Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. And this is that show that champions innovation and entrepreneurship. Today we are on site at Houston's Fast Tech 50 contest. And I am with three of the key people, the key sponsors putting on this event. First, Walter Ulrich, president and CEO of Houston Technology Center.

Walter: Russ, it's great to be here with you today.

Russ: Fantastic. And next, Greg Price, consulting solutions director with PKF Texas.

Greg: Good morning, Russ.

Russ: And, also, the voice of the Entrepreneurs Playbook.

Greg: That's correct.

Russ: That's right. And lastly, Bill Arend, regional manager for Oracle. Bill, nice to have you here.

Bill: Thanks for having me.

Russ: Your plate's been so full lately with this Sun integration, I'm just glad to see your face.

Bill: It's fun. We've got a lot of exciting things going on.

Russ: I bet. Let's start at the top, guys, and let's start with you, Walter. Tell us about the Fast Tech 50.

Walter: The Fast Tech 50 is a celebration of the emerging technology companies that are – and the entrepreneurs that are growing businesses in this community. The major source of jobs in any community is entrepreneurship. It is the small companies that are becoming big companies. And in this economic climate, it is a great story, Russ, that we have so many people that are being recognized as Fast Tech 50 winners today.

Russ: Man, you get an amen, from me on that. (Laugh) Alright. And, Greg, let's move to you 'cause PKF Texas is a cofounder of the event, correct?

Greg: That's correct. We discussed this event idea with John Beddow, the publisher of the Houston Business Journal in 2000, and we had our first event in 2001. This is our ninth year.

Russ: Okay. I was at that 2001 event. I mighta been to all of 'em, now that I think of it.

Greg: Well, I think you were there. And, by the way, you were the first winner of the Fast Tech 50, Russ. So congratulations to you.

Russ: Well, I almost forgot about that. (Laugh) But thank you for bringing – I'm just kidding. Thank you very much. And I gotta tell ya, it was an honor, Greg. Because when you're really an entrepreneur, the contest that you really wanna win is success, but when I heard what this one was all about, which is hard-dollar growth, that made a huge difference to me, and, therefore, I was really proud to win it.

Greg: As Walter indicated, it's about championing the entrepreneurs and the high-growth emerging market companies of our community. And a little-known fact, being an accountant, I probably would know this more than most people, small businesses account for about 80 percent of the treasury's tax base.

Russ: Right.

Greg: And so we are the ones that are going to turn the country around, the small businesses of America, not the big corporations.

Russ: Okay. I totally concur with that. And up next, Bill Arend with Oracle. Oracle, a startup of several decades ago, but now still plays a role, both in small business and large business. Is that right, Bill?

Bill: Absolutely. I think most people look at Oracle as a player for the large Fortune 500. And what's exciting is over the last several years, there's been a tremendous growth in the fact that 70 percent of our customers are small to medium businesses. And when you look at the mind share and all the things that are happening in the community around us, there's some great stories out there of customers that are early stage and growing by leaps by and bounds. And it's that celebration of today that we're trying to bring that to the forefront and tell that story.

Russ: Okay. And I would expect that some of the contenders today are Oracle customers, right?

Bill: Some of 'em are. We have partners and customers. I think that's the fun part is watching some of our customers that have started at a early stage and have had significant growth. And the concept that we have is we wanna help them grow wisely. End of the day, it exciting to see 'em grow.

Russ: Okay. Give us your perspective a little bit on the competitors that have made the round to be in the Top 50 today. I mean, golly, it's 2009. I assume all 50 of 'em show some growth.

Bill: Absolutely. I mean, the growth is – I don't know what the floor will be this year, but that's something Greg will share with us and learn more about the statistics of it. But if you look at the maturing of a company and how hard it is to grow and keep growing, that's what you're seeing today.

Russ: Okay. Do you happen to know, Greg, some of those statistics off the top of your head?

Greg: I do. I believe the floor for this year's group was right around 28 or 29 percent.

Russ: Wow. So to be in the Top 50, you had to grow at least 28 or 29 percent, and that would be in calendar year 2008.

Greg: That's correct. It's a year-over-year calculation.

Russ: Okay.

