share how
AccountingDepartment.com co-founders and employees at events in Atlanta and Charlotte
they prioritize family commitments and
encourage employees to do the same.
They urge employees to be open with cli-
ents, as well, to build genuine connection.
“We’re not a vendor, we’re a partner. And
partners understand what you’re really
going through in life,” Gerber says.
Najjar and Gerber describe their
roles as support functions. During the
onboarding process, they visualize the
company hierarchy with an inverted
pyramid: accounting specialists are at
the top; the founders are at the bottom.
(When Gerber is running this training, he
draws the diagram by hand, while Najjar
shares a professionally designed version,
encapsulating their different styles.)
A PIVOTAL POINT
Career growth is important, too—to
employees and leadership. “There’s no
churn-and-burn mentality. It’s all about
keeping the staff and helping them mature,”
Najjar says. The business provides training
and mentorship so members can advance
their careers and company goals. And the
goals are big. Demand for client account-
ing services (CAS) has exploded since
the pandemic. AccountingDepartment.
com has been mindful of preserving its
flagship approach to service while laying
the groundwork for expansion.
Using Cameron Herold’s Vivid Vision
framework, the founders have created
a three-year, five-year, and ten-year
roadmap and have shared them with
the team. Both founders are confident
they have the people, processes, and
technology to achieve their vision, which
includes building the infrastructure and
workforce to support NetSuite solutions
in addition to QuickBooks products.
They worked with a firm to implement
the Entrepreneurial Operating System
(EOS), a set of concepts and tools
for clarifying and achieving a vision,
and they have invested in additional
leadership training for managers.
The adoption of EOS was driven in part
by the early influence of organizational
expert Les McKeown, who inspired
Najjar and Gerber to strive to have the
right people in the right seats as the
company grows.
Because Najjar and Gerber have
never taken venture capital dollars, they
are not beholden to stakeholders—they
can grow their own way, Gerber says.
For these founders, that means continu-
ing to cultivate a family-first workplace
that charms employees and clients
alike, while providing proactive account-
ing services that help entrepreneurs
achieve their dreams.
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
SHARING YOUR STORY
C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 14 9
Carmen Tapio Karthik Reddy
Founder and CEO Founder and CEO
NORTH END TELESERVICES (NET) ARCHER REVIEW
“When opportunity presents “Especially in boot-
strapped companies
itself, you don’t get what you don’t with limited access to
ask for. While accepting the Busi- funds, I believe that
ness Excellence award from our any significant funds
spent on marketing are
chamber of commerce, I had taken away from further
access to at least a hundred CEOs innovating the product
of the top businesses in our com- or from the customer
fulfillment budget. In
munity. So I used that opportunity certain B2C businesses,
to tell them that we had prepared having great products
proposals for every single one of and customer fulfill-
ment certainly trumps
them. From the podium, I called marketing. Focusing on
them out and handed them a those led to our excep-
proposal, and we were able to tionally high net promot-
er score, so our market-
close several.” ing costs are less than
This year marks the third straight appearance on the 2 percent of revenue.
Inc. 5000 list by Tapio’s Omaha-based business-process Our mantra has always
outsourcing provider. been ‘Take care of the
customer well and with
honesty, make a great
product, and the growth
will follow.’ ”
Archer Review is a medical
edtech company based in
Dallas. It makes its first
appearance on the Inc. 5000
list this year.
152 Inc. September 2022
David Glickman
Founder and CEO
MINT MOBILE
“Hypergrowth is possible
only by having the flexi-
bility to swiftly respond
to opportunities. Instead
of seeking reasons to
reject an opportunity
outright, assume it will
work and focus on how to
effectively implement it.
In one instance, we were
able to secure a coveted
contract with a carrier
partner by saying yes. The
contract’s rates were not
particularly attractive,
but, by being flexible, we
negotiated volume-based
discounts that made
everyone happy. Most
important, having a
reputation for saying yes
meant other potential
partners knew that any
proposal they might
present would be given
serious thought.”
Glickman has founded two
telecom businesses that
reached the top spot on
the Inc. 5000, Justice
Technology (1998) and
Ultra Mobile (2015).
87%
of high-growth
companies ana-
lyzed over 50 years
COURTESY SUBJECTS (3)
in a 2008 study
experienced at
least one sudden
and lasting drop in
revenue growth.
Source: Harvard Business Review
BRANDED CONTENT

Year Number of Partners Series B Funding

Founded Employees Merck KGaA About $70M
2017 42 (EMD Serono) Raised

Doing Good Work in

More Ways than One
Unlearn, a mission-driven technology company, is using
machine learning to accelerate clinical trials

U nlearn probably spends more time

thinking about culture than most
early-stage startups, says Founder
and open an office in Boston in addi-
tion to its San Francisco headquarters.
Whether recruiting clinical scientists
the innate risk of experimentation, Fisher
uses diversification. Rather than going
all in on one ML technology, for exam-
and CEO Charles K. Fisher. Since its or software engineers, Unlearn wants ple, Unlearn explores multiple options,
founding in 2017, the company has people who connect to its mission. When adapting along the way. “Thinking of
assembled a team whose members employees care deeply, they take full your business as an experiment, trying
care deeply about their work and each ownership of their work, Fisher says. to test things rapidly, and make data-
other, taking a scientific approach While Unlearn periodically gathers driven decisions is a good idea for every
to everything they do. In April 2022, teams in person to brainstorm and make startup,” Fisher says.
Unlearn closed $50 million in Series B decisions, they “disperse to execute,” The third virtue reminds employees
funding to support its growth. Fisher allowing employees to work remotely about the purpose of their work: “Invent
says a strong culture played an outsized if they like. for the customer.” For Unlearn, partners
role in this success. are leading pharmaceutical companies,
VIRTUES THAT BIND including Merck KGaA (EMD Serono).
A MISSION THAT UNITES The team is bound by core virtues, Over the next three years, Unlearn
Unlearn uses machine learning (ML) to including the mantra, “Do good work,” will expand into disease areas across
to improve clinical trial timelines. Using which refers to scientific rigor as well neurosciences and immunology. Fisher
ML models trained on historical patient as the societal benefits of accelerating hopes that, one day, nearly all clinical
data, Unlearn created TwinRCTs™, clinical trials. A second virtue, “Run the trials can benefit from Unlearn’s
randomized clinical trials that require a experiment,” encapsulates Unlearn’s pioneering ML technology and patient-
smaller control group than traditional scientific approach to invention. To offset centric approach.
trials because they compute a digital
twin for every patient enrolled in the trial,
regardless of randomization assignment.
A digital twin is a clinical prediction of
prognosis—the outcome of an individual
patient if they were assigned to the con-
trol arm. “This allows for more patients
to get access to the experimental ther-
apy, which is usually the reason they’re
participating in a clinical trial in the first
place,” Fisher says. The benefit for clin-
ical trial sponsors is they can proceed
with fewer patients and generate the
same level of evidence as a larger study,
faster and at a lower cost.
This year, Unlearn will increase its
employee base from 40 to roughly 70 Charles K. Fisher, founder and CEO, Unlearn

