Business expansions rely on a lot of things, and while some organizations lost ground during the earth-shaking pandemic, there were others that were standing on just the right piece of shaking turf to leap forward from. Here’s how and – if possible – why these companies have come out the other end of this worldwide crisis with a head of steam.
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
The percentage of Americans ages 85+ continues to grow exponentially. For many aging seniors finding proper long-term care is not an option; it’s a necessity. As the nation’s leading online platform and trusted advisory service providing caregivers personalized senior care guidance, A Place for Mom has been executing an extensive multi-year plan to accelerate growth. Leveraging our differentiated platform and deep customer expertise, we’re investing in delivering a superior family experience and deepening our relationships with senior living communities.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
The senior living industry proved to be an essential service throughout the pandemic. A Place for Mom found that many caregivers faced the reality that seniors need care beyond what they could provide them at home. Caregiver fatigue also became an unfortunate reality, with 75% of caregivers reporting that they had been overwhelmed by the demands of caring for a senior since the pandemic began. We continue to rapidly hire to meet the increased demand and don’t see that pace slowing down anytime soon.
Check Out A Place For Mom’s Careers Page Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
Octane has grown from 170 employees in 2019 to nearly 600 employees in 2022, and in April 2022, we opened our 80,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Dallas, TX. Our team in Dallas has grown from 10 to over 250 and counting! As our employee base has grown, our business has also expanded. In May 2021, we secured our Series D funding, and we closed 2021 GAAP net income positive. We now work with over 4,000 Powersports dealer partners and 30 OEM partners, and this year, we have entered three new markets: tractors, trailers, and RVs, helping connect even more people with their passions with our simple, fast buying process for recreational purchases.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
One of our core values is “see opportunities, not obstacles.” As a result, we see navigating uncertainty as an opportunity to grow and become an even stronger organization. During the past two years, we really prioritized our people and workplace culture. Faced with the challenges of the pandemic, we introduced new benefits to give employees even more flexibility and support during a difficult time, like expanding the number of remote roles we had, introducing 3 emergency days off with “no questions asked”, and minimizing time spent in meetings, while maintaining popular perks, like our gift of the month program. These benefits helped us retain employees and more than double the size of our team. We also focused on understanding our customers, building relationships with partners, and strengthening our products in response to customer feedback, which in turn helped us to deliver on our mission to connect people with their passions. We believe that human connection, being prepared for and managing risks, and understanding customer needs through change helped many companies like ours grow – even during uncertain times.
Check Out Octane’s Careers Page Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
For twelve consecutive quarters, Axon has experienced a hiring surge, with each quarter beating the previous’ hiring records. In Q1 2022 alone, Axon hired 478 employees to support this year’s hiring goal to fill 1,200 positions. Since January 2020, Axon has hired more than 2,200 employees globally. This coincides with Axon’s revenue and sales growth. The company’s last reported financial statement revealed revenue was up 32% to $256 million by the end of Q1 2022 this year. Based on growing demand around the world for innovative hardware, software, and training to improve public safety, a record number of candidates are choosing to join Axon’s team, with current open roles in Software Engineering, Sales, Finance, and R&D, among other departments. While some of these roles support Axon’s research and development hubs in London, Scottsdale, Seattle, and Ho Chi Minh City, since 2020, approximately 50% of Axon open roles were remote.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
At Axon, we are creating technology to make the bullet obsolete, reduce social conflict and ensure criminal justice systems are fair and effective. Axon is uniquely positioned to drive this change through our technology solutions, and our growth reflects this. The majority of studies show that body-worn video has a positive effect on de-escalating situations and reducing the use of force while increasing transparency. Body cameras can capture truth and provide transparency. Axon Signal technology, along with the power of AI, can ensure cameras are recording when they need to be. Live-streaming video combined with other real-time situational awareness data and a re-imagined 911 experience can get the right help to the right place with the right oversight faster than ever before. VR Training can help officers put themselves in others’ shoes and be better equipped to listen and de-escalate. In June 2021, the São Paulo State Military Police became the first agency in Brazil to deploy Axon Body 3 cameras with geolocation and live-streaming. The agency subsequently saw an 85% decrease in police intervention deaths. Thanks to this success, the agency is becoming our largest customer of body-worn cameras in Latin America. The net number of applications is also growing at Axon. More than ever, candidates are seeking careers with purpose and companies with a meaningful mission. Axon’s mission to Protect Life draws candidates who are passionate about merging their love for technology with a positive societal impact. In line with its mission, Axon has a human-first approach in the workplace. Regular employment engagement surveys and new hire onboarding have found why people come and stay at Axon. Beyond the robust health and wellness benefits, competitive pre-tax retirement and health savings plans, stock compensation awards, and unlimited PTO, Axon has taken a remote-first stance during the pandemic. Rather than require full-time in-person work, Axon enables employees to choose how they work, whether that be in-person, remote, or a hybrid of the two.
