IGobyTerry
10-10-2006, 02:00 PM
For some of you that say web hosting isn't all that "big" of a field. Here's some numbers that say otherwise.
First up, is Dan Ushman, WHT user and President of MidPhase;
Dan Ushman and I started midPhase with $2,000 on credit cards when I was 20, and he was 18, both still in college. We had both been doing business together through much of high school, running online advertising-related businesses. In 2003, we started midPhase, a web hosting company that focused on providing affordable web hosting solutions to SME's, and we did so from different states. In the first six years, in a very competitive industry we gained 1,000 clients, and decided to take our business to the next level, and consolidate and open an office in Chicago where our servers were located. We built the business entirely on cash-flow, and have been profitable since our second month. We had to make it work, and we did. We put in 12 hours a day each, so that between the two of us we could offer 24 hour phone support, and we grew quickly based on word of mouth.
We now have two offices, over 30 employees, and 40,000 customers with expected revenues this year of over 5 million. Dan is an excellent candidate for entrepreneur of the year, because of his drive for customer service, and ability to think outside the box, and develop marketing campaigns in a very competitive industry. We were ranked, in an industry of over 40,000 competitors 5th fastest growing hosting company.
Dan actually nominated me for Entrepreneur of the Year, and I've apparently been put into the finalists, which is a great honor; however, the growth that we've achieved wouldn't be possible without Dan, and he continues to be at least an equal contributor in our growth today.
And President of RackSpace, Graham Weston;
In 1998, Graham Weston invested seed capital in an idea presented by three Trinity University students to supply and lease hardware and connectivity to get businesses on line. Graham immediately took on the role as CEO, steering Rackspace Managed Hosting as it carved out a leadership position in the Internet infrastructure market.
Weston’s leadership skills were tested during the dot.com crash, but Weston guided the company through the difficult few years, focusing on serving their customers. Rather than installing automated phone systems to save money, Rackspace provided live customer support technicians over the phone 24/7/365 – they wanted to make it easy for customers to get help. Competitors, on the other hand, spent money developing new markets and investing heavily in new data centers. As competitors were forced into bankruptcy or acquired, Weston found Rackspace in a strong position, with a track record of superior customer service that attracted many of the big-name customers from those competitors.
Less than 8 years after its inception, Rackspace has grown by over 50% annually, closing 2005 with $139 million in revenue. The company today boasts 7 data centers across the U.S. and U.K., over 10,000 customers and Rackspace just broke the monumental 1,000 employee mark! Weston attributes the company’s escalating success to their focus on serving their customers.
You can cast your vote at www.inc.com/entreprener
First up, is Dan Ushman, WHT user and President of MidPhase;
Dan Ushman and I started midPhase with $2,000 on credit cards when I was 20, and he was 18, both still in college. We had both been doing business together through much of high school, running online advertising-related businesses. In 2003, we started midPhase, a web hosting company that focused on providing affordable web hosting solutions to SME's, and we did so from different states. In the first six years, in a very competitive industry we gained 1,000 clients, and decided to take our business to the next level, and consolidate and open an office in Chicago where our servers were located. We built the business entirely on cash-flow, and have been profitable since our second month. We had to make it work, and we did. We put in 12 hours a day each, so that between the two of us we could offer 24 hour phone support, and we grew quickly based on word of mouth.
We now have two offices, over 30 employees, and 40,000 customers with expected revenues this year of over 5 million. Dan is an excellent candidate for entrepreneur of the year, because of his drive for customer service, and ability to think outside the box, and develop marketing campaigns in a very competitive industry. We were ranked, in an industry of over 40,000 competitors 5th fastest growing hosting company.
Dan actually nominated me for Entrepreneur of the Year, and I've apparently been put into the finalists, which is a great honor; however, the growth that we've achieved wouldn't be possible without Dan, and he continues to be at least an equal contributor in our growth today.
And President of RackSpace, Graham Weston;
In 1998, Graham Weston invested seed capital in an idea presented by three Trinity University students to supply and lease hardware and connectivity to get businesses on line. Graham immediately took on the role as CEO, steering Rackspace Managed Hosting as it carved out a leadership position in the Internet infrastructure market.
Weston’s leadership skills were tested during the dot.com crash, but Weston guided the company through the difficult few years, focusing on serving their customers. Rather than installing automated phone systems to save money, Rackspace provided live customer support technicians over the phone 24/7/365 – they wanted to make it easy for customers to get help. Competitors, on the other hand, spent money developing new markets and investing heavily in new data centers. As competitors were forced into bankruptcy or acquired, Weston found Rackspace in a strong position, with a track record of superior customer service that attracted many of the big-name customers from those competitors.
Less than 8 years after its inception, Rackspace has grown by over 50% annually, closing 2005 with $139 million in revenue. The company today boasts 7 data centers across the U.S. and U.K., over 10,000 customers and Rackspace just broke the monumental 1,000 employee mark! Weston attributes the company’s escalating success to their focus on serving their customers.
You can cast your vote at www.inc.com/entreprener