Since everyone else seems to be awarding companies the “Best Company of The Year” Awards, I figured I’d do it too.

What gives me the credibility do do this? I don’t know, who really cares? I spend a lot of time reading about companies and admiring their work - these are my favorites for the reasons below:

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#1. Zappos

I’ve actually met their CEO and this company is beyond amazing. Having gone from nothing to near $1 BILLION in sales in just 10 years is quite a task and all that SELLING PRIMARILY SHOES!

Zappos has two things that really stick out to me (I’ve been to their office, had the full tour and all).

A) Corporate Culture - It’s like being in a playground there, everyone is happy and enjoying what they do. I’ve learned a lot from this.

B) Customer Support - UNHEARD of support, these people turn into your best friends in 3 minutes on the phone. Zappos has a tag line called “Powered By Service” - just amazing.

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#2. Apple

Apple continues to shock and awe me with their neat “inventions.” They keep innovating and last year they get #2 because the finally released the iPhone. I don’t own one (because I don’t have AT&T), but have seen it.

If nothing else, it’s different and the one feature that allows you to scroll through your voicemail like you would with e-mail is amazing enough to help them win in my book. Keep it going over there Steve!

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#3. Flip Video

Have you heard of this company? I’m fast becoming a HUGE fan…They launched in May of 2007 with a $40M venture raise and already have multiple product lines in the market and being distributed by MAJOR retailers (impressive).

Basically this is a video camera that is smaller than a small digital camera. The nicest thing…no nifty features, just a big red button, a play button and a “trash” button to delete and yes you can zoom in and out. The quality is not the highest but this has been ridiculously helpful.

You ever seen how teens are running around with digital cameras all the time now? Well, move over, cuz Flip Video is coming next - this thing is going to take over like the iPhone.

For 2007, I think Flip Video takes my award for “innovation” - I’d give it to Apple, but innovation is easier when you have thousands of employees (well some may argue otherwise).

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#4. Bill Me Later

This company takes the award for REDCIULOUS growth, since they launched just a few years ago, they’ve experienced 8,600% growth. It’s just a brilliant concept that allows consumers to speed up their transactions and get ALL their bills on one …bill…

The consumer does not have to go through the “credit card” process, this makes it easier for them and also helps increase the merchant’s conversions.

The company achieved $53.6M in revenue and was #6 on the Inc 5000 List.

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#5. Berkshire Hathaway

I know I just recently posted blasting Warren Buffet for being cheap, but that does not change the fact that this man is a genius. I’ve also had a chance to visit the office of Berkshire Hathaway and let me just say that I was shocked to see a Fortune 50 company running with 12 employees!

Granted, if you count ALL the employees of the companies he owns, that’s a different story.

But he can make all these investments and control his BILLIONS in market cap with 12 employees - that wins my “efficiency” award!

There you go - Mystery CEO’s 2007 Top Companies (I do reserve the right to change these as the year goes on and I learn about new companies).

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Tags: 2007 best company

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Big Companies, Fun Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.