According to my mom, this is a “brag”, not a “blog”.
Deloitte & Touche has an annual “Colorado Technology Fast 50” ranking. They rank the top 50 technology companies in Colorado based on their revenue growth over the previous five years. This year four Mobius-related companies made the list. I’m obviously proud of all of them.
#2 ServiceMagic: 5500% growth. IAC acquired ServiceMagic in July. We invested in 1999 – ServiceMagic had “a little” revenue then. ServiceMagic was every VCs dream – they defined “hockey stick growth” – once they found it (in 2002) there was no stopping them.
#4 Raindance Communications: 3044% growth. We invested in Raindance when it was three guys, an idea, and no revenue. Raindance went public in 2000 and survived the dotcom implosion to be the solid, successful company it is today. In addition to making some money, I got two incredible friends – Paul Berberian and Jim Lejeal – out of the deal.
#14 Level 3 Communications: 682%. We didn’t actually have much to do with Level 3, but they acquired one of our companies (Corporate Software) in 2002. Corporate Software – and its subsequent acquisition of Software Spectrum – contributed significantly to Level 3’s growth, so I’ll be gratuitous and list this one also. Fortunately, after Howard Diamond – the CEO of Corporate Software – retired – he got bored enough that I was able to entice (beg, plead, guilt) him into becoming chairman of ePartners.
#33 Gold Systems: 107%. I joined the Gold Systems board in 1996 shortly after I moved to Colorado. Mobius invested in 2000. The company has made steady progress through a difficult environment. After two years of flat revenue, they’ve started to grow again (profitably!) – Terry Gold and his team have done a great job hanging in there and building a real business.
While revenue growth doesn’t define success, it’s a key indicator for a venture-backed company.