Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Inc. Magazine

It’s lonely business being an entrepreneur. When Sallie Krawcheck worked for the financial giants Citi and Bank of America, she was supported by thousands of employees. She was not prepared for the isolation she felt as the founder of Ellevest—an investment and wealth management platform for women— especially during the pandemic. “I was working alone in a room at home and had no peer CEOs to call, because everybody was in battle mode dealing with the same thing,” she tells Inc. senior editor Sara Deeter in “Let’s Be Honest” (page 38). There is a load of scholarly research to validate what Krawcheck discovered for herself, and what you as founders go through every day. None of your corporate friends and contacts can empathize with your challenges, and the long hours…

Tune into your emotions to strengthen your emotional awareness. Feeling anxious? Fatigued? When you’re more in tune with your emotions, you’re also more in tune with how others feel. That means you can listen more intently rather than doing all the talking yourself. Tennant says: “Recognizing how the ego shows up allows us to realize when we’re not creating space for the voices around us.” Don’t hide from conflict within your team. Avoiding conflict, Tennant says, is “sort of operating within a blunted spectrum of human interaction.” Healthy relationships have elasticity: You can disagree but still recover. It’s through disagreement, and challenging underlying assumptions, that people develop an understanding of one another’s point of view—and that leads to innovative thinking, adds Tennant. Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable. Engaging in conflict isn’t…

“The biggest mistake of my career was not buying back SparkNotes when my co-founders and I had the chance. We incorporated the company in March 1999 and sold it to this internet company, iTurf, for $30 million— about half in cash and half to be paid out over time. The deal closed in February 2000, about six weeks before the dot-com bubble burst. About a year later, iTurf was almost bankrupt and still owed us $13 million, so we negotiated an agreement to sell off SparkNotes and split the proceeds 50-50 with iTurf. Barnes & Noble offered $3.5 million—about 5¢ on the dollar. We could have owned the whole business if we had just come up with $1.75 million to buy out iTurf’s share. “When I reflect back, I was…

Sallie Krawcheck is no stranger to stress. She spent 20-plus years in banking, rising to top roles and becoming “the most powerful woman on Wall Street,” all while shouldering the weight of institutionalized sexism. Her two highestprofile jobs ended publicly: In 2008, she left her post as CEO of Citi Wealth Management after failing to get the bank to repay on toxic investments. Three years later, she departed Merrill Lynch because of a restructuring. In 2015, Krawcheck started over by co-founding Ellevest, a women’s investment and wealth management platform that had more than 120,000 users (including this reporter) as of 2021; today it has $1.9 billion in assets under management. Krawcheck got real with us about her chronic sleep issues, the emotional burden of being a woman founder, and her…

IN A MAHOGANY AND marble conference room downstairs from Stephen Curry’s apartment near San Francisco’s Financial District, 10 executives from a constellation of businesses belonging to the NBA superstar have gathered to coordinate their efforts on various projects. It’s just before lunchtime when Tiffany Williams, the COO of Thirty Ink, the parent company of Curry’s many endeavors, announces it’s time to discuss the logistics of a series of events they’re planning in New York City this fall. There’s an event during Fashion Week with the Japanese tech conglomerate Rakuten, tied to a deal Curry struck to support Black designers. There’s a potential visit to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s suite at the U.S. Open. There’s a KPMGsponsored golf tournament in New Jersey for Curry’s Underrated Golf business, which helps student…

This region, which includes Texas, always gets props for its size, but our winners are also super efficient, delivering 320 percent growth per employee—the highest rate of any region. There were energy companies, yes, but also software startups, test-prep services, interior design firms, and more than 100 repeat honorees. INC. REGIONALS CLASS OF 2024 162 Companies 135% Median Growth $14.5B Total Revenue 2022 17,606 Jobs Added No. 1 How I Realized That I Need to Keep My Team to Grow It BRANDER GROUP Scottsdale, Arizona Jake Grander, founder and CEO 2-year revenue growth: 640% Jake Brander was at a crossroads in his career as an IT sales director when he discovered a way to track down unused IP addresses—a very finite resource. In 2016, as internet-connected devices flooded the marketplace,…

Yes, the regional home of the nation’s capital is home to more government services firms than any other. But it also got an outsize boost from IT startups and veteranowned businesses. Virginia contributed most to this area’s growth, followed by North Carolina. INC. REGIONALS CLASS OF 2024 135 Companies 154% Median Growth $5.2B Total Revenue 2022 14,110 Jobs Added No. 9 How We Discovered That All Signs Lead to Growth CAROLINA SIGNS AND WONDERS Charlotte, North Carolina Jacquie Golbus, co-founder and CEO 2-year revenue growth: 762% As Jacquie and Todd Golbus, both 48, faced becoming empty nesters, they knew exactly what they wanted to do with all that free time: start some type of business. They sat down at their kitchen table in Charlotte, North Carolina, to weigh options. A…

