Seeds of Genius
Company: Seeds of Genius, Columbia, MD, USA
Company Description: Seeds of Genius is a value added-reseller of information technology hardware, software and system integration and consulting services to the US Federal Government. We specialize in the Operating System (OS) layer and are staffed with engineers technically certified in servers, storage, virtualization and cloud computing technologies.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Overall Company of the Year - Non-Services Businesses – Up To 100 Employees
Nomination Title: Seeds of Genius
Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated company during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):
“To see things in the seed, that is genius.” -- Lao-Tzu
Seeds of Genius is a value added-reseller of information technology hardware, software and system integration and consulting services to the US Federal Government. We specialize in the Operating System (OS) layer and are staffed with engineers technically certified in servers, storage, virtualization and cloud computing technologies. Our expertise has recently catapulted us to 4th place on the CRN fast growth list and in the Fortune 500/5000 listing of growth companies for 2010 and 2011.
Seeds has also provided Tier 2 through Tier 5 Help Desk services 24x7 worldwide to data centers, and has created an on-site laboratory permitting us to re-create problems and solve them before closing tickets and implementing solutions with customers.
Our tag line, “defining value add”, is not just something we say; it is what we do every day. As a small business in a landscape permeated by large system integrators, we concentrate on delivering value to our customers with every sale. Whether it is our on-site installation, 24x7 consulting services or just the willingness to discuss new solutions to old problems, the Seeds engineers treat every point of contact as an opportunity not to just make a sale, but to share our expertise on critical business technologies. This attitude is what is behind our phenomenal growth story, going from absolutely nothing in 2004 to revenue of $12.9 million in 2010 with impeccable banking credentials and glowing customer references.
Seeds of Genius has grown and thrived based upon our commitment to our core competencies and a technical sales model that keeps us and our customers focused on the solutions needed to solve real business problems.
Within the last year, we have added 26 new manufacturers and 4 new distributors to our line card, to make us a truly vendor agnostic partner. We also obtained a GSA schedule, critical to providing products and services to the Federal Government. When obtaining this schedule, we were gratified to learn that 100% of our customers provided positive references to the D&B survey required, resulting in a median score of 95% satisfaction.
At the beginning, our core competencies included the Sun Microsystems servers and storage and selling into the Federal Government through the channel. Over time we expanded from a single manufacturer into delivering server and storage solutions based on all the major manufacturers. From there, we added complementary products and extended our core competencies to include these skills as well.
In building Seeds, I deliberately decided to create a technical solutions engineering company. With an outside sales staff of 0, we focus on building the solutions our customers need first, and let the sales follow. The success of each designed system has helped us to build our reputation as a true partner with our customers, catapulting our sales over the years and resulting in a core of customers who choose Seeds of Genius over our competitors every time.
List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:
http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/seeds-of-genius
http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/219401057/2009-crn-fast-growth-100-the-list.htm?pgno=1
http://www.chesapeaketech.org
http://www.seedsofgenius.com
Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the nominated company (up to 100 words):
Seeds of Genius was founded on one woman's vision to save the IT world from box pushers.
After putting herself through college and obtaining a BS in Applied Mathematics, Ms. Congetta Kelley worked in IT for the Federal government and SunMicrosystems before being recruited by a large reseller to open an East Coast office. After almost 2 years of pushing boxes to the customers, for an organization with more concern for quarterly revenue numbers than working with technical end- users creating solutions, she opened Seeds of Genius to combine high-tech with high-touch. Under the leadership of Ms. Kelley, Seeds has grown tremendously, posting revenue of $12.9 M in 2010.
Choose one (even if both apply):
At least 50% of the shares in this company are owned by women.