Check Out Axon’s Careers Page Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
Cambium has continued to build its momentum from 2020. The organization now serves more than 20 million students and 1/3 of U.S. teachers across 94% of U.S. districts and more than 170 countries. Additionally, as of early 2022, Cambium’s employee census had increased by almost 50%, hiring more than 600 employees since July 2020. Through a customer-centric strategy, thought leadership, and product innovation we maintained a relentless focus on delivering impactful solutions to its diverse community of students and educators. The momentum extended across our business units. For example, Lexia Learning expanded overall product usage to more than 25,000 schools — with LETRS®, a professional learning product designed to train teachers in the “science of reading,” now active in nearly 2,000 districts. Cambium Assessment, an innovative provider of digital assessments and services, grew to serve more than 18 million students across 25 states. Time4Learning, the leading digital homeschool curriculum, more than doubled its enrolled students in the last 24 months and continued to grow its social community to better support and connect homeschooling parents, now with more than 134,000 followers. ExploreLearning, a provider of research-driven learning solutions for STEM learning needs, doubled the launches of Gizmos®, its interactive math and science simulations, to more than 63 million, and students answered 9.5 billion Reflex® Math facts. Learning A-Z, the creator of market-leading PreK-6 solutions like Reading A-Z® and Raz-Kids®, expanded access to its digital literacy solutions in response to the pandemic, and to date has more than 12 billion digital books read and is used by more than 40% of the country’s PreK-6 classrooms.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
The pandemic only accelerated the current trends of the edtech industry and Cambium was in a unique position to respond to the growing need for flexible digital solutions and services. Our differentiated approach, whereby business units focus on product innovation and customer success while Cambium provides a wide variety of success services, helped Cambium continue to grow because each Cambium solution is best-in-class. With a laser focus on student and teacher outcomes, Cambium grew with its stakeholders despite the constantly fluctuating market. As remote learning became the new normal for schools across the country, we actively listened to students and teachers and identified the new challenges they were facing. We saw the pandemic as an opportunity to help students, teachers, and parents during a crisis as they required flexible and dependable edtech solutions. While some industries had no choice but to shut down, the education industry had no choice but to find new ways to ensure our students kept learning, and Cambium helped fill that mission-critical need.
Check Out Cambium Learning Group’s Careers Page Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
While we have more than a decade of continuous growth, we were awarded our seventh consecutive Inc. 5000 award in August 2021. The move to remote work allowed us to expand outside the Washington, D.C. metro area for a nationwide remote workforce with more than 400 team members.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
Our teams consist of technologists imagining better ways for government agencies to do their work. Our software development, cloud, and data experts excel at solving complex problems. As a smaller organization, our teams were also nimble enough to quickly adapt to changing requirements. As a result, our IT solutions enabled those agencies to better serve citizens now and into the future. Our teams are proud of the work we do supporting the mission and empowering federal civilian agencies through technology.
Check Out Karsun’s Careers Page Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
In March 2020, Curative began COVID-19 testing. We grew from a small team of seven to over 3,000 team members. When we first recognized the need for scaling and offering high-volume testing to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, we could have never imagined how that mission would have evolved to what it has become today. Our greatest strength has been our ability to adapt to serve the unique needs of the communities we serve. Our ability to innovate and overcome obstacles helped us scale COVID-19 testing and build path-breaking health care solutions. Through intentional design, our team on the field, in the labs, and in the office made healthcare more accessible and more equitable. As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, communities across the country have been impacted socially, economically, and physically. We have continued to provide convenient testing services to communities in 44 states. To date, Curative has administered over 32 million COVID-19 tests. Our commitment to providing accessible testing services remains as we constantly look for ways to help ensure anyone in need of a test, can get a test.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
The last few years left communities across the world seeking answers — but one thing was clear: We are stronger together. The pandemic demonstrated how much can be achieved when private, public, and academic sectors collaborate on a common goal. Companies like Curative used that momentum to meet healthcare needs amplified by the pandemic. Our growth can be attributed to our sheer desire to provide value and build partnerships that made our expansion possible. When we first began COVID-19 testing, we worked with local governments, non-profits, schools, and businesses to set up COVID-19 testing sites. As we realized the need for differentiated service options, we developed a mobile van to meet the needs of remote communities, built kiosks in high-trafficked urban areas, and organized large-scale drive-thru testing sites in more car-dependent regions. This allowed us to reach communities far and wide; by hiring locally and relying on local expertise to make the patient experience as seamless as possible, we were able to build trust and rapport with the communities we served. The pandemic demonstrated that individual health is not fully possible without the health of the community, so our mission would not have been possible without working together to bring improved healthcare outcomes. We are excited to continue that momentum as we apply that urgency to improving the healthcare system in the United States. Check Out Curative’s Careers Page Here!
