Finalist
Private Equity/Venture Capital Backed
As the chairman and CEO of Chicago-based Trustwave, Robert J. McCullen is responsible for guiding the firm’s strategic direction and managing all aspects of its day-to-day operations.
Trustwave is the provider of on-demand data security and payment card industry compliance management solutions to businesses and organizations throughout the world.
During the past few years, McCullen’s innovative approach to securing relationships with the card brands and merchant acquiring banks has continued to pay off as the industry has begun rolling out compliance programs for its smallest merchants. As a result, the company has seen its customer base grow from 30,000 at the end of 2008 to almost 1 million today.
His growth strategy focuses on aggressively pursuing the smallest merchants through its established relationships with the card brand and larger merchant acquiring banks. The company also cross-sells subscription-based security solutions as well as selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions.
A key to McCullen’s success has been rooted in taking advantage of the recent economic downturn. Even during the difficult economic environment, the company has grown revenue by a compound annual rate of 27 percent. While the investment community was tightening the amount of growth capital available to many technology start-ups, he saw the opportunity to acquire industry-leading security solutions at a great value. These complementary businesses enhanced his market-leading position and innovative channel relationships already established in the PCI compliance industry.
McCullen’s willingness to take calculated risks and invest for the future at a time when others were pulling back has helped catapult Trustwave to having one of the most complete security offerings in the industry. The company has recently surpassed Cisco Systems, Symantec and IBM to become the No. 2 acquirer of security companies in the world.
How to reach: Trustwave, (312) 873-7500 or www.trustwave.com