C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
BRANDED CONTENT
2-Year Work-
force Growth
100%
The Right Culture Can Be a
Powerful Weapon in the Talent Wars
A culture emphasizing collaboration and results drives success at Ncontracts
Michael Berman (front row, third from right), CEO of Ncontracts, with
team members at company headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee
W ith job openings outnumbering
available candidates by two-to-
one, recruiting and retaining the best
and brightest employees has never
been more difficult, especially in the
technology sector. Generous health
and welfare benefits and the additional
perks tech companies famously provide
are just table stakes now. Winning
in the talent wars requires something
more. For Ncontracts, a Nashville,
Tennessee-based provider of integrated
risk management and compliance soft-
ware, workplace culture is its formula
for success.
“Our workplace culture is often the
number-one factor behind our success
in recruitment and retention,” says Cathy
Guthrie, the company’s executive vice
president of human resources. Not only
does it attract top candidates, but it also
Number of Remotely
Employees Employees
300+ 50%
makes current employees want to stay
right where they are. Given the culture
Ncontracts has built and the career-
advancement opportunities it provides,
“there is a good chance that an employee
leaving in search of greener pastures may
actually end up taking a step backward,”
she says.
TOP-DOWN LEADERSHIP
Workplace culture is a top-down
phenomenon at Ncontracts and directly
related to its growth and achievements.
It stresses humility and collaboration,
along with a drive to compete and win.
The focus is not on actions taken, but on
the result of the work and its impact on
customers.
Ncontracts’ culture encourages
discussion, different opinions, and
divergent approaches to get to the best
Number
of Clients
4,000+
solution. “When you model that, it allows
people of all different personalities,
backgrounds, and experiences to thrive
and do their best work,” Guthrie explains.
The culture starts with CEO and
founder Michael Berman. “He has
modeled this behavior through to his
team, and it cascades throughout the
organization,” she says. “This creates
an environment where people are not
just going through the motions to get
a paycheck. They want to be here, are
motivated to do their best work, and are
invested in the outcomes.”
CONSISTENCY COUNTS
Berman has consistently modeled this
behavior throughout Ncontracts’ 13
years in business, so it has become woven
into the fabric of the company. “Current
employees know what’s expected of them
and what to look for in new employees,”
Guthrie says. “Prospective employees
are attracted by the fact that there is
this great company in Nashville—with a
presence in 32 states across the country
—that is not only growing fast but has a
fantastic culture as well.”
With the growth of remote work,
Ncontracts is transforming from a
Nashville-centric company to a coast-
to-coast enterprise, but its culture is a
Photography: © 2022 Sheri Oneal
constant. “This shift will impact the types
of benefits we add, the social activities
that bind us together when we are not
physically together, and our training and
education programs,” Guthrie says. “But
we will do whatever it takes to ensure that
our culture stays strong and intact.”
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
 SHARING YOUR STORY

63%
Valerie Freeman
Founder and CEO
BR AVOTECH

“Since we have been on the Inc.

of high-growth Brandon Pena 5000 list four times, we have
firms have optimized Co-founder and CEO
resources for remote 787 COFFEE added that recognition to our
work; 69% of nega-
tive- or no-growth “When Hurricane Maria emails, website, and introductions
firms are still focused put the livelihood of when we speak or sponsor events.
on workers’ physical
locations, prefer-
the team at the farm in
jeopardy, we opened our
The recognition has motivated us
ring an all-remote or
all-onsite workforce first brick-and-mortar to greater accomplishments that
to a hybrid one. shop in the hopes of we can share with our clients and
Source: Accenture selling what little coffee
we could. As our shops
prospects as well as applicants for
grew, I took notice of our positions.”
Ron Jumper who went above and Dallas-based workforce solutions company BravoTech, one of two
CEO
beyond to tell our story. Inc. 5000 companies Freeman has founded, most recently made the
RON SHERMAN list in 2020.
ADVERTISING As companies, we
need to be storytellers.
“We wanted to parlay Consumers have more
making the Inc. 5000 choices than ever before,
into changing the narra- which puts them in
tive about Ron Sherman a position to want to
Advertising. We have connect with the busi-
now built a state-of-the- nesses they support. By
art, 20x20-foot booth to communicating why we
use at industry expos. It did what we did to our
has prospective clients customers, they in turn
saying, ‘We aren’t sure wanted to help.”
if we can afford you, but
here is what we need,’ Pena’s sustainable coffee
company, a 2021 Inc. 5000
instead of their having
honoree, now has more than
no idea about our size or two dozen stores in New York
capabilities. It has been City and Puerto Rico.
powerful.”
Jumper’s Little Rock-based
company, a marketing firm
for the home improvement
industry, was an Inc. 5000
honoree in 2021.
COURTESY SUBJECTS (3)

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 5 8 155
BRANDED CONTENT

Cowbell is signaling a new era in cyber “Building a

insurance. By harnessing technology culture that
allows employees
and data, we provide small and midsize
to achieve their
enterprises (SMEs) with advanced professional
warning of cyber risk exposures bundled dreams
with cyber insurance coverage adaptable contributes
to the threats of today and tomorrow. directly to our
success in
This unique AI-based approach to risk
reinventing cyber
selection and pricing, which includes insurance.”
Cowbell’s continuous underwriting Jack Kudale,
platform powered by Cowbell Factors, founder and
compresses the insurance process time- CEO, Cowbell
line from submission to issue to less than
five minutes.

