How the 2020 Inc. 5000 Companies Were Selected Companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2016 to 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies--as of December 31, 2019. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to three decimal places. There were four ties on this year's Inc. 5000.