Americans are migrating to sunbelt boomtowns like Miami, Atlanta, and Nashville—and getting straight to work. The Southeast can claim more winners—223—and has created more jobs than any other of the Inc. regions, while boasting the broadest diversity of founders. INC. REGIONALS CLASS OF 2024 223 Companies 166% Median Growth $8.8B Total Revenue 2022 20,496 Jobs Added Desmond Attmore (near right) and Brian Wright started what became their marketing business as freshmen in college. No. 6 6 How We Turned Our POV Into a Selling Point SIX DEGREES AGENCY Atlanta Brian Wright, co-founder 2-year revenue growth: 1,582% After meeting at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, Brooklyn natives Brian Wright and Desmond Attmore collaborated on a clothing brand. They hustled their merch into the hands of hip-hop artists like Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa, and…

Inc. Power Partner CATEGORY WINNER: CLOUD COMPUTING/SAAS, CRM KEY CLIENTS: U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES YEAR FOUNDED: 1992 HQ: PALM HARBOR, FL GEOGRAPHICSOLUTIONS.COM For employers and job seekers, searching for the right talent or role can be exhausting. However, unbeknownst to most, states offer free resources to make this process easier for employers and job seekers, says Paul Toomey, president of Geographic Solutions, a leading provider of public employment software in more than 40 states and U.S. territories. Employ Florida, CalJOBS, and WorklnTexas are just a few examples of Geographic Solutions systems, which are accessible to more than 200 million individuals. These solutions are more than a traditional job board; they combine labor exchange and education resources with labor market data to help job seekers advance their careers. “We don’t just show…

As the world adapts to constant challenges and shifting market conditions, Inc. continues to deliver the most useful and timely content and experiences for our audience—the smalland midsize-business leaders who drive the American economy. After over 40 years, we know that bringing people together, in person or virtually, is an essential way to support and inspire the founders who rely on us. So, this March, Inc. will return once again to SXSW in Austin. While we’re there, we’ll be hosting our always popular Inc. Founders House. IFH is a great place for you to meet other innovators, and for Inc. editors to meet you. If you miss IFH in Austin, we’ll be hosting our first-ever IFH in Philadelphia this May for Small Business Month. Like every IFH, this event will…

Do you have any unfulfilled dreams? “Even if the dream is something unrelated to the job—like a vacation in Tahiti or going parasailing—the creativity of their answer can be telling. It reveals a lot about their personality.” —Liviu Tanase, founder and CEO, ZeroBounce, Inc. 5000 (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019) What do you know about our company? “We think this tells us something about the candidate’s curiosity and initiative, and how well they’ve prepared. Are they just window shopping, or actively looking for the type of opportunity we’re offering?” —David Kern, founder and president, Kern Technology Group, Inc. 5000 (2022, 2021, 2020) Dog or cat? Ocean or mountain? Dawn or dusk? “We do a rapid-fire at the end of an interview. It’s always so much fun and it gives them an…

“The first time I read it, I was not in a place to receive it,” says Madison Utendahl (above), founder and CEO of Utendahl Creative, a New York City-based creative agency. The book is Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic—a title she’s read many times since, adding marginalia. She highlights a moment when Gilbert recalls receiving a rejection from an editor. Years later, the Eat, Pray, Love author submitted the story to the same editor, and they loved it. Utendahl has experienced similar scenarios. “Just because you have an intro call with someone, it doesn’t mean it leads to business right away,” she says. “It could lead to business a year from now. Just trust that whenever the timing is right for that person or that brand, if you have a strong…

“The process of making the Body Stone lotion bar isn’t too dissimilar from making a fine chocolate truffle. I initially made the bars myself, but that became unsustainable. While prepping for launch, I made more than 5,000 of them in a few weeks. “Looking for help, I posted on Indeed, and we had some great people come in, but they weren’t comfortable with what they were doing. You have to know what batter feels like against a spatula. “Around that time, I met this guy at the gym who turned out to be Daniel Sklaar, the founder of the chocolate company Fine & Raw. I told him about my problem. And he said, ‘Kate, what did you tell me about your product? It’s like food. You’re hiring the wrong people.’…