“At Austin Data

Labs, our secret
to success is our
team. When they
are supported
and successful,
so are our
customers.”
Simon Drake,
CEO, Austin
Data Labs
6sense reinvents the way business-to- “We want
business (B2B) organizations create, 6sense to Austin Data Labs is a global B2B SaaS company deploying
manage, and convert pipeline to revenue. be the best AI-based data science at the heart of the global food supply
chapter of every
6sense Revenue AI captures anonymous employees’
chain. With outposts around the globe, a team that has real-
buying signals, targets right accounts career. Come world experience in the industries we serve, and a fully remote
at the ideal time, and recommends the work with us.” “great work can happen anywhere” philosophy, we work hard
channels and messages to boost revenue Jason Zintak, to help our customers keep the planet fed with our scAIcloud®
performance. Removing guesswork, CEO, 6sense platform, built with the latest in AI-based data science.
friction, and wasted sales effort, 6sense
empowers sales, marketing, and customer
success teams to significantly improve
pipeline quality, accelerate sales velocity,
increase conversion rates, and grow
revenue predictably.

C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
BRANDED CONTENT
3-Year Revenue
Growth Rate
314%
Investing in People
Drives Growth
Investing heavily in developing its staff and workplace helps
Cloudforce retain more than 95 percent of clients and employees
T asked with designing and main-
taining custom Microsoft cloud
solutions for its vast clientele, the
Cloudforce team of tech experts starts
with an in-depth analysis of the orga-
nization’s big-picture goals. “Our staff
consists of problem solvers by nature,”
explains Husein Sharaf, president and
chief technology officer at Cloudforce.
“They are engineers and architects
who love tinkering. They love break-
ing things and figuring out how to fix
them.” Fortunately for this lucky team,
Cloudforce carefully chooses exciting
projects where they get to do just that
on a daily basis.
Employees say that Cloudforce’s
transparency and near-constant
communication sets apart its culture
from other firms. Managers routinely
check in with staff members to learn
what they might need to progress in
their careers, in terms of professional
development—and then provide it,
Cloudforce team members enjoying their award-winning workspace
2021 Employee 2021 Client
Retention Retention
100% 95%
whatever it is. “Cloudforce covers the
cost of everything related to training,
certifications, workshops, seminars, or
conferences,” Sharaf says.
Perhaps more importantly, where
many employers schedule annual
performance reviews, Cloudforce
prefers quarterly one-on-one reviews
to help ensure employees understand
what they need to do to progress on
their desired career path and have all they
need to get there. The result is that they
advance much faster than what they are
used to, Sharaf notes.
PRIORITIZING SOFT SKILLS
While Cloudforce’s blue-chip clients
are fueling the company’s growth,
Sharaf points to the IT consulting firm’s
staffers as the source of its success.
Putting employees with high emotional
intelligence (EQ) in client-facing roles
has succeeded in forging ongoing client
relationships.
Employees
2x growth in less
than one year
Unlike other IT employers, Cloudforce
qualifies candidates based on their
people skills. “Our key differentiator,”
says Sharaf, “is that we’ve made sure
the person you’re talking to is friendly,
that they are sociable, and that they are
someone you’d want to have a beer with at
the end of the project,” as well as talented
IT pros.
Cloudforce’s environment and culture
have also proven to be a competitive
advantage. In addition to losing no
employees during the Great Resignation,
Cloudforce has been in the enviable
position of being able to cherry-pick
some great new hires who opted to leave
other firms. According to Sharaf, the firm
grew 300 percent during the pandemic.
BUILDING IN FUN
Fostering a work environment that
employees enjoy has led many staff to opt
to return to work in person. Cloudforce’s
office is open and glass-filled, featuring
gaming and socializing opportunities.
Not only has Cloudforce invested heavily
in designing a physical workspace that
nurtures work friendships, it also hosts
monthly outings and community service
projects to help employees connect with
each other.
Even in a hyper-competitive IT hiring
market, when Cloudforce finds a candidate
that is a good fit for the firm, “our clients
love them, they love the company, and they
stick around, which makes for a better
environment and a better product for the
customer,” Sharaf says.
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
SHARING YOUR STORY

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 5 5

Lorelie Yockman Sal Rehmetullah

Boris Kontsevoi
Founder, CEO, and president
CEO
E D G E W AT E R F E D E R A L
SOLUTIONS
“We made a strategic
plan to ensure that we
could demonstrate per-
formance to certain cus-
tomers. So if we needed
to show past perfor-
Co-founder and president
S TA X
“For our last wave of accomplishments (including a
$245 million funding round, a $1 billion valuation, and
two Inc. awards), we had a major celebration in the office
in Orlando that was attended by our investors, Mayor
Buddy Dyer, local press and friends, and as many Stax
team members as possible. It was a day to celebrate and

COURTESY SUBJECTS (3)

INTETICS
“We want every team
member of Intetics to
feel like they are part of
something big, that they
are making an impact on
people, that they help.
Such a feeling helps
them come up with even
more innovative ideas.
To help them get the
right mindset, we’ve cre-
ated a campaign called
“We make an impact,”
a series of wall and
online posters where we
promote our achieve-
ments. They are in every
office and on every social
media platform.”
Kontsevoi has led the Naples,
Florida-based software firm
to the Inc. 5000 list nine
times, most recently in 2021.
reflect on everything we’ve accomplished and what
mance in cybersecurity we’re working to do next—while still hitting our business
to qualify for a certain numbers for the day.”
contract, we honed that
In addition to making the 2022 Inc. 5000, its fourth consecutive year,
skill. It was really about Rehmetullah’s Orlando-based payments company is on the 2022 Inc.
understanding what the Best Workplaces list, its second appearance in three years.
needs were for those
contracts, so that when
we applied for them, we
could put our best foot
forward.”
This year marks the fourth
straight that the government
contracting IT solutions firm,
headquartered in Frederick,
Maryland, has made the
Inc. 5000.

