Dental Group Practices, DSOs, and Dental Companies that Made Inc. 5000’s Prestigious 2024 List

2024 Inc. 5000 Methodology: How They Selected These Companies

Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 through 2023. To be eligible for the Inc. 5000, a company must:

Growth rates used to determine rankings were calculated to four decimal places. All honorees must pass Inc. editorial review.

The 2024 Inc. 5000 includes companies from every state and Puerto Rico. They range in size from one employee up to 262,079 workers, and from roughly $2 million in 2023 revenue up to $15.5 billion. That staggering figure belongs to Reston, Virginia-based Carahsoft Technology, which provides IT services for federal, state, and local governments, as well as customers in education and healthcare. Carahsoft ranks No. 4,650 this year–its 17th appearance on the Inc. 5000.

Step 1: The application

They collect information such as when the company was founded, who is the CEO, and what the annual revenue is. As you might expect, the application carries a processing fee ($495 for the 2024 edition) to help offset the eight months of work they do in producing the program. This step also helps determine whether a company meets the key requirements.

Note that Inc. does not publish revenue figures with the list. However, if their editors decide to write about an honoree, in keeping with journalistic best practices, they will ask to include revenue in the article.

Step 2: Revenue verification

Next up in the Inc. 5000 selection process is revenue verification. All companies applying must provide documented gross annual revenue for the base year (2020) and for year three (2023). They use those figures to calculate the three-year revenue growth rate that determines the ranking. The financial statements provided, which can include redacted tax returns, must be signed by the CEO and a credentialed third party. In cases where a company claims especially fast growth, they typically ask for audited financial statements. They reserve the right to ask for additional documentation to support reported revenue figures.

Step 3: Vetting

Once the data are in order, a draft list comes to the editorial team. They then embark on an intensive secondary vetting process, interviewing select founders and conducting background research to guard against companies with a checkered history appearing on the list. For example, if editors or their research department uncover allegations of fraud, sexual misconduct, or unlawful activity by the company or its leaders, they may disqualify that company. So, while the Inc. 5000 is a purely data-driven list, all companies must pass editorial review. Some household names that have appeared on the list include Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, GoPro, Timberland, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Oracle, Box, and Grubhub.