It used to be true that companies needed customers
to stay afloat. Not in the last five years, though. All they’ve
needed is venture capital! Today, many companies try to find venture
capital (cash exchanged for stock in a young company) before they ever
try to find their first customer.
Just ask companies like Microstrategy (MSTR) and Amazon.com (AMZN) who
depend on venture capital for survival. In fact, nearly half of Microstrategy’s
and a quarter of Amazon’s operating expenses are paid with venture
capital.
Here’s one company that turned this popular
business model on its head. You might say, they did it the old fashioned
way...they earned it. Animators at Law is a Washington, D.C. company
founded and run by attorneys that produces computer animation, graphics
for litigation, presentation strategy, jury research, multimedia presentations,
web design and marketing materials for major law firms. They are in
their 5th year and are again tripling their sales. While that’s
impressive, what makes it really impressive is the fact that this is
their 5th year in a row with similar results. And unlike fellow startups
like Microstrategy and Amazon, they’re profitable. Very profitable.
In the words of their Founder and CEO, Kenneth J.
Lopez, “If your business is so great, why sell half of it to people
you don’t know. Just grow it! It often makes sense to trade some
market share for profit. That’s what we did, and we couldn’t
be happier. Today we own the entire company, we control its direction,
we’ll be able to sell the entire company and we can afford to reward
our staff with more stock options than other firms.”
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
Privacy
| Legal
©1995-2003 Animators at Law, Inc. All Rights Reserved
|
| |
|
Animators at Law
National Headquarters
814 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
800.337.7697
|
