If founders don’t put themselves out there, they’ll never know how far they can grow, advised Matt Watson, shortly after Inc. Magazine ranked his tech startup — Stackify — one of the fastest growing companies in Kansas City.
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Stackify is the No. 6 fastest-growing company overall in the Kansas City metro, alongside successful logistics, construction, advertising, and consumer goods operations, according to the 2019 Inc. 5000 list. Among the notable rankings:
- 210, Empowered Electric, North Kansas City
- 379, Stackify, Leawood
- 529, Nickel & Suede, Liberty
- 900, ProcureIT Network, Grain Valley
- 935, Global Soft Systems, Overland Park
- 1135, Lever1, Kansas City
- 1527, Rx Savings Solutions, Overland Park
- 2408, Alight Analytics, Kansas City
- 2752, DEG, Overland Park
- 3355, Chelsoft Solutions, Olathe
- 3960, The Purple Guys, Kansas City
- 4717 — Dimensional Innovations, Overland Park
Click here to see the full list of Kansas City companies on the Inc. 5000 list.
Click here to read Inc.’s spotlight on North Kansas City-based Empowered Electric.
[/pullquote]“I mean, we’re not boiling the ocean over here, but we’re just slowly growing a little every month and it just adds up over time,” Watson, founder and CEO of Stackify, said in response to the software startup’s spot on the Inc. 5000 list, which was released early Wednesday morning.
Find out how Stackify stacks up! Click here to view the 2019 list.
Running a company with an Inc. ranking isn’t new to the CEO, he revealed. His previous startup, VinSolutions, held the 447th spot on the list in 2010.
VinSolutions sold for $147 million in 2011.
“It feels great,” Watson said of the new Inc. achievement and what it means for Stackify. “For our employees to see that recognition, see their hard work pay off when we’re grinding away every day, you know, fighting a battle — it’s good to use moments like this to stop and realize how far we’ve come across the battlefield.”
Click here to learn more about Stackify simplifies life for software developers.
Matt Watson, Stackify
Often a mirage, success like the kind seen by Stackify isn’t achieved overnight, Watson said. Years of hard work and a fearless dedication to making sure a startup’s work is seen could mean the difference between failure and limitless visibility, he said.
“We were not in the Kansas City Business Journal [Fast 50 ranking] last week … because we didn’t know about it. We didn’t apply for it. So as weird as it seems [to be on the Inc. 5000 list and not one that’s local] a lot of it is — you’ve just got to actually apply for these things,” he said, offering advice to fellow founders growing startups in Kansas City.
A long-time champion of startups, Watson also co-founded Full Scale — a high-growth talent development startup — with Matt DeCoursey. Together, the pair committed to investing $1 million in service-based resources in Kansas City companies as a means for giving back to the community.
“Hopefully we can pick a couple and make a big impact for them, and really help them get some resources and move their companies forward,” he previously told Startland.
(Editor’s note: Full Scale is a partner of Startland News and its parent organization the Kansas City Startup Foundation.)
The Watson-DeCoursey duo also launched the Startup Hustle podcast.
Moving forward, Stackify won’t rest, Watson added. The startup is hard at work developing a new product — which is expected to launch next year — and embracing a growth strategy that’s slow but steady.
“I’m excited to see the other companies that made the list and I think it’s a great day to celebrate the startup community in Kansas City,” he said.
Click here to read about area angel investors’ $2.75 million bet on Stackify.
