NEW YORK, August 23, 2011

Inc. magazine today ranked Intelliswift NO. 3900 on its fifth annual Inc. 500|5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent entrepreneurs. Online retailer ideeli tops this year’s list. Intelliswift joins Spirit Airlines, television maker Vizio, Honest Tea, Dunkin Donuts and Metrokane, makers of the Rabbit corkscrew, among other prominent brands featured on this year’s list. More about Intelliswift’s ranking can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/intelliswift

In a stagnant economic environment, median growth rate of 2011 Inc. 500|5000 companies remains an impressive 94 percent. The companies on this year’s list report having created 350,000 jobs in the past three years, and aggregate revenue among the honorees reached $366 billion, up 14 percent from last year.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/5000.

"Now, more than ever, we depend on Inc. 500/5000 companies to spur innovation, provide jobs, and drive the economy forward. Growth companies, not large corporations, are where the action is,” says Inc. magazine Editor Jane Berentson.

By Matt McClellan
Smart Business San Francisco | September 2007

Pat talks about how the senior management at Intelliswift have taken the initiative to grow the company. He talks about how transperency and access are key to fast growth. Pat talks about how the senior management at Intelliswift have taken the initiative to grow the company. He talks about how transperency and access are key to fast growth.

Trust is very important to Pat Patel, and it is one of the keys to his leadership of Intelliswift Software Inc.

Patel puts a lot of trust in the members of his senior management staff, and he empowers them with the authority to make decisions. The founder, president and CEO of Intelliswift says entrusting his employees with information and responsibility shows them that the company values their work.

Intelliswift, which specializes in software services and systems integration, has grown its revenue 367 percent from 2003 to 2006.

Smart Business spoke with Patel about why hierarchies can be bad for business and why you have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Q: How involved should a leader be in the day-to-day operations?

All the people in the company should be involved in the day-to-day operations as much as the leader is. Now, ‘day-to-day operations’ doesn’t necessarily mean diving down into the nitty-gritty or micromanaging. But at the same time, for a fast-growing start-up, the leader needs to be involved in the operations side.

Now, once you grow the organization, the leader doesn’t really need to go out and get the business, but there are a lot of operational issues. Even though we have senior people who really do take care of the operations, most people look up to the leaders.

When I say leaders, it’s not just me; it’s the leaders I’ve delegated. People look up to the leaders and expect them to know what’s going on with the company, what’s going on with the employees, what’s going on with the products. At any given point in time, the leader needs to know what’s going on in each department. If there are areas of weaknesses or strengths, leaders should be aware of highlighting those or bringing up the weaknesses and helping in those areas.

Q: How do you manage growth?

That’s an area I’ve always believed you should be ahead of the game. Instead of doing it as a reactive process, do it as a proactive process. So, if we see we are headed for major growth in the next two quarters, then we end up hiring more people on the operations side first.

Rather than thinking, ‘Let’s first make the money, then add more people to operations,’ we always think ahead of the process to keep it running smooth.

At the same time, for a fast-growing start-up, the financials play a key role. When you’re growing too fast, your operations have to run at the same speed as your growth and so do your finances. If the leader is not able to really envision the financial growth or put together the right processes and finances in place, eventually, the same growth can crumble the company.

Q: How do you empower your employees?

Take people at a low level and start giving them autonomy. Let them put together their own teams, run their own projects in their area. It affects them in a very positive way. People with two or three years of experience do have the maturity, and if you give them the autonomy, then they are really excited to run with it.

They are so excited because of the autonomy that it starts reflecting on the people who work for them. It has helped us retain the excitement; the commitment flows automatically, and the trust gets built up.

Q: How do you create an atmosphere of trust?

Anybody can have access to any organization without going through the hierarchies. There’s always the case where you have to talk to your manager first, but that doesn’t mean everything has to be documented and flow through the hierarchy, which takes a long time.

We are a very nimble company, a very fast-growing start-up. If I try to put hierarchies in place, then things start taking their own sweet time.

People have access to all levels. They can tap into different groups in the company, so it’s more like a flat structure. They don’t have to set up appointments or get approvals from multiple levels.

Access to different groups keeps a healthy team spirit within the organization. People don’t feel intimidated by not being able to have access to specific areas.

Q: What are some pitfalls a CEO should avoid?

Most companies fail because there’s not a vision during the growth phase. Market conditions can change; financial conditions change. If things are going good, that’s not always going to be the case. So, you have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. At the same time, you have to have a vision of where the markets are headed.

Keep abreast of what’s out there. Always keep a close eye on your competition. You can pretty much avoid the pitfalls of a down market if you plan in advance. Like IBM says, ‘Planning is half the job done.’

Issue Date: December 15, 2006, Posted On: 12/14/2006

Pat Patel: Intelliswift's people person

Founder sparks swift growth with employee focus

By Mark Pechenik

FREMONT, Calif. — Ask Pat Patel of Intelliswift Software Inc., and he'll tell you that it's the people, just as much as the product, which has been responsible for his company's astounding growth since its opening in 2001.

"The difference is not so much what we do but how we do it. By making a strong commitment to our employees, we've made significant progress," says Patel, founder, president and chief executive officer of Fremont, Calif.-based Intelliswift, which specializes in software services and systems integration.

Such an assessment could be considered an understatement. Within the past three years, Intelliswift has realized a dramatic revenue growth rate of 367 percent. For the same amount of time, this firm has been consistently rated among the top-10 fastest growing companies in the San Francisco Bay area.

