5000: Inc. Unveils Expanded '500' Issue

Mansueto Ventures’ Inc. magazine describes its first-ever Inc. list of the country’s 5,000 fastest growing private companies as the most comprehensive look at entrepreneurial business. The list—expanded 10-fold from its annual Inc. 500 list—was released in conjunction with the September issue, and is available in full online at www.inc.com/inc5000.

“We wanted to create the most comprehensive database of fast-growth private companies in the United States, and we’ve succeeded,” Mansueto Digital president Ed Sussman tells Folio: Alert. The expansion project fell under the umbrella of Mansueto Digital. “Our advanced search database allows the public to slice and dice the list in thousands of ways—whether you want to see the fastest growing companies listed by any of hundreds of vertical industry types, or by any of the 50 states … or by rank or revenue. From here, much of the journalistic work begins, including gaining a better understanding of the entrepreneurial economy than has ever been possible before.”

The Inc. 5,000 list measures revenue growth from 2003 through 2006. To qualify, companies had to be U.S.-based and privately held—independent companies, not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—and had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2003 and $2 million in 2006.

Of the 13 magazine publishers on the Inc. list, Red 7 Media—Folio:’s parent company—was named the number one fastest grower (ranked 585 overall) with a 544.6 percent growth rate from 2003 to 2006.

Topping the overall list is MemberHealth, which manages Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, and processed 52 million prescriptions in 2006. In the media category, Glu Mobile, which publishes video games for mobile phones, took top honors.

Inc. spent a year and more than $1 million collecting information for the list, Sussman says. Now that the list is out, Inc. plans next month to launch IncBizNet.com, an online community designed specifically for the companies on the list.

“On IncBizNet.com, the 5,000 will be able to create their own comprehensive profiles of their businesses, including key executives bios, product and service lines description, company press releases and marketing materials,” Sussman explains. The 5,000 will have their own member-only communities for networking, mentoring, industry discussions and to arrange local meet ups. Basically, we want to play a significant role in enabling these companies to learn from one another and do business with each other.”

How do the magazine publishing companies stack up?

Rank Company Name

585 Red 7 Media

775 CardPlayer Media

1145 The Enthusiast Network

1317 Agile Business Media

1336 Publication Services of America

1926 Cahaba Media Group

2486 Mikel-Brock Investment Group

2529 BZ Media

2650 Publishing Group of America

3711 PTO Today