The Breakthrough Company

Posted by: Diane Brady on January 14

Every entrepreneur wants to be the one who breaks through; who doesn’t just chase his industry’s trends but helps to shape them. Keith McFarland has just written a book (The Breakthrough Company)that explores the traits of high-growth players that actually make it.

What is a breakthrough? For McFarland, it’s a company that manages to topple the $250 million annual sales barrier. After analyzing data and interviewing more than 1,400 execs, he settled on nine players that have made it into the big leagues. While most have some recognition, they’re hardly the stalwarts of management writing like Starbuck’s, IBM and GE. The list: ADTRAN, Chico’s FAS, Express Personnel, Fastenal, Intuit, Paychex, Polaris, SAS and The Staubach Company.

What distinguishes the book is that some of the points are counter-intuitive. The businesses aren’t necessarily hip or cool; the founders don’t automatically step aside for “professional management” once their companies reach a certain size; success often depends on creating a network of outside resources that give you expertise without a lot of extra expense. And not one of the companies profiled reached out to get startup venture capital.

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