As told to Christine Lagorio-Chafkin SHEILA JOHNSON IS America’s first Black female billionaire. She’s lived multiple entrepreneurial journeys, from co-founding BET in 1980 to creating her luxury resort management company in 2005. She’s since purchased an ownership stake in the Washington Mystics franchise—of which she is president and managing partner—as well as stakes in two other WNBA teams and a golf resort. A refrain running through her career: Since childhood, she’s found grounding in her deep passion for classical music and the arts. She’s executive produced multiple films and is the author of a new memoir, Walk Through Fire, which details her struggles in business, with institutional racism, and in relationships. More multifaceted than ever at 75, Johnson has emerged from the flames intact—and with ample wisdom to share. 1…

Rohit Bhargava I INC.’S NON-OBVIOUS BUSINESS BOOKS The fovnder of the Non-Qbxiious Company, Rohit Bhargma is a trend curator and best-selling author of nine books. What if things don’t happen for a reason? A man’s life is saved because he first chose a green shirt on the morning of 9/11. An American couple takes a vacation in Kyoto that, two decades later, spares nearly two million people and costs at least 100,000 others their lives. The most important book of the 19th century almost doesn’t get written because of the shape of the author’s nose. In an unsettling new book called Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters, social scientist and global politics professor Brian Klaas explores the thread that connects these coincidences. The idea that flukes might…

MEDIA Unanimous Media produces films and shows, books, podcasts, and video games. Branding agency 7K develops the identities of Curry properties. TOURS The Underrated Golf tour, with four stops at major courses, showcases diverse young golfers. Underrated Basketball holds camps for over-looked players. CONSUMER GOODS Gentleman’s Cut bourbon launched in 2023. A brand of children’s products will launch later this year. ENDORSEMENTS No hoops star has had their own sportswear brand besides Michael Jordan—until Curry Brand, with Under Armour. Other sponsors include Chase, KPMG, and Rakuten. VENTURE CAPITAL Avenue Sports Fund invests in new sports businesses, including the TGL golf league. Penny Jar Capital backs tech companies. PHILANTHROPY Eat. Learn. Play, gives out books and meals to under-privileged youth in Oakland and builds sports facilities. Coming soon: expansion to other…

Home to Silicon Valley, Sand Hill Road, and California’s economy—equivalent to the world’s sixth-largest country’s—the West Coast is a magnet for entrepreneurs. It boasted the second-highest median growth rate of any region, at 163 percent. No fewer than the top 15 companies in the region are headquartered in the Golden State. INC. REGIONALS CLASS OF 2024 170 Companies 163% Median Growth $5.5B Total Revenue 2022 10,689 Jobs Added NO. 14 How I Did a 180 on Strategy to Bring My Cultural Brew to the Masses WILDWONDER South San Francisco, California Rosa Li, founder and CEO 2-year revenue growth: 875% Long hours of working in finance had taken a toll on Rosa Li’s health, and she decided that the thing to do was reboot her gut She began brewing tonics her…

Honorees in the Midwest maintained their work ethic, notching the highest total revenue, $24.5 billion. Illinois contributed the most to that growth, followed by Wisconsin—home to the region’s No. 1 company, canned cocktail brand Carbliss, which launched in 2019. Heartland founders have been particularly successful in computer hardware, environmental services, and logistics. INC. REGIONALS CLASS OF 2024 172 Companies 135% Median Growth $24.5B Total Revenue 2022 14,830 Jobs Added No. 3 3 How I Turned My Science Training Into a Booming Consultancy ATKCO Chicago Shayna Atkins, founder and CEO 2-year revenue growth: 2,579% Shayna Atkins, 35, always dreamed of becoming a scientist. But even with her physics degree from Spelman College in hand, she wound up in another field. As the founder of the Chicago-based consulting and implementation firm AtkCo, Atkins…

The requst to the board of directors was simple enough: Give me 25 percent of the company if you expect me to continue running it as brilliantly as I do. "Me" being. Elon Musk, and the company being Tesla. "I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotocs without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can't be overturned," he wrote in mid- January on X, formerly known as Twitter. As if Tesla’s Musk-bound board ever had the power to overturn him. The same goes for the boards and big investors in SpaceX, and X, and Neuralink, and his new AI company, xAI. To Musk’s 169 million social media followers, a $60 billion pay bump that would come out…