45%
of fast-growing
companies spend
more than 6% of
their sales budgets
on future growth.
Source: McKinsey

158 Inc. September 2022

BRANDED CONTENT
Year
Founded
1998
Embracing Reinvention
as a Business Strategy
Paramount Software Solutions encourages innovation
by treating everyone like an entrepreneur
Paramount Software Solutions’ employees raise money for nonprofit
organizations through the company’s “Paramount Gives” initiative.
F ocusing on emerging technologies,
Pramod Sajja, CEO of Paramount
Software Solutions, isn’t afraid of rein-
vention or disruption—even when it’s
internal. While the pandemic changed
operations at most companies, Sajja
says it reshaped his Alpharetta, GA,
based software development and infor-
mation technology (IT) firm, shifting
its vision to three concepts: rethink,
reinvent, give back.
First, the company started rethinking
how everyone works. In tech, it’s com-
mon for employees to work long hours
to complete projects. Instead, Sajja
incorporated practices like flexible hours,
enhanced leave policies, and mindfulness
training that improve work-life balance.
The company also holds family days,
inviting employees and their children to
video conferences.
“We recently provided a platform for
moms and dads to showcase the kids’
talents,” says Sajja. “To our surprise,
Number of Number
Employees of Clients
300 75
we found that there were several child
prodigies. The kids have been asking
when we’ll do it again.”
EMPOWER EVERY INDIVIDUAL
Embracing the company’s innovative
roots, Sajja fosters reinvention by
empowering every individual on his team
to feel and operate like an entrepreneur.
The company’s flat management struc-
ture gives people the ability to expand
their horizons across functions.
“There is no layered management
structure; it’s more of a mentorship,”
says Sajja. “That helps everyone to
delegate and elevate and grow within
the company.”
For example, an employee in sales
had the idea to build a blockchain-based
solution for supply chains and logistics.
Today, the employee is the director of the
company’s emerging tech space.
“We have a team of people who
are not just thinking within the sphere
Remote
Workers
70%
of their job functionality,” says Sajja.
“They are given the opportunity to think
outside the box and not just for the
sake of thinking. They are getting their
ideas implemented.”
Paramount Software also gives
back by focusing on corporate social
responsibility (CSR) activities. “I
acknowledge the opportunities I got as
an entrepreneur in this great country,
and I have a moral obligation to repay the
society that helped me come to where
I am today,” says Sajja.
MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT
The company contributes to organiza-
tions that positively impact the quality
of life of the next generation. Recently,
Paramount’s employees collected money
to feed the poor and underprivileged
in Sajja’s native India in honor of his
birthday.
“It came as a surprise for my wife and
me,” he says. “We were literally choked
up. I could see that the whole culture of
giving back has gone through the whole
company, not just the leadership team.”
Culture means different things to
different people and different companies.
For Sajja, it means building a company
with extraordinary people.
“Culture isn’t something owned by
leadership,” he says. “It’s embedded into
the DNA of the whole company. We’ve
built a team of remarkable people from
different ethnicities and backgrounds.
That combination brings out-of-the-box
thinking to the forefront.”
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
BRANDED CONTENT
Year
Founded
2000
Integration Platform as a Service
Provider Prioritizes People
Boomi employees lead through relationships,
which benefits the company and customers
Boomi is on a mission to make the world a better place by connecting
everyone to everything, anywhere.
B oomi’s philosophy is simple: hire
good humans and provide them with
the best possible employee experience,
then foster connections between them.
That approach has helped Boomi become
a leading global software as a service
(SaaS) company known for intelligently
connecting data, applications, systems,
and processes. Boomi’s approach to its
team members also made the company
an Inc. Best Workplaces honoree in
2022, its second such designation in four
years. Boomi staff members continually
improve and innovate on the company’s
integration platform as a service (iPaaS)
offering, which has fueled the growth
that secured the company a spot on the
2022 Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-
growing companies.
“Boomi people lead through rela-
tionships,” says CEO David Meredith.
“They channel their most authentic
selves, building a workplace culture that
Number of User
Employees Community
1,700 100,000+
empowers everyone to have a voice, ‘own
it,’ and take risks.”
The company encourages personal and
career development, creating a safe space
for employees to be themselves at work.
Boomi has a dozen employee-led resource
groups (ERGs) for women, veterans,
LGBTQ+ people, Black employees, and
other groups. The ERGs can access
organizational support and decision-
makers, giving them opportunities to raise
awareness of issues that concern them.
CONNECT EVERYONE TO
EVERYTHING, ANYWHERE
Boomi’s vision for its services is to make
the world a better place by connecting
everyone to everything, anywhere. It
does so for more than 20,000 custom-
ers, including Fortune 500 companies
and notable brands like AT&T, Cisco, and
LinkedIn. Boomi’s platform helped phar-
maceutical giant Moderna streamline
Number
of Clients
20,000+
internal processes to help expedite
the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine by
integrating systems and automating
complex business transactions, allowing
its scientists to focus on their research.
Boomi also emphasizes company
values. The values include “play for
each other,” “go beyond,” “create awe-
some things,” and “build trust.” Leaders
empower and support team members
in solving problems using Boomi’s tech-
nology. When the company needed a
way to streamline its employee referral
process, Boomi team members collab-
orated to create a unique solution using
the platform. They did the same for a new
employee recognition program. “Our
employees’ most creative projects come
to life because we foster an environment
where risk-taking is encouraged, without
the fear of failure,” Meredith says.
PEOPLE AND IDEAS DRIVE SUCCESS
That collaboration pays off for more than
just its workforce. Clients notice too. “We
consistently hear from our customers
and partners that our culture and values
are a key reason they choose to work
with us. They see how we collaborate
internally and work together to solve their
problems,” Meredith says.
Boomi’s success ultimately lies with
its team members, who are empowered
by the company’s culture. “We not only
prioritize creating an environment that
supports their development and well-
being but also encourages them to be bold
and find innovative solutions,” he says.
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
 MANAGING YOUR SUCCESS

