Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today’s innovative company builders.

The Business of Change

IS IT YOUR JOB TO CREATE JOBS? • Why founders embrace running lean. Even if they’d rather not.

INTRODUCING OUR INDEX

Where are the Continent’s fastest-growing companies? Cast your eyes north and east.

The Jargonator • Swatting the buzzwords of business since 2014.

Portland, Oregon • The insider’s guide to the startup scene in the highly caffeinated Pacific Northwest city.

The Future and the Farm • Inventions that capture the public’s attention tend to the whiz-bang: self-driving cars, gadgets we talk to that order our groceries. But 869 tech founders surveyed by venture capital firm First Round Capital find other innovations more compelling. They ranked 14 major tech categories as being over- or underhyped—and were most excited about some that don’t always win headlines.

Do We Need More H-1B Visas—or Fewer? • The Trump administration has vowed to reduce access to H-1B visas, an immigration program for the highly skilled workers coveted by many technology entrepreneurs. H-1B critics contend there is enough talent stateside without looking abroad. Two Silicon Valley–based founders— both U.S. citizens who came to America on such visas—discuss.

BIG DATA SO GOOD YOU CAN TASTE IT

RETIREMENT FEAR • How Small Business Owners Can Banish It

RISING AND GRINDING WITH DAYMOND JOHN • The entrepreneur and TV star explains the value of goals and grit—and Shark Tank idiots.

Walk This Way • Agility Robotics, which was spun out of Oregon State University in early 2017, is building robots that can traverse any terrain—from rocky hillside to sidewalks. Its first product, Cassie, has found work at half a dozen research institutions. The Albany, Oregon–based company, which will close its Series A in early 2018, envisions the bot eventually being used for everything from deliveries to facility inspections to hazardous search-and-rescue operations.

HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WAS TIME TO HIRE A HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER? • Advice from the founders of America’s fastest-growing companies

Here’s a Crazy Idea for Startups: Profits • A renegade VC firm has a new approach to funding. You want its money? First demonstrate that you can earn some.

Going From Employee to Founder • CHRISTINA TOSI MILK BAR Milk Bar, a growing national bakery chain with 12 locations and more than 200 employees

Keeping Your Workers Well • Your employees’ mental health can affect your bottom line. Here’s how to help them—and your business.

Modern Meadow Is Growing Leather in a Lab (No Animals Needed)

Modern Meadow’s strange science of creating leather from scratch takes place in a former pharmaceutical lab in Nutley, New Jersey.

Digital Transformation Is Reshaping Communication Services • Communications service providers and content providers must transform their business models to keep pace with always-connected consumers.

CRUSHING IT • W&P Design realized that ice trays sucked. So the Brooklyn firm decided to take on the design challenge lurking in its freezer.

Coming Clean • Want to take the taboo out of an employee’s leaving your company? Begin by telling your staff the truth.

Decoding Instagram • The social network is a marketer’s dream, but it’s filled with clutter. Use these creative ways to cut through the noise.

THE ODD COUPLE • Bre Pettis left MakerBot in a cloud of money and controversy. Danielle Applestone was a PhD desperate to save her company. Then they found each other.

THE NEXT 3-D PRINTER?

Hard-Wired...