Ursus provides companies with a North Star to guide them to the high-tech talent they’re looking for.
No. 3: Ursus Inc.
- Growth rate: 230%
- 2017 revenue: $3,349,963
- 2018 revenue: $5,351,565
- 2019 revenue: $11,069,011
How the pandemic has affected your business: We saw a temporary dip in March, April, May with a dramatic “V”-shaped rebound starting in June, where more clients were in need of software development, cloud and digital creative resources from us.
Has the pandemic and shelter-in-place created new opportunities or innovations for your company? Yes, our clients are adapting to the new normal and accelerated digital/cloud transformations to either support a remote workforce or adapt their sales and marketing efforts in response to the pandemic.
- HQ: Morgan Hill
- Website: https://ursusinc.com/
- CEO:Jon Beck
- Industry: IT services
- Company description: Technical and digital transformation talent and services.
- Number of employees now: 30
- Number of employees in March 2020: 17
Percentage of workforce is currently working home: 100%
Are you hiring? Technical and creative recruiters, sales, software developers and cloud infrastructure engineers.
Trends you are seeing in your industry: As a remote/virtual company for three years pre-Covid, we are seeing more companies support, appreciate and embrace a remote workforce.
This dramatically expands the talent pool for our portfolio companies seeking talent, but also comes with a new set of challenges on how to best hire, support and manage that talent. We are fortunate to have had a three-year head start.
What do you attribute your company’s growth to? Quality and a core set of values that we refer to as the Ursus Way! 1) We communicate with intention. 2) We pay attention to the details. 3) We strive to constantly improve. 4) We hustle all the time.
Go public or stay private: Private
The “a-ha” moment that led to the creation of your company: I’ve hired hundreds of people using dozens of staffing and services firms, but only a few who I deemed as strategic partners — the ones who took the time to understand my needs, who were able to know when to say “no” or challenge what I believed to be true, and who I knew would match my commitment and effort to building the best teams I could.
Now I sit on the other side of the hiring table, but my mission is the same — create strategic engagements with our clients to build the best teams they can.
The story behind the name of your company: I am a Cal Berkeley grad. Ursus is Latin for bear and a named star constellation, so a bit of a double entendre as our first tagline was “Find Your Way” and our logo includes the star. Now it works because people initially mispronounce it, then remember it, and it’s more interesting and memorable than slamming two technical words together.