Greg: So it would be in 2008.

Russ: Okay. I would assume that that's less than the floor was for 2007?

Greg: A little bit, but not significantly different. I kinda varies. We've had it floating up and down. So that's the beauty of the program is that it depends on how the group as whole operates.

Russ: Right.

Greg: Now one of the things that a lotta people don't really ask a lotta questions about is the winner. And I can't tell you who the winner is right now. But the percentage growth will be over 3,000 percent.

Russ: My goodness.

Greg: Year over year.

Russ: That's incredible. (Laugh) Okay. And now to you, Walter, I assume the Houston Technology Center has some of the client companies that are Fast Tech 50 participants and winners.

Walter: Every year we've had a number of companies that have been Fast Tech 50 winners, and this program helps get them the recognition that they need. Also, Russ, I just wanna tell you what a privilege it is to be with Greg and with Bill. It's not only the Fast Tech 50, but it's also the Houston Technology Center and other organizations in this community that PKF Texas and Oracle support. They are real drivers of this entrepreneurship economy.

Russ: That is so cool. Perhaps we have a listener that doesn't know the mission of Houston Technology Center. Why don't you share that?

Walter: The Houston Technology Center works side by side with emerging technology entrepreneurs to help them understand what the business opportunities are to fill their gaps, create their business plan, ultimately, to raise money, to thrive, and grow. Our vision that we've been now working on for two years is that by 2012, Houston will be globally recognized as a center for technology, innovation, and commercialization at the same level as Silicon Valley, Route 128 in Boston in Research Triangle Park, but, Russ, with that Texas verve that you have that we expect this whole community to share.

Russ: Absolutely. Well, Walter, I really appreciate you sharing that with us, and I really appreciate and encourage you to continue your mission.

Walter: Thank you.

Russ: You bet. That's Walter Ulrich, president and CEO of the Houston Technology Center, and Greg Price, consulting solutions director with PKF Texas, and the voice and author of The Entrepreneur's Playbook, and Bill Arend, regional manager with Oracle. I thank all three of you for sponsoring such an event, and for being here with me this morning.

Bill: It's great.

Greg: Thank you.

Walter: Thanks again.

Russ: Ok coming up next, continuing on here at the Fast Tech 50, I am going to visit with Phil Morabito, founder and CEO of Pierpont Communications. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.

Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. And continuing on, on site at the Fast Tech 50 contest, I'm now joined by a regular on the BusinessMakers Show, Phil Morabito, founder and CEO of Pierpont Communications, and a key advocate and sponsor for Fast Tech 50. Phil, it's great to have you on the show once again.

Phil: Great to be here, Russ. Thank you so much for having me.

Russ: You bet. Why don't you start by giving your observations on this year's Fast Tech 50.

Phil: It's amazing that any company's had the kind of growth that was demonstrated in today's event. Even toward the end of the list, the companies that were 48, 49, and 50, had 20-plus percent growth rate. So it just goes to show you that the spirit of entrepreneurship and the tenacity that's demonstrated by these CEOs is really represented this tremendous event and the success.

Russ: Makes me remember your advocacy probably starting almost a year ago about what companies should do about marketing and advertising in a down economy. In fact, why don't you share that with our listeners in case we have some that have not heard your cool advice previously.

Phil: Sure. I am always a strong advocate of marketing your business the hardest when things are down. And the reason being that during a down period, people tend to pull back on their marketing and public relations efforts, and nothing could be a bigger mistake for those companies. The reason being is that people see marketing as an expense and not an investment. The best time to invest in marketing and PR is when others aren't. And so I always said that a dollar spent in marketing during down times is really worth about $3.00. We follow that pattern and follow that trend, and as we're seeing the economy coming back, we are reaping the benefits. Our phone is ringing. Things are happening. We just had our best month in about six months.

Russ: Okay. So you're saying that here in November in 2009, you feel like we've turned the corner?

Phil: I think we're starting to turn the corner. People are looking at next year. We have several clients that are already making budgets and plans for next year early on. There's a real hope and an optimism. People are tired of things being down. And what happens in our business is there gets to be real pent-up demand. Those that make the mistake of not marketing during a downturn shelf everything, so they're at the sidelines. And they want to come off the sidelines and get into the game, and this is a real opportunity for them to do that.

