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Inc. magazine today revealed that Foxbox Digital is No. 7 on its third annual Inc. 5000 Regionals Midwest list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies based in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Foxbox Digital Ranks No. 7 on Inc. Magazine’s List of the Midwest Region’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Foxbox Digital is No. 7 on its third annual Inc. 5000 Regionals Midwest list

, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies based in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

“The Foxbox Digital team deserves this recognition more than anyone. Our team continues to deliver day after day. I’m proud of our team and this accomplishment. We know that this accomplishment is just the start of our journey, and so we’re ready and excited to keep moving!” says Rob Volk, CEO and Founder of Foxbox Digital.

2021 was an unbelievable year for Foxbox Digital. Foxbox grew revenue to $5MM for the first time ever.

Foxbox also grew its leadership team and recalibrated for growth. And growth is what happened in the second half of the year.

Foxbox brought on new executives: Steve MacKinnon as Chief Digital Officer. Doug Lampe as VP of Engineering. Megan A. Zeeck, PHR, SHRM-CP as VP of People & Culture. Barrett Willich as Chief Financial Officer. And last, but definitely not least, Richard Stern as Chief Operating Officer.

The companies on this list show a remarkable rate of growth across all industries in the Midwest region. Between 2018 and 2020, these 144 private companies had an average growth rate of 147% percent, and, in 2020 alone, they added 19,821 jobs and nearly $11.7 billion to the Midwest region’s economy. Companies based in Chicago, Illinois, Noblesville, Indiana, and Overland Park, Kansas, areas had the highest growth rate overall.

The Inc. 5000 Regionals Midwest results, including company profiles and an interactive database, are sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at inc.com/midwest starting March 15, 2022.

 is an award-winning digital product agency headquartered in Chicago. We are a team of engineers, product people, designers, and entrepreneurs that Move Purposely to build and launch successful digital products. We’ve helped Fortune 500 companies and high-growth companies design, develop, and deliver digital products used by hundreds of thousands of people.

More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Regionals:

Methodology
The 2022 Inc. 5000 Regional are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2018 and 2020. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2019. (Since then, several companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2018 is $100,000; the minimum for 2020 is $1 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.

The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit 

This press release was originally published on March 22nd, 2022 at 

https://www.prweb.com/releases/2022/3/prweb18567636.htm

Foxbox Digital, a leading digital product agency, is excited to announce the hiring of Megan Zeeck as VP of People & Culture. As part of her role, she will be responsible for developing Foxbox Digital's evolving culture, talent, and capabilities.


Foxbox Digital Hires Former Executive Megan Zeeck as VP of People & Culture

Foxbox Digital, a leading digital product agency, is excited to announce the hiring of Megan Zeeck as VP of People & Culture. As part of her role, she will be responsible for developing Foxbox Digital's evolving culture, talent, and capabilities.

Throughout her extensive career as a Human Resources Business Partner at Devbridge, Accuity, and Elements Holdings Group & Subsidiaries, Megan has gained a phenomenal track record of developing and executing strategic talent acquisition and human resource management programs for growing tech organizations. List of the Midwest Region’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

“What I love the most about Foxbox Digital is their ability to get things done. They’re dedicated to their work, and that’s something I look for in a healthy, growing company. I’m beyond excited to join the team and take Foxbox to the next level,” says Zeeck.

Megan is also a certified PHR and SHRM-CP professional and holds a Master's Degree in Human Resources Management.

“Megan brings more than sixteen years of experience in human resources and helping high-growth companies hire and retain phenomenal talent. She has the attitude, maturity, and expertise that we look for in a leader. We’re excited to have her join our team!” Says Rob Volk, Founder and CEO of Foxbox Digital.

Foxbox Digital clients include high-growth startups to Fortune 500 in healthcare and retail and many others across various industries.

Foxbox Digital is an award-winning digital product agency headquartered in Chicago. We are a team of engineers, product people, designers, and entrepreneurs that Move Purposely to build and launch successful digital products. From

I wanted to share a breakdown of each year, mainly to help those who are looking to start a business and want a glimpse of what it’s like.

A Breakdown of Every Year

It’s been four years since I started Foxbox Digital. I wanted to share a breakdown of each year, mainly to help those who are looking to start a business and want a glimpse of what it’s like.

: I thought to myself, “I’m a great software developer/CTO. I could do this for clients.”

 I wanted to scale the business, so that meant I couldn’t be the core software developer. This was a little unnerving for me since I’ve been the one responsible for building the tech all of my life.

 Started as a purely “React Native for Less” company. We made great initial traction and grabbed a few small clients. Felt very positive about the direction, but something was missing.

 I felt like I figured it out! Turns out, fast and cheap isn't the best business model. We re-focused on delivering with purpose: high-quality digital products. I hired some key people, and the success seemed repeatable. We had some modest growth. We grabbed more clients, and project sizes were getting bigger! Toward the end of year 2, we closed our first Fortune 500 client.

 The pandemic arrived, and that was very much a struggle bus. I never had so much uncertainty in my business than in March 2020. When our clients are uncertain, we’re for sure uncertain. This was still honestly a blur to me. But my confidence that we could make this work was still high. I didn’t know how much the struggle would continue.

