San Francisco Business Times recently published a list of the Bay Area’s 100 fastest-growing private companies of 2013. The rate of growth among the companies ranged between 67 percent and 4,698 percent between 2010 and 2012. Among the “Fast 100,” thirteen are led by women (they won places 2, 24, 39, 47, 60, 64, 67, 75, 80, 83, 84, 89, and 93). Across the board, company leaders confessed that their biggest challenge was personnel, be it hiring the right people or not firing the wrong people soon enough.
Some of the less conventional companies include Back to Roots, a company that produces grow-at-home mushroom kits; Plum Organics, a maker of organic baby food; Rodan + Fields Dermatologists, a skincare company; Rickshaw Bagworks, a custom bag maker; and Choicelunch, a school lunch provider.
