2009 Revenues: $16.7 million
5-year Annual Growth Rate: 52%
CEO: Dan Roitman
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Year Founded: 2000
About the business:
Dan Roitman started his company while he was a senior at the University of Maryland. After stumbling upon a digital highlighter made by a company based in Sweden, Roitman and his professor-turned-business-partner pitched a marketing plan to the company, and they received a small amount of funding to run market tests at different universities.
The company in Sweden eventually decided to pull out of the market, but Roitman bounced back and found new business ventures to delve into. In fact, Roitman soon realized that the market for foreign language audio courses had growth potential and decided to launch a business in late 2002. The product was a hit. The company now sells a variety of self-improvement information products, including personal development and language learning audio books.
--By Eno Alfred and Louisa McCarthy
NEXT: 26. Angie's List