Emory University Releases Research Findings about High-Growth Companies in Southeast; Revenue and Employee Growth, Sales Channels, and Sources of Capital Proved Hot Topics at Inaugural GBS Eagles Conference.

ATLANTA -- Emory University's Center for Entrepreneurship and Corporate Growth (CECG) and Innovations Publishing today announced research analysis results from data collected at the inaugural GBS (Goizueta Business School) Eagles Conference on May 11, 2005. The conference, entitled "Advice from High Flyers: Managing Issues of Rapid Growth," was attended by executives of some of the fastest growing private companies in the southeastern United States, including Moe's Southwest Grill, CipherTrust and AuthenTec.

In addition to being privately-held and headquartered in the Southeast, a company must meet certain requirements to become a GBS Eagle, including generating more than $3 million in revenue during the last 12 months and exhibiting annual revenue growth in excess of 20 percent compounded over the past three years. These companies are profiled in Innovations' Publishing weekly e-newsletter and on their Web site.

"The feedback from attendees and the survey highlight that people issues are a critical challenge for most entrepreneurs in two reoccurring cases," said Edward Hess, executive director of the CECG. "First, entrepreneurs dislike bureaucracy and control processes -yet as their businesses grow they have to embrace processes and controls. Secondly, the paradox of hiring ahead of the growth curve challenges every entrepreneur and highlights the conflict between growth needs and loyalty to employees that have helped their business reach the high-growth stage.

At the May 11 conference, two-page questionnaires were distributed to attendees. Data from 33 companies, who employ a total of 2,875 people, was aggregated to present the initial analysis. Graphical depictions of the research findings are included at the end of this announcement, but examples of the analysis include the following data points:

--Fifty-eight percent of the companies were founded between 1999 and 2001.

--Revenues and employee numbers in 2002 were significantly lower than those in 2003 (graphs one and two)

--Average revenue and employee growth rates were lower in 2004 versus 2003 (graphs one and two)

--Seventy-three percent of the companies have been funded by two or more types of investment sources (graph three)

Companies were asked to identify all of the sales channels that they used. As graph four shows, a majority of the surveyed companies use business-to-business as the primary method of selling their products or services. It is interesting to note that almost every company that responded to the survey has a full-time senior executive dedicated to sales (graph five). The balancing of sales and marketing efforts was a key topic at the May conference.

A component of the questionnaire allowed companies to discuss key growth issues that they faced. Some of the common issues that companies listed include:

--Recruiting, developing and retaining key employees; finding key senior staff in select disciplines

--Providing new products and services to keep up with competition in the marketplace

--Analyzing and prioritizing a number of strategic opportunities available at any given time

--Managing the culture transition from a small company to a large company

--Development of a sales channel program to augment direct selling efforts

A second GBS Eagles conference is slated for November 2005. The CECG at Emory's Goizueta Business School plans to publish a more extensive analysis after additional companies respond to questionnaires at this conference. For more information about GBS Eagles, please visit http://www.GBSEagles.com.

About Innovations Publishing

Atlanta-based Innovations Publishing LLC was formed in 2002 by Ben Dyer, a general partner of Cordova Intellimedia Ventures. Innovations Publishing manages the largest collection of information on emerging and high-growth private companies in the Southeast. Investors, lawyers, CPAs and others involved in the deal flow rely on this comprehensive Web database and weekly e-newsletter, entitled Southeast Innovations, to stay abreast of opportunities, investment transactions, customer successes, new product lines, and executive team changes.