How We Chose the Inc. 5,000, inc5000 Article

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How We Chose the Inc. 5,000

The methodology behind how the 2007 Inc. 5,000 list was chosen.

By: Jim Melloan

The Inc. 5,000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2003 through 2006. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2003, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies--as of December 31, 2006. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) Revenue in 2003 must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in 2006 must have been at least $2 million. Companies added to the Inc. 500 too late for the print edition of Inc. are listed as ties with the companies immediately below them in percentage growth. Beyond number 500, after taking these into account, the ranking resumes at No. 523. Many of these companies, as well as some companies throughout the rest of the Inc. 5,000, are companies that either went public in 2007 or filed to go public in the last 12 months. The number of employees listed is as of December 31, 2006. Full-time and part-time employees are included in the head count; independent contractors are excluded. As always, Inc. reserves the right to reject applicants for subjective reasons.

the Inc. 5,000 and Inc. 500 Lists

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