#2. RallyPoint
“Vetrepreneurship” is sweeping the country. The SBA reports that 25% of Post‑9/11 veterans want to start their own businesses.Over the past two months, we scoured the country for the best veteran-owned startups in the nation. We asked venture capitalists, angel investors, veteran founders and industry experts to send us ideas. We received 85 nominations, and culled those based on five factors to rank the companies and create this list.Our five-factor score ranked nominees by prior 12-month revenues, previous 12–24 month revenues, revenue growth rate, employee headcount and external capital raised. Each factor was weighted equally. To qualify, startups must be for-profit companies, no more than five years old, and at least 50% owned by or operationally controlled by a military veteran founder. Nominees confidentially reported revenues and the amount of capital raised in order to produce the rankings. (Disclosure: The author has relationships with five of the companies, as noted below.)
Startups appears in ranked order based on our five-factor ranking. Think we missed someone? Tell us in the comments.
Author’s note: List revised 11.15.16.
Site: RallyPoint.com. Founded 2012.
Location: Watertown, MA
Founder(s): Yinon Weiss, U.S. Army, Special Forces. Aaron Kletzing, U.S. Army, Field Artillery Officer. Dave Gowel, U.S. Army, Armor Officer.
Employees: 22
Description: RallyPoint is where warriors come to talk. The network is home to 1 million members who gather online every day to have open and candid conversations about things like: military life, transition to civilian life, careers & jobs, education opportunities, family matters, entertainment, and their favorite brands.
How the military impacted you as an entrepreneur: “It created the desire to bring private sector social networking technology and opportunity to the military.” — Dave Gowel
*Disclosure: Author’s company has partnered with RallyPoint in the past.
To read the full article, visit Forbes.
