Fifteen years after starting Emma, Smith sold the company last year to a group of investors led by Insight Venture Partners of New York. Since the sale, Smith has invested and become a board member of Chattanooga-based tech startup Ambition Solutions Inc. We're going to have a lot of fun with this. It has since grown to more than 30, clients worldwide and has satellite locations in New York City, Denver, Austin and Portland, Ore.
What is the most outside-of-the-box idea you have ever had in your professional career? Some friends and I once drew up plans to start a golf driving range. What was the result? About three hours later, we realized that was a really, really bad idea.
What single thing makes your organization stand out? Our constant desire to learn and get better. What does your organization have in the works for ? And a year-end move to the Trolley Barn development in SoBro that will double our Nashville office space. How did you wind up in your current position? I parlayed looming unemployment into not-technically-unemployed status by helping start a company and ultimately tackle the job of CEO.
Prior to Emma, I worked as an editor at Citysearch. What makes an effective business leader? Julie May [ bytes of knowledge ] penned a guest column for the Nashville Business Journal about lessons she learned during the bytes of knowledge office move.
Rosen [ Atiba ] about the evolution of Christmas shopping via mobile devices. Bernard Health was also highlighted in a MidLevelU. The Tennessean featured James Fields [ Concept Technology ] in a full page spread about gifts for technology lovers.
Health Pavilion medical office building. Alex Tolbert [ Bernard Health ] was featured in a Tennessean article about a new wave of health care execs bringing fresh ideas to Nashville. Alex also focused his Tennessean column on the dynamics of health care reform. Steve Curnutte and Steve Moore [ Tortola Advisors ] contributed to a Tennessean article about the need for business restructuring, even as the economy shows signs of improvement.
Dan spoke about breaking into the Nashville health care industry, his background in the limo business and how his product surprises him. He was also recognized for his charitable giving through The Bongo Employee Assistance Fund, which supplies short-term financial support to employees of Bongo Productions who face life-altering situations.
Miranda Whitcomb Pontes [ Josephine ] was spotlighted in the issue for her work in rejuvenating the 12 South area with her great restaurants, including her highly anticipated new venture, Josephine. Julie was honored in the Private Company with employees category and Charles was honored in the Private Company with employees category.
We are also proud to announce the following EO Members who were finalists for the award. Congratulations to all! Private Company with Employees. Last week was an eventful one for EO Nashville, with award nominations and extensive media coverage for many of our members. Take a look at what your fellow entrepreneurs were up to:. Julie and Charles May [ bytes of knowledge ] gave a tour of the new b:ok headquarters to the Nashville Business Journal.
Julie was also quoted in a Tennessean article about the difficulty of finding venture funding in Nashville. John Kepley [ Teknetex ] and Julie May shared their insights on starting a business at the Entrepreneur Exchange panel discussion, hosted by the Nashville Business Journal.
Alex Tolbert [ Bernard Health ] penned an article for Business News Daily about the five health benefit tips for startups, and wrote his column for the Tennessean on why employers will shift to individual health coverage. Alex was also quoted in a Nashville Business Journal article about health insurance exchanges.
In his monthly column for the Memphis Daily News , David Waddell [ Waddell and Associates ] gave his opinion on media coverage of the rising debt ceiling. Rosen [ Atiba ] penned an article for The Tennessean that focused on maintaining the reputation of a business. Smith and co-founder Will Weaver bootstrapped the business in and continued to refuse outside investment for years. Emma raised its first round of funding in Emma is the second-largest tech product firm in the city, according to NBJ's List research, and several of the industry's local leaders have spent time with the company.
According to our latest research, the company has about local employees. While Smith said he couldn't speculate on future plans for Emma, he said the company's headquarters would remain in Nashville and that the acquisition sets the company up for bigger and better opportunities.
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