CEO Spotlight
Dinesh Boaz
Founder/CEO, Direct Agents
Dinesh Boaz is a leader in the field of digital interactive marketing. Starting the company in 2003 with his brother Josh, the Boaz brothers set out to change how big brands executed their marketing strategies. Choosing to be a full-service, performance-based agency targeting big brands, Direct Agents achieved rapid revenue growth in a short period of time becoming a $6MM company after only two years in business! Under the leadership of Dinesh and Josh, Direct Agents went on to achieve revenues north of $23MM three short years later. Dinesh had to consistently infuse belief into his team that big brands would contract with a small agency because of their service offerings and ability to execute. He attributes much of their success to having a strong team (in all areas including Sales), investing in frequent staff training, and his ability to let go. He empowers the Direct Agents team by dividing responsibilities and trusting his team to deliver. Congratulations to Direct Agents - the featured high growth revenue company!
RR2 on Dinesh: Dinesh understood from the beginning the importance of cultivating strong client relationships. As every business owner eventually learns, without customers you have no business. Dinesh has had a focus on maintaining strong client relationships from day one. Even to this day, he and his brother stay involved in strategic relationships. In the interactive marketing agency business, there is no perfect storm. As Dinesh puts it, "There are constant storms called trends in this ever-evolving industry." Direct Agents, under the leadership of Dinesh, is well equipped to forge new avenues. He has been through ups and downs and has learned that no matter how good things get, you must stay prepared with multiple backup plans and strategies for downturns and changing trends.
Craig McGuinn II
COO/EVP, Ward Media
Leading the high growth revenue charge, Craig McGuinn II capitalized on his industry knowledge and understanding of his clients to drive the various growth phases. Craig and team operated under the auspice that it is okay to be wrong. Say I'm sorry and move on. One of the keys to their success has been the ability to change their positions and opinions based on new facts. They also attribute their success to being early adapters to the emerging employer/employee relationship. They disposed of geographic borders choosing rather to leverage technology when it came to hiring the absolute best people in their industry. Craig also shared that successful high growth companies must be willing to outsource. He continued, "Recognize your core competencies and stick with them. The question is not what can we do; it's what should we do?"
One of the challenges that high growth organizations face is knowing when to buy and when to build. Many companies in this phase must decide to buy a piece of equipment or outsource, build a sales team or partner, buy the infrastructure or lease, and so on. The guiding principle around Ward Media has been their ability to let go of the processes not core to their business. They do not have to own every function of the business to control it. This discovery set them free and created triple digit revenue increases several consecutive years allowing the organization to be acquired. Congratulations to Ward Media - the featured high growth revenue company!
RR2 on Craig: Craig is an extremely dynamic leader. He understands his business better than most and has the right philosophy on next generation corporate leadership. His business acumen extends beyond the direct marketing/direct response industry. Craig understands how to lead, inspire, and motivate people. He knows what drives them and how behavior affects results. Craig does not allow ego to get in the way of success. He gladly elevates his team, hires the most competent people available, and let's them do what they do best. He has developed his leadership ability beyond managing face-to-face staff into effectively leading a geographically-disperse team - a feat many leaders in the corporate world are unable to do today.
Mike Krongel
Founder/CEO, Intermark Media
Founder and CEO of Intermark Media, Mike Krongel, has created an amazing organization with a fantastic culture. Founded in 1999, the company was successfully sitting at $6.7 million in revenue in 2005. In the years that followed, Mike experienced his very own perfect storm. He made maintaining a small company feel a priority as the company's revenues soared. His praise is only for his team to this day. Armed with a culture where everyone's vision is aligned and act with a sense of urgency, Mike led his band to $57 million in revenue in 2008 ranking as one of the fastest growing companies in America. Congratulations to Intermark Media - the featured high growth revenue company!
RR2 on Mike: Mike is driven. He gets things done. His passion for creating a culture of excellence combined with a strong sense of purpose and urgency has resulted in combustible company revenues. He capitalized on market opportunity, took great care in hiring the right people, instilled the right culture, and became the best at shortening the success/failure window into digital marketing performance.
Tom Szaky
Founder/CEO, TerraCycle
CEO of TerraCycle, Tom Szaky, built an eco-friendly powerhouse before green was popular. In TerraCycle's own words, "It all started in 2001 as a simple organic fertilizer company. Two college students fed the leftovers from their cafeteria to an army of worms. They harvested the worm compost and liquefied it into a completely organic, ultra-effective fertilizer. Not having any money they could not buy the packaging they needed to start selling their fertilizer. Undiscouraged, they began to bottle their liquid fertilizer in used soda bottles they collected from people’ recycling bins, unwittingly creating the world’s first product made from and packaged entirely in waste!
Eight years later, TerraCycle has grown from a two-man, dorm room operation to an international leader in the field of ‘eco-capitalism’ and ‘upcycling’ and is starting to prove to the world that you can make a difference and a profit at the same time. TerraCycle’s founders realized the revolutionary idea they discovered was not worm compost but using waste materials, which have no value, to make products that are both sustainable and affordable. Today, TerraCycle partners with major consumer goods manufacturers such as Kraft Foods, Frito-Lay, Mars, Kashi, Kimberly-Clark and many more to run a massive network of individuals, schools and non-profits who get paid to help collect and upcycled non-recyclable packaging. Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking of the fastest growing private companies in America, named TerraCycle the 288th fastest growing company in 2009 and in the top 10 of consumer goods companies. Retailers carrying TerraCycle products include: The Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods Market, OfficeMax, Petco, Urban Outfitters, Radio Shack, Best Buy, Toys ‘R Us and many more. Congratulations to TerraCycle - the featured high growth revenue company!
