Four Winds Gets Top 50 Ranking Among Forbes’ Most Promising US Firms

February 8, 2013 by Dave Haynes

Denver-based Four Winds Interactive has been ranked #41 in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of America’s Most Promising Companies, which is a list of 100 privately-held, high-flying companies.

David Levin, President and CEO of FWi, was also pegged by the business publication as one of America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.

The company, which does digital signage software, has also been given recently an Inc. Magazine Hire Power Award for adding jobs and helping rebuild the US economy, and was listed for a second consecutive year on the Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the US. They did 300% three-year sales growth.

I will spare you the methodology explanation, except to say there IS an actual stack of variables used to ID companies in the Forbes list. There is no shortage of business awards you win by writing big checks, but this ain’t one of them.

FWi has grown like crazy in the last couple of years and has already all but outgrown a restored three-storey warehouse space just outside downtown Denver. I think – repeat think – they are north of 250 people now. Contrary to some industry chatter, while they have pretty much tied up the casino sector, they are also heavy into health care, sports and entertainment, and are making inroads in airports (like McCarran in Las Vegas), retail and banking.

I was out there with a consulting client late last year. The place was buzzing. The technology platform is solid, but what struck me as very different about this company is the salesforce, which is about 5 to 10 times the size of other software companies in this space. It’s not a cold call phone bank, but mid to very senior people working off a lead generation to close process they seem to have workflow’d and tight.

The company has also done well because the sales and marketing people don’t just fish the same pond as everyone else.

Nice couple of honors.