Check Out Curative’s Careers Page Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
Since 2020, our organization has experienced rapid growth – volume has increased 100% year over year, and we’ve more than tripled our staff size. DispatchHealth is the nation’s first comprehensive in-home medical care provider and as of May 2022, we now provide complex medical care, including mobile diagnostics, to patients in their homes in 57 markets across the country and growing. While the last two years have been challenging for many industries, COVID-19 increased awareness of alternative sites of care. Beyond expansion in our national footprint, we achieved unicorn status after raising $200 million in Series D financing, bringing our valuation to $1.7 billion. We also signed the country’s first agreement with a national insurance company to provide hospital-level care at home for members. During the last two years, we acquired and seamlessly integrated two mobile imaging companies to enhance the in-home care DispatchHealth provides. Additionally, our CEO Mark Prather was named among Colorado’s most admired CEOs by the Denver Business Journal, and DispatchHealth earned Great Place to Work certification by its employees.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
For us, one of the keys to success was that we had already built a platform and service model that was created for the future of complex medical care in the home. The abruptness of adapting to pandemic life at home sparked a culture shift in America. From the way we feed our families to where we exercise and get our entertainment, how we communicate on the job and manage our health and wellbeing, pandemic life has forced a shift in the consumer mindset. Patients welcomed the shift to the future of healthcare, today, and our team members report great satisfaction being part of pioneering this exciting shift in healthcare. In a nutshell, ensuring that we were building a company prepared for the future ensured we were able to grow. And continuing to work with a future-thinking mindset to meet the needs of patients, providers, and our people will ensure we will continue to grow.
Check Out DispatchHealth Careers Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
6sense has experienced tremendous growth over the past two years by every measure. Our team size has more than tripled, we’ve acquired three leading tech companies, we’ve had two impressive funding rounds, and our revenue growth is off the charts. But perhaps the best measure of our growth is the success our customers have experienced as a result of using our product. With an average 120% increase in revenue effectiveness using 6sense, our community of happy customers continues to grow. A few years ago, we were a bit of a niche product that only the most forward-thinking tech sellers and marketers knew about. Now we’re at a point where 6sense is an essential part of any B2B tech stack — not only for tech companies but for companies in just about any vertical.
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
Growth was possible for some companies for two main reasons: First, they had a product or service that made people’s lives easier or better during turbulent times. Second, they provided a positive environment where people wanted to show up and do their best every day. 6sense grew during the pandemic for both of those reasons. Our product helps companies know who’s in-market to buy their product, and it helps them connect with those potential customers in a meaningful way. When in-person events and meetings went away, companies realized they needed a new way to get to know their prospects and customers, so they sought out 6sense. Then once they started using our product, they realized that not only were they not losing revenue due to the new way of doing things, they were actually able to achieve more success than they could have previously. The pandemic accelerated digital transformation, and the companies that helped make that possible were able to grow and create new paths to future revenue. At the same time, we already had an employee culture that was remote-friendly and was set up to be supportive, positive, and collaborative across distances. We doubled down on employee culture, support, and wellbeing during a difficult time, and it made 6sense a positive place to work even as times were rough. We’ve seen that not only through our hiring success but also in our industry-leading employee retention and satisfaction scores.
Check Out 6sense’s Careers Here!
Can you tell us about your growth over the last two years?
Ribbon has seen incredible growth over the past two years, in both our business and headcount. Ribbon employed a little over 50 people at the start of 2021, and we have grown to just shy of 300 employees as of April 2022, with a goal of 400+ employees by year-end. Alongside our team growth, expansion is a major initiative for us in 2022. Our goal is to be in half of the United States by the end of 2022, giving more families access to homeownership!
Why were some companies able to grow during such an unsettled few years of all our lives?
From low-interest rates and the desire for more space, more and more people have left cities in search of the perfect home. Part of Ribbon’s mission is to be a champion of the average, everyday buyer, who is often an underdog in this competitive, cash and investor-heavy market. We have been honored to help people win their dream homes during such a difficult few years. As it is often said here at Ribbon, “We don’t enable homeownership to make money – we make money to enable homeownership.” We keep our mission at the forefront of our business as we continue to grow.