L-R: Raphael Joseph, Cate Buckley,
Mike Binder & Jeff Smith
Propeller Interactive
Gross Revenue: 2000: $1,735,750 1997: $144,697
Growth: 1,099.58%
Full-Time Employees: 13
Since its creation in 1994, old by the standards of this industry, Propeller Interactive has conceived and developed interactive projects as diverse as the industry itself. Despite its relative youth, the Overland Park-based company has designed the nation's "largest" official city web site, a promotional site for a Fortune 100 company, and an intranet for thousands of employees at America's largest petroleum company.
CEO Jeff Smith attributes Propeller's rapid ascent to "an increase in customer demand and excellent client service." The company employs a "Discover Project Management model" that allows for the integration of diverse disciplines and skill sets into a single cohesive effort, in essence a turnkey interactive solution with a single contact point for the client. The company also prides itself for its focus on "customer ROI" and for "building not just an IT application, but a business application" for its clients.
L-R: Mike Brown & Dan Henry
Euronet Worldwide
Gross Revenue: 2000: $52,740,000 1997: $5,290,000
Growth 896.98%
Full-time Employees: 478
From its Leawood headquarters, Euronet has emerged as a global leader in the rapidly changing field of electronic financial transactions. Not only does the company provide financial institutions with an advanced infrastructure for connectivity and transaction processing, but it also operates the largest ATM network throughout Europe. "The important part of any growth company," says James McCrory, Managing Director of Investment Relations, "is to get past being a 'growth company' and actually start making money. That's what our shareholders are excited about."
Mike Brown and Dan Henry co-founded Euronet in 1994. Brown has served as its CEO ever since and Henry as COO. Euronet's success is due to their recognition of the huge growth opportunities in exporting American technology and customer-service paradigms to the former soviet bloc countries. Says McCrory, "We've go the right business models at the right time for the developing markets that we're in."
L-R: Wanda Kelsey-Mendez,
Chris Saylor, Ron Zack
Computer Source
Gross Revenue: 2000: $27,536,128 1997: $3,113,243
Growth: 784.48%
Full-time Employees: 59
Computer Source provides information technology and products and services to Fortune 500 Companies and other large, information intensive businesses. From its Lenexa offices, the company plans, builds, runs, and maintains the IT infrastructure for its customers. In addition to providing products and services, Computer Source offers a Designated Education Solutions department that customizes specific solutions for its scholastic client base, including school districts, colleges, private schools, and trade schools.
CEO Ron Zack heads up the company, which was founded in 1995. Zack asserts that the company has succeeded the old-fashioned way—by focusing on our customers' needs and solving their technological problems.
"We try to exceed customer expectations and satisfy end users through a collaborative approach that focuses on solving problems rather than selling product," states Ron Zack.