THE ELITE

Building a fast-growth business is like charging up Heartbreak Hill. At some point on the incline, founders make the Inc. 5000, our annual ranking of the nation’s fastest- growing private companies, and pause to cry, “Yes!” Then they’re off and running again.

Only this year, the road ahead looks very different. Picture K2, only with more avalanches and less oxygen.

From 2016 to 2019, the Inc. 5000 achieved a median revenue of $8.2 million and a median compound growth rate of 1,776.6 percent. These founders were buoyed by