What it means to me to be #227 on the Inc. 5,000 list

Today our company was very honored to be included on the Inc. 5,000 list at position number 227.  You can see the full list at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2015/.  The Inc. 5,000 list is billed as “the fastest-growing private companies in America” and requires the signature of a certified public accountant for verification of revenue numbers.  To be considered for the 2015 list, companies must have; generated revenue by March 31, 2012, generated at least $100,000 in revenue in 2012 and generated at least $2 million in revenue in 2015.  The list is credible. 

Our company started over Skype and email between Bedford, NH and Petah Tikva Israel where my business partner, co-founder and our Chief Technology Officer Koren Tako grew up.  We have since moved to Dunwoody, GA and Tel Aviv proper.  We also have offices in Fargo, ND and Greenville, SC as well as remote employees in various US cities and The Hague (Netherlands).

I ‘met’ Koren over email at the end of 2005 just as my first company was beginning acquisition talks.  After that company sold, I partnered it with Koren’s startup to acquire and resell a software product he had built.  Fast forward to May of 2010 and Koren and I decided to start a company together.  This might seem like a typical founders story, but it surprises most people to hear that Koren and I never actually met in person until September 2010.  By that point, our company was already in motion and we were launching our first product.  We were cautiously optimistic, but we knew there would be challenges ahead; especially given the complexities of starting a dispersed, global business that would come to serve thousands of customers in dozens of countries.

Anyone that has started a business knows it is hard.  Even when things might seem to be going well from the outside, entrepreneurs are always sweating some issue beneath the surface. When I look back at the last five years, with all the sleepless nights, I have to give the lion’s share of the credit to the people who work here.  Early on, we established a culture of finding the best people.  This single practice has made all the difference.  The people we hire do not make excuses and they do not focus on the obstacles.  They simply get the job done.

When I think of what it means to be the 227th fastest growing private company in America, I think of how lucky I am to have the team who got us here.  Thank you all.

John Gravely
CEO and co-Founder
ClickDimensions and Automational

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