Russ: Okay. Well, Phil, I always like that message because I believe in it very strongly. But come from you, I think it means a whole lot, and thanks for sharing that with us, again.

Phil: Well, thank you for having me, Russ.

Russ: You bet. And thanks for sharing your observations, and participating in this cool event, the Fast Tech 50.

Phil: We appreciate it.

Russ: Okay coming up next we are going to visit with the winner of the Fast Tech 50. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com.

Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. And continuing on, on site at the Fast Tech 50 conference, I am with the No. 1 winner for this year. I'm with Michael Kearney, president and CEO of Deep Flex. Michael, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show, and congratulations.

Michael: Thank you. Thanks for having me, Russ.

Russ: Okay. You had incredible growth this last year. What percentage, exactly?

Michael: It was over 3,000 percent.

Russ: My goodness. I'm gonna wanna know how you did that, but before I do that, why don't you describe for our audience Deep Flex?

Michael: Well, Deep Flex is a company that makes composite pipe. It's a very large pipe for offshore oil and gas production. So the pipe's flexible. It connects seafloor-fixed activities in terms of wellheads, pipeline terminations, things of that nature, to a floating production system. Because you've got one end of the pipe that is basically tethered to the seafloor, and the other end that's floating, you have to have something as a shock absorber between the two.

Russ: Okay.

Michael: So flexible pipe is the solution.

Russ: Okay. Well, I am always totally amazed with the technology that enters the world through the energy business, specifically the fossil fuel world. But just because it's composite pipe doesn't necessarily mean that it's flexible, right? You must do some other sorta magic thing with it.

Michael: It's called unbonded flexible pipe. And what that means is as the layers are wrapped around the core, the layers themselves to make the pipe flexible, actually slide next to one another. And so that's kinda the secret sauce in how this big heavy pipe that doesn't look like it could possibly bend, actually does bend.

Russ: It makes it operate just like a giant garden hose?

Michael: More less, more or less.

Russ: (Laugh) Okay. That's cool. Well, I could imagine that the kinda growth that you achieved had a lot to do with perhaps the need for flexible piping, but still, the numbers are astronomical. How did you do that?

Michael: Part of the math or calculus here is in 2007, the company was really at its formative states, and really just had one or two sales. And then in the next year, 2008, we had about eight sales. And these are very, very large-dollar sales. And the ones in '08 were much bigger on a per-sale basis than '07, and so the percentage increase was pretty staggering. But we're the beneficiary of starting at a pretty low base.

Russ: Well now I couldn't help but think, Michael, when you described that, that probably making that first sale mighta been a challenge (Laugh) back in '07. I mean, would there have been a concern that perhaps the pipe didn't bend or that it would break or that it would leak?

Michael: There's always concerns when you have a new technology, but we do something called a factory acceptance test. And so our pipe, because it's one piece, it's on a large reel, it's tested at the factory, and then it's shipped out and deployed and installed, it's already been tested. There's no welds in the field or anything like that. And so it's really a lower cost of installation. That's one of the primary advantages of the pipe.

Russ: Okay. One last question, too. When you says "flexible," how short of a radius can it completely turn 180 degrees?

Michael: Well, it's fairly simple calculation. Roughly the minimum bend radius is about how deep in the water the pipe has to go, 'cause the wall would be thicker and it would have a little less bending radius.

Russ: Right.

Michael: But you could think of a range of about eight to ten times the diameter of the pipe –

Russ: Okay.

Michael: – would be the bend radius.

Russ: Okay.

Michael: So if a pipe had a one-foot diameter, you might have a ten-foot bending radius.

Russ: Okay. That's real cool. Michael, we want to have you back on the show sometime to tell us a little bit more about the history of this cool company and this cool product.

Michael: I'd love to. I'd welcome the opportunity.

Russ: Alright, great. And congratulations again for winning this.

Michael: Thanks very much, Russ. Thank you.

Russ: You bet. We've been talking with Michael Kearney, president and CEO of Deep Flex. Okay, and that wraps up our review of the 2009 Fast Tech 50. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com.