Arlene Wube Rudy Larsen

Co-founder, president, and COO Founder and CEO
ARLO SOLUTIONS SMART RAIN
“When it was two of us, we were still able to have a Suman Akula “One thing I learned that
Founder and CEO I could not believe is how
handle on major deliverables going out to the client. Now
S TA C K N E X U S much people will hate
that we’re at 58 employees, that’s impossible. So how
you for your success. We
do we build teams of the right people at different levels, “Scaling prob­ saw this in our company
from our program managers to our project managers,
to support our clients? That’s what we’re working on
lems always and I personally saw this
now—figuring out how to grow smart, and not mess up will be there. in my life. It was really
pretty amazing and real­
the reputation we have on delivering excellent service.” When you ly sad. I think you have
This year marks the second straight appearance on the Inc. 5000 scale, you need to take a step back and
list for Arlo Solutions, a Washington, D.C.-based IT services and
consulting firm founded in 2014. to make sure create a close group of
people who can keep you
there is cash balanced and somewhat
flowing and protected from other bad
things like influencers. This helped
me reposition myself and
that. But if know that my success
you look at the was not truly damaging
problems and other people.”
say, ‘What the Larsen’s water conservation
COURTESY SUBJECTS (3)

technology company, Smart

hell is happen­ Rain, made the Inc. 5000 in
ing?’ I don’t 2021. A commercial land-
scaping business he founded,
think you’ll Lawn Butler, has appeared
really ever be on the list four times, most
recently in 2016. Both are
happy. Because based in Centerville, Utah.
every day
there’s going to
be chaos, and
chaos should
be your oxy­
gen. It’s just
what you have
to expect. If
you don’t take
it that way,
you’ll just get
burned out.”
Schenectady, New York-based
no-code technology services
company StackNexus, which
is on the Inc. 5000 for the
first time this year, is one of
several tech businesses Akula
has founded.

September 2022 Inc. 161

BRANDED CONTENT
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
Continuous Innovation Propels This
Data Tech Company to New Horizons
Power Fusion Media is developing a new, safer way to handle business online
P ivot is an overused buzzword these days,
but it is still the best way to describe what
Chad Philip, founder and CEO of Las Vegas,
Nevada-based Power Fusion Media, has done
throughout his career. His early success on
the retail side of internet and satellite sales
opened his eyes to new opportunities in the
lead-generation business. Pivoting into that
sector in 2015, he used data innovation and
algorithms to rapidly grow his company, nearly
quadrupling its revenue from 2017 to 2020.
Now, with the planned launch later this year
of SocialValid.com (Social Valid), he is set to
pivot again. While he is keeping many details
of this new social media platform close to the
vest for competitive reasons, he describes it as
“industry-changing.”
Philip holds that innovation is the key
for continued growth within any successful
organization, pointing to the excitement Apple’s
annual iPhone releases generate each fall as an
example. Over the past several years, Power
Fusion Media has focused its innovation efforts
on Social Valid, a project combining the proven
lead-generation model that has driven the
company’s success to date with a digital media
platform where its current and future clients
will be able to advertise.
MAKING THE WEB SAFER
An important part of the project’s mission is
to make the web a safer place, Philip stresses.
Harkening back to the early days of online
connectivity, he recalls the idealized (in retro-
spect) expectations many had for this exciting
new concept. But the current reality is radically
different, thanks to cyberattacks, online bully-
ing, and trolls.
“The web has become a dangerous place, and
we must proceed with caution,” he says. “Cyber-
bullying is having a direct impact on mental
No 1,574
2021 Ranking
299%
Chad Philip, CEO, Power Fusion Media
3-Year Growth
health around the world. With Social Valid, we
plan to offer the right tools to help users when Year Founded
we sense ‘stranger danger.’”
Noting that online interactions through social
2010
media and dating platforms have been a major
driving force behind the expansion of the web
in recent years, and that more and more compa- 1.4+
million
nies are offering new technological innovation,
Leads sold
Philip expects that growth will only continue.
COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER PLATFORMS
“We will provide safety tools that users can
use with their current social media and dating
platforms,” he promises. “Services will intertwine
with many popular online platforms, and users
will also have access to data analytics.”
Along with developing solutions that will
help people feel more secure online, Power
Fusion Media is also teaming up with mental
health nonprofits to support their efforts.
Social Valid will offer both free and paid
options for consumers, and free accounts will
be connected to advertisers within its busi-
ness network. The company plans to donate a
percentage of the proceeds from its highest-tier
plan to help fund mental health resources and
awareness when Social Valid launches this fall.
P O W E R F U SIO N M E DI A .C O M
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O

