Winner
Emerging
Michael Murdoch and Joel Smith delayed starting their company by one day because Murdoch did not like the idea of launching on April Fools’ Day 2002. And since then, the company’s success has been anything but a joke.
Some part of the company’s success may have had to do with launching on April 2, but a better guess is the work ethic of Murdoch. The president and CEO of AppRiver was an entrepreneur at a young age, selling newspaper subscriptions at the age of 7. And by the time he was 10, he was delivering newspapers and collecting payments.
Murdoch worked a number of jobs throughout school, and at age 23, he became the first employee of a start-up company, which he helped grow into a national business. He eventually started his own enterprise systems integration consulting services company. It was through his business dealings with this company that Murdoch met Smith and formed AppRiver.
Today, the company has more than 100 employees serving clients across the United States, Europe and Asia. It provides e-mail and Web security services through encryption and secure file storage options and access to enterprise applications for any business through “cloud computing.” And it is self-funded, with Murdoch and Smith as the only investors, so they can do business their way.
As far as what the future holds, Murdoch expects AppRiver to benefit from the current economy because its services and technologies can help companies save money. As they look for options for lowering costs and focus on issues critical to their success, AppRiver becomes a solution. It can remove the worry of data security and e-mail and Internet access and lower the customer’s technology costs.
And while Murdoch’s business goals are about money, his greatest satisfaction is seeing his employees, whom he calls “Appers,” develop and grow.
How to reach: AppRiver, (866) 223-4645 or www.appriver.com
