Financial Services – Finalist
Like most entrepreneurs, work is a hobby for Jeff Stibel, chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. Some people play tennis or golf; his passion is starting companies.
What makes Stibel different from many entrepreneurs is that he fully embraces failure. Virtually every success and achievement he has undertaken is the result of things he has learned from previous failures.
But while Stibel has started and run a half-dozen companies — private, public, early stage, turnaround — nothing has been quite like his current venture. Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., which he co-founded two years ago, provides credit building and credibility solutions for businesses.
In August 2010, Stibel’s company, Credibility Solutions, raised a $200 million commitment and merged its assets with the credit-building assets of D&B to form Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. While he bought a declining asset from D&B, he was able to quickly turn it into a high-growth start-up with assets. Stibel did this by innovating around the idea of credibility and offering numerous products to determine and enable credibility.
For example, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp.’s No. 1 performing new product is the D&B Credibility Review. This product not only provides traditional credit data but also offers insights into credibility through the Internet by providing access to data from Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Yelp and others.
Given that Stibel is in the business of helping businesses succeed, he has focused his community outreach efforts on seeding a new generation of business owners. He personally serves on the boards of the entrepreneurial programs at Brown University and the leadership council at Tufts University and has done so for more than five years. The company also sponsors dozens of programs and donates regularly.
How to reach: Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., www.dandb.com
