Note: In June of 2008, Inc. published an article on DirectoryM that featured how DirectoryM was dealing with its 4.5 million dollar debt resulting from a buy-back the previous year. This month, Inc. published a follow up article explaining how DirectoryM has dealt with the demands of such a debt, as well as how the company has grown, evolved, and changed since the last publication.
When managing a business, it’s difficult to organize, pay, and control debt. CEO and cofounder of DirectoryM, Panos Bethanis, understands this all too well. In 2007, Bethanis decided to buy back DirectoryM from venture capitalists, although this would place the company in a 4.5 million dollar debt. While there was skepticism from employees, partners, and financial experts, after an article featuring this decision was published by Inc. in June of 2008, DirectoryM continued growing and evolving.
According to Inc.’s recent Jully 2009 article, “DirectoryM now boasts partnerships with 500 content partners, which helped it reach its 2008 revenue goal of $4 million and open five international offices. The company has also added 75 employees, including 42 overseas.” In addition to featuring DirectoryM’s financial and personnel growth, the article also explains how Bethanis and his employees reestablished DirectoryM and dealt with what, in many instances, would have been overwhelming financial obstacles.
The following link features the new Inc. article:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090701/buying-your-old-company-back.html
To read the June 2008 Inc. article, click the following link:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080601/panos-bethanis-went-45-million-in-the-hole_pagen_3.html