RR2 on Tom: I love Tom's story. He boot-strapped his way to success before taking on investment that would continue to support the eco-dynasty he created. His passion for recycling along with his sixth sense for business has postured him and TerraCycle to enjoy years of continued hyper growth. He understands the power of differentiation. He's so differentiated that he is in one of the most promising industries of tomorrow with no known competition! His willingness to look introspectively at himself and his organization has given him clarity and focus to concentrate only on the core business and outsource everything else.
Brent Sampson
Founder/CEO, Outskirts Press
CEO of Outskirts Press, Brent Sampson, has built a publishing dynamo that has been recognized by the Inc. 500 and a host of other media outlets for their triple-digit, year-over-year revenue growth! Brent founded Outskirts Press after experiencing the self-publishing industry first hand as he published his first book. He never set out to run a company; he just wanted to be an author. Destiny had other plans and Outskirts Press generates millions of dollars in revenue per year and is continuing to grow by millions more simply by helping would-be authors achieve their dreams.
Brent has managed the hyper revenue growth by reversing the traditional cash flow of the publishing industry. His commitment to efficiency, investment in automation, and effectiveness in marketing has led the company on this remarkable journey. Brent believes the key to creating a high growth organization is to get the right people and then act fast. if there's an investment you need to make, make it. If there's a piece of equipment you need to buy, buy it. Congratulations to Outskirts Press - the featured high growth revenue company!
RR2 on Brent: Brent saw a need and capitalized on it. He saw what was broken and wanted to fix it. The gamble paid off. Like most entrepreneurs, he and his company lived off belief, persistence, and sheer will power in the beginning. He had a dream and did not quit. As the company began to grow, Brent became sophisticated at online marketing and now has one of the most advanced automated platforms and website in the industry!
Gene McCubbin
Founder/CEO, Pop Labs
CEO of Pop Labs, Gene McCubbin, has built a dynamic organization that is remarkably refreshing for an industry suffering from outsiders trying to capitalize on the growth of interactive advertising. Gene has achieved great success generating nearly $200 million in revenues over four companies! His current company has been recognized by the Inc. 500 being named once of the fastest growing companies in America with triple-digit, year-over-year growth three years in a row! The secret to his success in building high growth revenue companies is see what everyone else is doing and then do the opposite. Look at how others conduct business and change the rules of the game. This strategy has not failed him yet. It takes a lot of courage, belief in what you are doing, and nerves of steel, but that recipe has been duplicated successfully.
Gene has carefully managed the rapid revenue growth by recognizing how critical it is to manage cash flow during rapid growth phases. He also understands that it is okay to slow your growth. It may even be in the best interest of the organization to do so. Perhaps what makes Gene, Pop Labs, and all of their success stand out from the crowd is that he hired people not positions. Gene recognized that you can train people on systems and technology, but getting the right team with the right attitude that sees the vision is the starting point for creating a high growth revenue company. Congratulations to Pop Labs - the featured high growth revenue company!
RR2 on Gene: My conversation with Gene was not just about the online advertising industry or Pop Labs or even all of his success. Gene understands business. He understands how it operates and how to replicate it over and over again regardless of what industry he touches. I was impressed by his dedication to learning everything he could about business ownership and entrepreneurship. He quoted articles from the Harvard Business Review with clarity and his understanding of how to build a high growth company was uncanny. Most business owners of highly successful companies have big egos - not Gene. He will be the first to tell you that Pop Labs isn't about him; it's about the amazing team of leaders he has invested in. The life balance and priorities that Gene has learned to value is what makes his professional success personally worthwhile.
Christina Walman
Founder/CEO, ChangeLeader
Christina is a skilled business executive with ground-breaking experience in mobile, web-based software as a service technology. Christina’s career spans twelve years of success in sales and business development. Her ability to translate vision into strategy and deploy the practical tactics necessary to motivate people at all levels has been at the core of her success. In addition to founding business ventures, including her most recent company - ChangeLeader, Christina spent five years of pioneering work in the launch of the UCSB Entrepreneur Training Program. She has built top performing development teams that have raised $20+ million. She has built ChangeLeader into a leading SaaS organization in the wellness arena servicing large populations in the Higher Ed, High Tech, Fitness, and Corporate Wellness markets. Christina obtained a degree from the University of California Santa Barbara, earning highest honors.
RR2 on Christina: Christina is one of the sharpest entrepreneurs I know. She has the rare ability to be flexible and dynamic to changing market conditions while maintaining consistency clearly articulating a powerful message and delivering meaningful solutions. Her pioneering spirit and commitment to organizational and client excellence is an inspiration and example to all.
Dr. Rollan A. Roberts II
Founder and CEO | iDream
© 2012 Created by Rollan A. Roberts II.