Jack Smith
Founder, CEO, and president
FORTUNA BMC
“I had to learn how to
let go and lead through a
series of generals rather
than direct command
and control. I went from
entrepreneur to CEO
virtually overnight.
Having direct oversight
in all operations and then
transitioning to having
multiple C-suite exec-
utives meant that I had
to learn to lead through
inspiration rather than
influence.”
Smith, an Air Force veteran,
has led his McClellan Park,
California-based IT services
firm to Inc. 5000 honors each
of the past two years.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY SUBJECTS (2); GETTY IMAGES
MANAGING YOUR SUCCESS
Nick Woodman
Founder and CEO
GOPRO
“One of the big lessons
is that when things are
going really well, you can
be lured into thinking
that everything’s easier
than it is. Because you’re
doing a really good job,
you think you must
be smart and good at
this stuff. So, why can’t
we go do this other
thing? The reality is
that you can’t expect
your experience in
your core business
to translate. Just
because you’re a World
Series-winning pitcher, it
doesn’t mean you can go
play quarterback.”
GoPro, the San Mateo,
California-based maker of
action cameras and software, Suneera Madhani
was on the Inc. 5000 in 2014 Co-founder and CEO
and went public the same year. S TA X
“Stax recently received a valuation of $1 billion, making
us a unicorn in fintech. This was an incredible achieve-
ment that resulted in a lot of press and a lot of attention.
Suddenly, we were very important because of our new
title, and with that importance came a lot of noise.
Everyone’s trying to get your attention and wants to
do business with you, and you have to cut through that
added noise to see what’s actually needle-moving for
your business and not get distracted.”
Orlando-based payment technology company Stax has made the
Inc. 5000 each year since 2019.
September 2022 Inc. 163
BRANDED CONTENT
Digital Lessons in
Patient Self-Care
Mytonomy finds success applying health care
microlearning principles in the streaming age
BY COMBINING STREAMING media and
microlearning principles with clinical evidence-
based content, Bethesda, Maryland-based digital
health company Mytonomy helps patients and
families care for their health in new ways. Silicon
Valley veterans and co-founders of Mytonomy,
Anjali Kataria, CEO, and Vinay Bhargava, presi-
dent, developed the company’s digital platform,
The Mytonomy Cloud for Healthcare™, catapulting
Mytonomy to become Inc. Mid-Atlantic region’s
13th fastest-growing private company. The
company has also made the Inc. 5000 national list
three years in a row.
Mytonomy’s nationwide client roster includes
some of the country’s foremost medical systems,
such as Mass General Brigham, Hackensack
Meridian Health, Saint Luke’s Hospital, Carilion
Clinic, and others. In 2021, Mytonomy raised
$25 million in growth equity funding.
PERSONAL INSPIRATION
Mytonomy’s success is also driven by the
founders’ personal experiences with health
care and their families. Bhargava witnessed
the daily struggles his father faced living with
diabetes. Kataria saw how “broken” the health
care system was as she suddenly became a
caregiver to her sick mother, a pediatrician. As
tech entrepreneurs, they knew they could create
a more consumer-friendly experience in health
care for patients and families, helping them live
healthier, longer lives.
As much as 80 percent of medical information
provided by clinicians today—typically via a
stack of paper handouts—is forgotten almost
immediately, according to the Journal of
the Royal Society of Medicine. The founders
saw the popularity of video streaming as an
opportunity to deliver relevant, evidence-based
patient education about medical procedures,
conditions, and home care after a hospital stay.
Patients and their families could access and
apply their own care team’s information and
instructions any time on any device.
“Streaming combined with the power of a
sophisticated, modern engagement platform
2022 REGIONAL
RANKING helps patients achieve better outcomes, make
13
No better health care decisions, and save time,”
Kataria says. As chronic health conditions
continue to grow—the rate of diabetes in the
U.S. has surpassed 10 percent and isn’t slowing,
200%
EMPLOYMENT
according to Centers for Disease Control data—
the need for such information will also increase.
GROWTH
(2-YEAR PERIOD)
TECH SOLUTIONS MEET MEDICINE
Mytonomy’s 2,500+ single-topic videos are
just one to three minutes long each, and share
775%
AVG. REVENUE
important health care information in short
doses. Roughly 70 percent of Mytonomy knee-
replacement and heart-surgery patients watch
GROWTH RATE between 30 to 60 minutes of content.
(2-YEAR PERIOD)
Patients can view Mytonomy’s microlearning
modules online or on its channel on the Roku®
62
television platform. Health systems can add their
own content and branding to Mytonomy’s digital
EMPLOYEES education system, enabling providers to share
information rapidly, Kataria notes. “Mytonomy
combines storytelling and big tech to engage
patients in modern ways and reach diverse pop-
ulations that have traditionally been left behind.”
MY TO NO MY.C OM
Mytonomy co-
founders Anjali
Kataria, CEO, and
Vinay Bhargava,
president, bring
Silicon Valley
experience to
transform health
care information
delivery
C R E AT E D B Y I N C . S T U D I O
 MANAGING YOUR SUCCESS
Venus Quates
Founder, CEO, and president
LAUNCHTECH
“A new challenge for us
was the visibility that
came with making the
Inc. 5000. For years,
my goal was to fly under
the radar and remain in
stealth mode for as long
as possible as we grew.
Seeing so many diverse
companies on the list,
owned by fellow veter-
ans, women, and minori-
ties, who like us amassed
impressive growth
during one of the most
difficult and challenging
times in our nation’s his-
tory, made me appreciate
the opportunity to be
seen and validated.”
Founded in 2016, Huntsville,
Alabama-based mission sup-
port and technology solutions
provider LaunchTech has
made the Inc. 5000 each of
the past two years.
Antonella Pisani
Founder and CEO
EYEFUL MEDIA
FROM LEFT: JONATHAN ZIZZO; COURTESY SUBJECTS (2)
“You can’t drop balls when you’re growing this quickly.
I’ll tell our CPA sometimes, ‘I feel super behind!’ His
response is: ‘Yeah, well, you’re growing like 10 years’
worth in one year.’ How do we grow fast and put in the
right structures for project management and employee
management without adding the corporate feeling so
many on our team have worked to get away from? We
focus on being a staff of high-integrity people who don’t
take ourselves too seriously. Plus, we give back up to
5 percent of our pretax profits to causes that matter
to our team. It’s important to have a purpose.”
This year, Eyeful Media, a Dallas-based digital marketing and strat-
egy agency, is making its second consecutive Inc. 5000 appearance.
Paul L. Gunn Jr.
CEO and president
K U O G C O R P O R AT I O N
“One of the biggest
surprises was the
attacks on our business
and character. It drove
us to reach out to our
vendors that had stood
with us over the years,
and stronger bonds were
formed in the process.
Sometimes the public
persona of success drives
tangible threats, and
having a strong back-end
support team of great
vendors made a large
difference in weathering
the storm.”
Gunn’s Huntsville,
Alabama-based company
specializes in logistics and
procurement for the U.S.
Department of Defense.
It was a 2021 Inc. 5000
honoree.
51%
of fast-growing
companies conduct
their sales planning
at least one year
ahead.
Source: McKinsey
September 2022 Inc. 165
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© 2022 Beko U.S.,Inc.