LAST JUNE, STEVE ELLS, WHO FOUNDED CHIPOTLE AND LAUNCHED THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY’S FAST-CASUAL WAVE, carved out time for a vacation. The entrepreneur—who for years poured every waking hour into chopping, grilling, and packaging his burritos into what became a $20 billion company by the time he left in March 2020—headed for the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, roughly 800 miles south of the North Pole. Traveling by boat from there, he made daily, five-hour outings, hiking up and skiing down a series of peaks. No part of his trip sounds relaxing to me. As we walk uptown through Manhattan’s clogged streets on a brisk and bright winter afternoon, the endlessly energetic, 57-year-old Ells recounts how he climbed each peak with a pounding heart, peeling off clothing layers and stuffing them into…

Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff founded her eponymous brand in New York City in 2005, starting with handbags and expanding into clothing and shoes. Global supply chain issues flattened sales in 2021, as overseas manufacturers prioritized larger retailers. Minkoff, who sold minority stakes in the company in 2012 and 2014, knew the brand needed to protect itself from those same issues in the future. So, in 2022, she sold the company to Sunrise Brands, whose apparel portfolio includes American Rag and NYDJ, reportedly for $13 million to $19 million. We spoke with Minkoff about how selling created new opportunities. “We’d been talking with Sunrise about a denim license for a year or so when we started to feel our supply chain collapsing. Sunrise had sourcing offices in Hong Kong and imported…

Insider Expert advice from Inc.’s inner circle Mark Daniel, managing partner of the investment firm Digital, is searching for the founders who will shape the future. As a teen in Nashville, Mark Daniel routinely skipped going to parties, choosing to stay home and design computer apps while dreaming of starting his own business. So, in 2013, when he was selected for the $100,000 Thiel Fellowship—and the chance to “build new things instead of sitting in a classroom”—he dropped out of Babson College and moved to San Francisco. There, he founded multiple tech startups. Though they fizzled, they helped Daniel and friend Benjamin Milstein connect with hedge fund founder and current New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who tasked them with running Digital, a $100 million investment firm that would fund…

Samantha Coxe decided to get serious about flossing after a particularly gruesome—and long overdue—dentist visit revealed she had 12 cavities. She started searching for something that would make flossing faster, but when she Googled “electric flosser,” nothing came up. So she decided to make her own. After raising $2 million from friends and family, she left her corporate law job in 2021 to grow her startup, Flaus. But first, she’d have to invent its marquee product—a process that took two years, multiple focus groups, and 250 prototypes. Here’s what worked.…

Breaking the Mold Modern Age, New York City Massive storefront windows offer passersby a glimpse into what appears to be a posh purveyor of beauty creams, cleansers, and other wellness wares. The spare but elegant retail setting, however, is actually an introduction to Modern Age’s raison d’être as a health clinic focused on slowing down the aging process. Clinicians in treatment suites offer services ranging from chemical peels to Botox to IV drip therapies. The 3,500-square-foot facility has ample space to host yoga classes and events such as panel discussions. That flexibility is deliberate, says Ringo: “It starts to really play a role in developing a much more complex kind of community engagement.” The kind that creates repeat customers. There was always going to be backlash to the pandemic years…

This rugged region claims the largest ratio of female founders, at 26 percent. From Denver to Las Vegas, women launched IV hydration clinics, formalwear disrupters, and trade show booth makers. Way-out-there Wyoming had the biggest spike in new business applications in 2022, up 41 percent YOY. INC. REGIONALS CLASS OF 2024 72 Companies 122% Median Growth $1.7B Total Revenue 2022 3,838 Jobs Added No. 14 How I Built a Magnet of a Marketing Shop for Creators DAVA Orem, Utah Vale Diaz, co-founder and CEO 2-year revenue growth: 362% Vale Diaz, 24, grew up on a steady diet of YouTube content. He got so into making videos that at 17, with his mom’s blessing, he left home in Provo, Utah, to take an editing gig for a YouTube channel in Los…

Inc. Power Partner CATEGORY WINNER: LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION KEY CLIENTS: MAJOR GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS YEAR FOUNDED: 2001 HQ: FAIRFAX, VA LOGENIX.COM Logenix goes where other logistics services companies won’t or can’t: the developing world. Its myopic focus on hard-toreach places earns Logenix an Inc. Power Partner designation, which honors growing companies that have kept their focus on providing excellence in business-to-business(B2B) products and services. “We are the only company I know ofwhose focus is the developing world. It is easy to focus on primary cargo lanes, but the entire industry does that. We’ve decided to excel in the tougher regions,” says Logenix Presidentand Founder Ron Cruse. The company’s projects include primary support of the world’s largest public health initiatives for USAID and The Global Fund. Because of its expansive supply chain…