Little Giants are companies I consider having certain characteristics that separate them from the pack. First off, they are determined to be the best at what they do. If successful enough, many of these Little Giants could raise a lot of capital, grow very fast, go through mergers and acquisitions, and geographically follow the well-worn path of other successful companies. But instead, they choose to focus on other things besides revenue growth and geographic expansion. 

Little Giants pursue goals they consider more important than getting as big as possible, as fast as possible. They accomplish this by staying true to the core values that brought them success to begin with, plus (and this HUGE) they remain privately owned and operated. 

Little Giants believe it’s better to have a business with a great reputation in its industry – a company known and respected for its superior customer service and happy team members than being big for the sake of growth. They never lose sight of the passion and joy that accompanies running a great albeit that it is smaller in size. As many of us know, with growth comes change and oftentimes not for the better.   

So, why do smaller companies sell out? Normally, it’s because they want to get bigger and can’t finance their own growth. So, they sell a piece here and a piece there, and before you know it, the original founders don’t have controlling interest anymore. What’s crazy about this is that their success can make things worse for these companies because if what you are doing is great and in great demand, and customers are beating down your door, it’s like a mesmerizing contagion, and blindly addictive. This is how many once great smaller companies become yet another casualty of the tantalizing allure of capitalism. They essentially lose their mojo because the things they once held near and dear, are now gone. 

It's like these companies forget what ushered in their greatness to begin with, which is the emotional connection they had with their team members, partners, and customers. They lost their all-important intimacy. An intimacy that people gravitate toward because they identify with, and share a company’s values. 

At Globalstar, we used to think of the fact that we are family owned and operated as a disadvantage. Not anymore. Now, we see it as an atypical differentiator of reliability and stability, our superpower. I was once asked if we are a “lifestyle” or “growth” business? I said, “we are both. We are determined and positioned to grow, but also determined to keep our culture of putting people first in the forefront of all our decision making. I get asked all the time what our exit strategy is? I say, “We have no exit strategy, because we are not exiting.”