Intelliswift's client list includes such corporate heavyweights as Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., Bank of America, Barclays Bank, Ebay Inc., PayPal and Google. In addition, Patel's firm has expanded its presence with the opening of offices in Mumbai, India and Los Angeles, along with plans to establish a New Jersey site in 2007.

Intelliswift has made its mark by tailoring IT services to meet customers' needs. As a result, the company's efforts can be witnessed in greater user-friendly navigation for visitors to Wells Fargo Bank's Web site, improved on-line trading technology for Etrade Financial Corp.'s customers, as well as integrated software products that enable clients to get more from their IT dollars. In addition, Intelliswift has realized success with its staffing subsidiary, which provides IT consultants, temporary and permanent professionals for corporate clients.

The company's success is even more remarkable given that its beginnings stem from Patel's own harsh life lessons. A graduate of Bombay University, Patel's resume includes work with such pedigree software companies as Oracle, Mastek, Systime and Patni Computer Systems Ltd. Nevertheless, his most recent attempt at technology services failed in 2000. "I used to be in business with another partner and our company had a lot of dot-com customers at the time," he says. "So, when the market crashed, we did too. We had no choice but to close shop."

Patel says that he took this setback as a "personal challenge" and, rather than accept defeat, he was determined to "try my hand at business again." He attributes this positive outlook to his personality as a "conservative risk taker."

"I'm often considered the black sheep of the family," says Patel, who first came to the United States in 1995 from his home in Mumbai, India. "My dad worked for the same company for 22 years — compared to him, I am much more of a risk taker."

Nonetheless, the "conservative" label of his risk taking identity means that, when embarking upon entrepreneurial ventures, Patel focuses on getting results within a set time frame. Consequently, he took this same approach in moving forward after his 2000 business collapse.

"I knew that markets change and go through cycles," he says. "So, if I could find the correct customer solution and service, the business was bound to grow eventually."

He backed this commitment by taking a second mortgage out on his house to fund Intelliswift. At the same time, his wife went back to work to support him through the company's startup phase. "A lot of friends suggested that I just get a steady job at an established corporation," he says. "But I knew that, if I did that, I would likely miss out on creating a customer base that would allow my own company to grow when the good times would come around."

But Patel was also aware that "good times" would not be enough to generate corporate profitability. He had to find the right formula for success. Fortunately, he discovered that formula by taking a "customer service first" approach to both his clients and his employees.

"By taking care of our employees, putting their needs first, we have made sure that our people have grown along with us," explains Patel. In practice, this has meant competitive compensation and benefits packages that makes it possible for Intelliswift to both recruit and retain superior IT talent.

Mike Jani, Intelliswift's regional manager of business development in Southern California, says Patel has given Intelliswift a distinct advantage with the employee team he has built.

"He is an extremely good people person," says Jani. "Pat not only has that ability to make employees feel special, he has a great eye for hiring the best people for the job."

Jani recalls how, in interviews for his position, he expressed a desire to work close to home. Patel readily agreed to allow him to open the southern California office "just 500 feet from my front door," he says.

Once hired, Patel often encourages independence, Jani notes. "He promotes achievement by letting staff have more or less a free hand in meeting goals and deadlines. And by not micromanaging, he allows for greater creativity among employees," Jani says.

This workplace progressiveness is far from altruistic, however. "IT professionals have 10,000 reasons not to work here, there are just so many job opportunities that are available to them," says Jani. "Pat realizes this fact and, as a result, strives to make Intelliswift as attractive as possible to the best talent available."

Patel's staffing strategy, in turn, has translated into strong corporate earnings. "We have a strong commitment to our employees — because I've always felt that a happy employee means a happy customer," he says.

For clients, this means that they can anticipate what Patel calls "personalized attention." Company policy dictates, for example, that sales representatives work with no more than two large customers at one time. Furthermore, if customers have problems, every effort is made to answer their concerns within one hour.

Such attentiveness, Patel believes, helps to ensure quality relationships between his sales force and customers. "We listen to, not just hear, what the clients' needs are. This has not only allowed us to effectively customize IT solutions for customers, it has also enabled us to act upon their concerns in a timely manner," he says.

As to the future, Patel envisions a continued upward spiral for Intelliswift, especially in key areas of business activity. "We especially see a great deal of potential in the insurance and financial industries," he says. The "increasing number of baby boomers seeking investment strategies for retirement" should translate into more IT contracts for the right technology companies, says Patel. And he believes that Intelliswift will be among the top competitors for these lucrative technological opportunities.

About Indus Business Times: The IndUS Business Journal aims at showcasing the drive, determination and innovation that have made South Asian/Asian Indian professionals and entrepreneurs in the United States a successful segment within corporate America. The fortnightly is published out of Waltham, Massachusetts.

Fremont, CA, Nov 6 2006: Intelliswift Software Inc was ranked number two by the Indus Business Journal in its list of fastest growing South Asian private companies and the first in its Industry. The list was published in the October 15th issue of the reputed magazine. The journal included the top 25 private companies that were founded or managed by executives of South Asian origin and that are headquartered in the United States. The firms are ranked by their three-year compound growth rate between 2002 and 2005. To qualify the firms had to have a minimum revenue of $500,000 in 2002.

About Indus Business Times: The IndUS Business Journal aims at showcasing the drive, determination and innovation that have made South Asian/Asian Indian professionals and entrepreneurs in the United States a successful segment within corporate America. The fortnightly is published out of Waltham, Massachusetts.