22BEUS035-1
 INDEX
Cleveland Kitchen 113 Givenly 120 Levo Oil Infusion 110 PetScreening 109 springbig 106
A Client Accelerators 105 Global Alliant 116 Lextegrity 122 PGLS (Piedmont Global Sproutbrite 110
AblePay Health 115 CloudQnect 117 Global Truck Permits 118 Lifeboost 113 Language Solutions) 6, 107, Stable 105
Accelevents 121 Clutch Solutions 117 GlobeTopper 106 Lifetime Heating, Cooling and 126 StackNexus 117, 161
Achuti 107 CMP.jobs 106 Gold Alliance Capital 111 Electric 108 Physical Therapy Biz 107 StaffDNA 114
Action Behavior Centers 115 CoinFlip 111 Golden Tax Relief 112 LifeVac 114 Piece of Cake Moving 118 Steady 111
Actriv Healthcare 115 Coinme 112 Goldmine & Coco 109 Limelight Media 105 Pie Insurance 116 Stord 117
Ad Advance 105 Complete Health Partners 114 GoodUnited 123 LinkSquares 122, 146 PingWind 116 Studio 88 109
AdOutreach 104 Compute North 116 Greater Than 113 Little Spoon 113 Point Digital Finance 119 studio503 106
AFC Logistics 118 Connecting The Dots 105 GreenBrilliance 111 Livingood Daily 113 Point Pickup 122 Stylecraft 118
AGM Tech Solutions 115 connectRN 115 Gridiron Tire 120 Livingston Energy Group 111 Polygon.io 122 Stynt 116
Aimpoint Digital 122 CONQUERing 120 GRO 104 Locus Robotics 123 Pomchies 120 Sugarwish 109
Air Pros 110 Construction Concepts 108 Guardian Baseball 109 Longeviti Health 115 Portage Logistics 118 Summit Facility Solutions 106
Alabaster Co 120 Core Clinical Partners 114 Guardian Litigation Group 117 Lost Boys Interactive 123 Post Real Estate Group 120 Summit Human Capital 106
Albers Aerospace 111 Cover Desk 115 Gymreapers 109 Lovebug Probiotics 109 Power 22 111 Summit Logistics Group 118
Alexandra Lozano Immigration Cozy Earth Holdings 109 Lovevery 109 Powur 110 Summit Medical Staffing 115
Law 117
AMA Consulting Group 113
Crestmont Capital 112
CRG Automation 118
H LRB Group 115
Lucidia IT 117
Precision Construction
Services 108
Sunbit 112
Superior Skilled Trades 115
Happy Box 120
American Hartford Gold 112 Cross Country Creative 104 Printfresh 108 The Surefire Group 119
American Oncology Network CrowdPharm 104
Hardbody Coaching 110, 137
Hardbody Supplements 113, M PrizePicks 123 Surelock Technology 116
114 Curis Functional Health 114 137 Macros 110 ProLink Staffing 115 Surfco Restoration &
Amplify HR Management 115 Custom Patch Hats 108 Harvest Hosts 123 Mälama Solar 110 Prose 109 Construction 108
Analysis Prime 107 Cygnus Education 105 Harvestone Group 106 Managecore 117 Proud Source Water 113 SwagUp 107
Anvil Secure 121 Manuscripts 110 Prysm Group 107
Apple Blvd 109 D Hawaiian Bros Island Grill 113
HCM Unlocked 115 Marc Nolan 6, 109, 124 Pulse Clinical Alliance 116 T
Apptega 122 Marie Nicole Clothing 120
Aptino 117
Archer Review 110
DAS Federal 113
DASH Carolina 120
HERBL 106
Herb’N Eden 108 Market Wagon 3, 51, 74, 113 Q Tapcart 123
Tax Hardship Center 112
The Desoto Group 107 Hero Cosmetics 108 Martin Exteriors 107 Qloo 122 Tax Relief Advocates 111
Arkose Labs 123 Digital Ox 105 HighKey 112 MaryRuth’s 110 Qonkur Media Group 105 teambuilding.com 106
Arrive Health 114 Digital Thrive 104 HiOperator 106 Massive 105 QualSights 121 Tempo Chemicals & Solutions
ArtsAI 104 The Dingman Group 118 HireRising 116 Matter Made 104 Quicken Steel 118 118
Asimily 121 Disrupt Equity 119 Home & Local Services 105 Mattio Communications 104 Qwick 113 Testimonial Hero 105
Aspiration 111 Distributed Ledger 110 HomeLight 119 Maverick Payments 112 Texas Solar Integrated 111
ASTAR Home Capital 112
Athena Club 108
Distributed Technology Group HomePride Bath 107 Maxwell 112
Medefy 122
R theLender 119
116 Homestead Brands 108 Ragnarok 105 TheMathCompany 121
Athletic Brewing Company 3, DMR Consulting 111 Homethreads 120 MemberHub 122 RapTV 119 Thesis 108
86, 112 Douglas Brooke Homes 108 Hoodsly.com 108 Mile Auto 116 RASA 109 ThinkNimble 123
Atlantic Home Mortgage 112 Drake’s Organic Spirits 113 HqO 119 Mission Veterinary Partners RateForce 121 Threadline 105
Audigent 122 Hughes Technology/SmartData 115
Audley Consulting Group 113
Autobooks 122
E Dashboard 110 Mixlab 114
Modern Pro Solutions
RCG Logistics 118
Ready IoT/Ready Wireless 116
Threekit 121
3Six5 Logistics 117
eBlu Solutions 122 HumanIT Solutions 117 110 Red Rock Secured 112 365Labs 122
Avara 120 EcoTech 118 HydroJug 108 Moloco 104 Renewable Power 111 Til Valhalla Project 120
AVM Consulting 106 Element 26 109 M1 112 Resource Innovations 111 TimelyMD 114
Axiom Consultants 113
AZNUT 118
11TEN Innovation Partners 107
Elite Business Strategies 115
I Monogram 117
MortgageOne 119
Responsive Technology Tomorrow 116
Tractor Beverage Co. 113
ICU Technologies 121 Partners 117
Morty 119
B Emerge 121
Emonics 116
Ideal Agent 121
i80 Group 112
Movers+Shakers 104
MUD\WTR 108
Restore Hyper Wellness 115
Restoremasters 108
Tradebloc 110
Trainual 106
Bad Birdie 120 Empower 111 Ignite IT 113 Ribbon 119 TransLoop 117
Baltic Børn 61, 120 Epigen 116 My Amazon Guy 105 Rightway 114 TrendSpider 121
