When other insurers fled the state of Florida in 2004, entrepreneurs Alexander Anthony (left) and Albert Fernandez decided to set up shop. Even as their business has exploded, they pride themselves on the personal touch. "Larger companies want people to perform transactions without ever talking to a person," they told Inc. "For us, a transaction involves people talking to people."
Three-year Growth: 13,416.4 percent Revenue: $47.4 million Location: San Juan Capistrano, California
CEO William Chetney's company, which manages 401(k) plans, actually benefited from the recent stock market swoon, when it was able to hire talent away from competitors such as Merrill Lynch.
Three-year Growth: 13,350.3 percent Revenue: $38.4 million Location: Washington, D.C.
Real-estate developer Cedric J. Franklin Sr. made his fortune buying residential homes, making them more energy efficient, and then selling them. He now has a series of green business projects under consideration, including building a green resort in Las Vegas. In real estate, "the object should be to buy low, sell high, not buy high, sell higher," he says.
Three-year Growth: 12,749.3 percent Revenue: $63.5 million Location: Mill Valley, California
Former Navy SEAL Alden Mills makes and sells exercise equiment, including the Perfect Pushup, that works the whole body. His first big sale: A $300,000 account with Marriott.
Three-year Growth: 12,654.4 percent Revenue: $96.4 million Location: Sarasota, Florida
John Lemp's web marketing agency took off after it adopted the cost-per-action (or CPA) model, by which an advertiser pays for a campaign only when a customers buys something or takes another desired action.
Three-year Growth: 10,399 percent Revenue: $21.4 million Location: Woburn, Massachusetts
This logstics company equips warehouses with robots that help to pack and ship merchandise. Customers include Staples, Walgreens, and Zappos. Though a video of the robots performing a ballet is a cult hit on YouTube, founder Mick Mountz says his day-to-day routine is relatively prosaic. "I'm very hands on," he says. "If we have a new piece of hardware, I'll go down and review it with the product team on the floor."
Three-year Growth: 9,481.1 percent Revenue: $38.3 million Location: New York City
Peter Bordes runs this marketing agency, which operates a cost-per-action platform used by online advertisers to measure the effectiveness of campaigns that involve display advertising, paid search, social media, and e-mail.
Three-year Growth: 8,433.7 percent Revenue: $20.3 million Location: Vienna, Virginia
Criterion Systems provides cybersecurity and data-search services to government agencies. "We know all the decision makers in the Beltway," boasts president and CEO Promod Sharma. "That's our biggest strength."
