Sarkisian/inc/13″/mike1st/mark2nd
By NOLA L. SARKISIAN
Staff Reporter
Mark Moses threw a fit when his company, Platinum Capital, was not included in this year’s Inc. 500.
A spot on the magazine’s prestigious annual ranking of the nation’s 500 fastest-growing private companies is highly coveted among entrepreneurs nationwide, and Moses was convinced that the company’s 10,000 percent sales growth rate over five years qualified it for inclusion.
The Manhattan Beach-based company had been ranked No. 1 on the Business Journal’s list of fastest-growing local companies.
So Moses, 34, and Platinum co-founder Brett Dillenberg, 32, got on the phone to Inc.’s editors and appealed their case.
The appeal was quickly decided in Platinum Capital’s favor.
Inc.’s editor-in-chief, George Gendron, sent Dillenberg a letter apologizing “for the error,” and noting that Platinum Capital did indeed warrant inclusion on the Inc. 500, as the No. 10 fastest-growing private company.
Gendron also extended an invitation for Platinum Capital officials to attend the Inc. 500 awards dinner in Nashville this June.
“We’re thrilled about it,” Moses said. “Getting that recognition is good for business, for company morale and raising capital. We were stunned when we didn’t make it. We’ve been working toward this since we opened.”
Platinum Capital initially had been omitted because Inc. editors did not recognize the two streams of revenue that the company had during its start-up year. Following a series of phone calls and faxes, Inc. conceded that it had erred.
“They were right. We were incorrect in our judgement,” Gendron said. “There was a disagreement regarding their tax returns, but it turns out they were filed in a way that was unusual, but perfectly legal and ethical.”
Such errors are infrequent and appeals are considered promptly, Gendron said.
“We take these calls very seriously,” he said. “We know people are out there working their butts off and this means the world to them.”
Gendron said five companies appealed their cases in 1998, about the usual number. Three lost their appeals. The only other company included after the fact was Florida-based Apartment Hunters Guide, which was awarded the 490th slot on the Inc. 500.
“In the course of the year, we screen 5,000 to 10,000 companies,” Gendron said. “It’s a real painstaking process.”
He said editors will decide later this month whether to publish the corrections in the magazine.
Being included on the Inc. 500 can help otherwise obscure companies raise their profiles, as well as provide an ego boost.
“Is it overrated? Yes. Does it help them? Yes,” said business consultant Roy Cammarano, owner of Dana Point-based Entrepreneurial Development Group. “Companies want to be on this list for ego gratification, for visibility in the marketplace and for competitive reasons. They’ve worked hard and they want to be recognized.”
Yet, he said such lists are no barometer to gauge future performance. “I’ve seen organizations that have made the list and been bankrupt in one year. You can’t sit on your laurels,” he said.