IMAGE Studios 120 Mytonomy 122
Bearaby 108 Erie Environmental 111 The Indoor Golf Shop 109 RivellePro 106 Trius Lending Partners 112
Bear Walker 6, 109, 132
Behavior Nation 115
eTrueNorth 114
Eve International Logistics 118
Industrial Automation Co. 107
Ink Staffing 115 N ROI Construction 107
Rove Supply 106
Truework 106
Turn Technologies 115
Bellzi 109 Everly Health 114 Innovative Financial Group 116 Nearsure 115 RP Professional Services 113 24HourNurse Staffing 115
Bent Ear Solutions 107 Evobox 118 Instant Teams 115 Neato 104 20/20 GeneSystems 113
BiOptimizers 120 Exyn Technologies 122 Instawork 107 Ned 109 S
Bird & Co. 120
Birdsey Construction F Integrated Management Neighborly Software 121
Nemean Solutions 113
SAKS Health 105 U
Strategies 106 The San Diego Home Buyer Ultraview Archery 109
Management 108 Facet Wealth 111 Integrative Psychiatry Institute Neptune Flood 116, 138 119 Unbanked 112
Birdy Grey 120 Fairmarkit 122 114 The Newsette 119 Saris and Things 120 Unite Us 122
Bitcoin Depot 112 Farm Hounds 120 Iron EagleX 65, 113 NexCore 116 SCGWest Development 119 Upside Services 112
Bitwerx 122 FashionPass 120 IT Ally 117 NexHealth 123 SeekOut 122 URB Sciences 107
Black Bay Aerospace 113 FASTer Way to Weight Loss Itero Group 117 The Nightfall Group 123 Select Dental Management Uscreen 123
Blakeley Designs 120 115 iVueit 119 Nikola Labs 106 114 US Hydrovac 6, 92, 108
Blankfactor 122 Feast & Fettle 113 Ivy City Co. 120 Notarize 110 Semperis 121
BlockFi 8, 13, 51, 66, 111
Blue Hammer Roofing 107
Federal Resources
Corporation 113
Izzard Ink Publishing 119 Numerated 111
Nutrifresh Holdings 118
Seven Figure Agency 105
7th Level Communications 107
V
Bluvium 117
Bold Orange Company 105
Feltman’s of Coney Island
113, 130
3, 6, J O 72SOLD 119
Sextant Stays 123
Vade Nutrition 109
Vanta 121
Bonnie & Pop 108 Jeeter 108 Varo Bank 112
Fernish 120 Jiminy’s 109 Octane Lending 123 Shameca International 107
Boostlingo 122 Octillion 119 Vector Remote Care 114
Fidelman & Company 107 JKR Windows 109 Sheets & Giggles 109 Vegamour 109
Branch 112 500 Designs 105 Offbeat Media Group 119 Shred America 121 Verantos 114
The Brand Sunday 108
BriteVox 105
FlavorCloud 118
Flock Safety 121 K OJO Labs 119
Omni Interactions 107
Sierra7 113
SiFive 107
Vestwell 112
Veterinary Emergency Group
BuyLow Warehouse 118 Fluid Truck 117 Kate Quinn 6, 120, 128 OneRail 121 Simple Solar 110
Byte Federal 111 Kayo Energy 110 114
FlyCore Distribution 106 OneZero Solutions 116 Simplify Home Loans 112
KDM Financial 112 Onicx Group 120 Viking Industrial Painting 108
C Fohse 105
The Forbes M+A Group 112 Kelly Roach Coaching 106 OpenExchange 116
Siono 3, 90, 115
Sitation 107
Vivo HealthStaff 114
Caden Lane 120
Caldwell Intellectual Property
Forester Haynie 117
Fountainhead 112
Kennected 123
Kern Technology Group 113
OpenReel 123
Options Exteriors 107
Skystone Acquisitions 119
SleepScore Labs 115
W
Law 107 4TEKGear 117 KeyCity Capital 112 Orchard 119 SmartLight Analytics 122 We Are Rosie 3, 88, 115
Campspot 123 Foxbox Digital 121 Keylent 123 Ordway 122 Snapcell 107 Webforce 106
KGM Technologies 118 WeeCare 106
Canopy Management 105
Capital Rx 114
Fox Logistics 118
Fox Ordering 122 Kin Insurance 116
KITRUM 8, 13, 51, 96, 116
P SnapNurse 8, 13, 51, 80, 114
Snappy App 107 WhiteCap Search 116
Whittley Agency 106
CarAdvise 110 Franchise Ramp 104 Packed with Purpose 109 The Snow Agency 104
Carewell 120 FreightPlus 118 Knack 109 PadSplit 119 SocialBook 122 Windsor Group 113
K.Pack Manufacturing 107
Cascadia Global Security 121
Casely 109
FreightPOP 118
Fun In Motion Toys 109 Kwikly Dental Staffing 116
PainTEQ 114
Paint the Town 109
Solar Direct Marketing 105
Solkoa 121 X-Z
CBD Care Garden 110
CDL 1000 117 G L Paradigm Laboratories 115
Partake Foods 6, 102, 113
Solvus Global 65, 118
Soma Global 121
Xactus 112
Xevant 121
CFO Hub 112 Generation Genius 110 Labruutories 106 Pathwater 109 Soma Tech Intl 114 XtremeLTE 123
Chexout 114 Gen3 Technology Consulting LaunchTech 116, 165 PatientWing 115 Songfinch 106 YourSix 121
Chico’s Auto Pros 106 116 LeafLink 122 PCF Insurance Services 111 Songtradr 106 Zap Mortgage 112
Chi-Matic 115 GETIDA 122 Lean Solutions Group 116 Penguin Home Solutions 110 Sourcegraph 122 Zapps Wholesale 120
CigarClub 109 Get Staffed Up 65, 115 Lease End 112 Performance Golf 123 Spartan Investment Group 119 Zenernet 110
Citi Approved Enterprise 107 Git The Trucking Commercial Let’s Talk Interactive 123 Pergoroof 109 Spire 115 Zimba & Plus Ultra 108
Clearcover 116 Tires 120 Lettuce Grow 109 Petalura 120 SponsorUnited 104 Zoomget 109

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168 Inc. September 2022

THERE’S AN
INNOVATOR
IN ALL OF US.
That’s why Dell Technologies and Intel create
technology with innovation built-in, so every
person and every business can do more
incredible things.

Contact a Dell Technologies Advisor

at 877-ASK-DELL or Dell.com/sb