That’s Billion—With a “B”
For the past three years, Forbes compiled a list of “25 young U.S. companies with a strong shot at reaching a valuation of $1 billion or more,” and this morning, Forbes included Jive Communications on their list for 2017 Next Billion-Dollar Startups.
Being featured in Forbes’s 2017 list is a feat for any startup, and Jive made the cut with our cloud-based system that integrates voice, video, and other communications applications. “We’re ecstatic about our inclusion on Forbes’s list,” said Matt Peterson, Jive CMO. “We certainly have experienced significant growth within our company as more and more businesses and organizations adopt cloud-based communications—it’s the way the market is moving.”
This year’s selection process began by asking venture firms and encouraging companies to nominate promising startups. From these recommendations, Forbes—working in collaboration with TrueBridge and Capital Partners—narrowed to 25 companies by rigorously evaluating and researching recent valuations, investors, business plans, growth trajectories, and chatting with company founders, investors, customers, and competitors.
What Makes Jive Different
What distinguishes Jive Communications from the other companies listed this year is funding. In true Utah fashion, Jive takes pride in bootstrapping. As the Forbes article points out, Jive “unlike the other fast-growing tech firms, largely avoided venture funding.” In fact, a recent Silicon Slopes article, “For Jive Communications, The Keyword Is Growth,” quantifies Jive’s bootstrapping: “To this day Jive has raise less than $30 million in venture capital, a stark contrast to the $100+ million in revenue.”
A Win for Utah
Jive’s win is another win for Utah. Last year, Utah’s startup Owlet was included on Forbes’s exclusive list, and Jive is elated to represent the Silicon Slopes community in 2017. “Outsiders may not think of Utah as a tech hotspot,” as Amy Feldman’s Forbes article bluntly states, and Jive’s inclusion for 2017 reaffirms the promise and growth of Utah’s tech community.
For blooming in the desert of Utah is our Silicon Slopes community: a burgeoning tech ecoculture where startups find opportunity and unicorns roam free. (4 unicorns to be exact: Pluralsight, Qualtrics, Domo, and InsideSales).
And if the Forbes billion-dollar prediction comes true, perhaps another unicorn will soon join the Silicon Slopes blessing. (A group of unicorns is called a blessing).