 Stars are starting to align. The need for digital work goes to an all-time high.

All companies at once decided they needed to work on their digital presence. But this introduces new challenges and tests my leadership style most. I was under pressure. We lost a few key hires due to mismanagement, and on the flip side, we gained two executive new hires and are now at 100 people.

I continue to work with my business coach, and every day, I’m learning more about my own work preferences, my style, and how I can bring more of an “authentic self” to work.

A Breakdown of Every Year Since Starting the Business

Running a business is complicated, but there are a few “musts” to it.

You Can't Start A Business and Work A Job At The Same Time

You can’t run a business and work a job at the same time.

I was a software engineer before I started Foxbox Digital. I loved it. I gave it up when I founded Foxbox.

You have to move away from what you love to do. You’ll have enough obligations eating up your time just running the company, you can’t work for yourself as well. You love it—I understand. But it’s alright to move on because you have to be CEO.

What’s even harder is letting others do the job you love instead of you. When I founded Foxbox, I had to find someone to handle software engineering instead of me. It was hard. It will be hard for you too, but you’ll push through it.

People will quit, and there’s nothing wrong with that

Our first VP of engineering quit. Our thoughts didn’t align well, and our ideas were too different. He just didn’t have the same vision I did. That’s fine. When you inevitably have people quit on you, know that it’s ok. Take it in stride. Learn from it. You’ll find someone more attuned to you next time, and it will all work out great.

I have a stable VP of engineering now. His name is Doug, and he has about 55 engineers working under him at the moment. It’s working out great. I trust him. Our visions align. Our ideas match.

When you look for employees and coworkers, look for someone who will be to you what Doug is to me.

Ultimately, there is one most important “must.” Let go of your ego. Learn to give someone else the reigns and say: “There you go, you can do this better.” Letting go of software engineering was one of the things most personal to me. But I did it.

It’s been an insane… I mean… interesting year.

The good news is that it’s all positive. Our hard work and dedication have paid off. Here’s a summary of what’s happened.









Foxbox Digital Q4 2021 Update - We've Grown to 100 Team Members! Here's How We're Maturing

The good news is that it’s all positive. Our hard work and dedication have paid off. Here’s a summary of what’s happened.

We’re growing. And we’re growing fast.

We've hit 100 people! We smashed our 50% growth target for the year, and we still have a month left.

The talent market is hot, hot, hot. Hiring fast enough is a problem, but retention is probably the most important for us, and we can’t lose focus.

All this growth has no doubt put a strain on our team.

We've had some mis-hires, which have added additional strain, and at times have sacrificed quality because we moved too fast.

We try to balance sales and recruiting to ensure we deliver for our current clients and grow the team at the right pace to deliver for our next clients.

Right now, we're killing it with sales. Our problem is we can't hire fast enough.

We’re recruiting the best people as fast as we can

We continue to look for the best people and not sacrifice quality, and to do that, we're casting a wide net and trying new things to reach a wider audience.

We have four full-time recruiters now. And they’re working hard.

We've reached out to over 600 solution architects—it's a difficult market, but we're on it!

We’re poaching senior executives from Fortune 500 companies (Did I just type that?)

We hired two senior executives that I couldn’t be more excited to talk about. It's a long time coming, and a major step toward maturity for Foxbox Digital. Here are the announcements:

Foxbox Digital Hires Former IBM and Accenture Technology Leader, Steve MacKinnon, as Chief Digital Officer

Foxbox Digital Hires Former Deloitte and Lockheed Martin Technology Executive as VP of Engineering

I’m re-focusing on team and company growth and less day to day activities

It’s not that I want to do this, it’s just that I have to do this. It’s impossible to manage everything with all of the growth. Hiring Doug and Steve has given me some breathing room, and I’ve been using that time to set strategic company direction.

We’re hiring ahead of demand to build a better delivery system

The hardest part of agency hiring has to be balancing staffing. You want enough to handle demand, but you don’t want too many when demand is slow. It’s a constant battle.

Having a solid team opens up opportunities and gives us the help we need when we need it.

We made the decision to hire ahead of demand.

Since January, my goal has been to build a bench. However, It hasn't happened simply because sales demand has outpaced our recruiting abilities. We are catching up.

We just published a new case study with The X Company! This was a very cool physical and digital experience project that we’re proud of. Here’s a quote from the client:

You can tell that Foxbox cares. They really wanted to understand what we’re building. The app has a lot of technical complexity. We tried (and failed) building it with another app developer prior to Foxbox. Foxbox nailed it. 

The X Company is currently active in six markets and rapidly expanding with 5,000 beds in their current portfolio and over $1B in construction activity.

It can be intimidating to see other people succeed.

We’ve hired 26 people in the past 90 days. Here’s what we’ve learned

I started Foxbox Digital 3 years ago. We’ve grown from 0 to 60 team members in 3 years. It’s been an incredible run, and we just got started.

Not every individual contributor (IC) needs to become a manager or go up the ranks

Crain’s Chicago Business recognized me as a notable LGBTQ Executive!

The single piece of advice I can give about hiring amazing engineers is that you should hire for their strong suit, not just because they are full-stack engineers.

It’s been an incredible year, and I’m glad to share it with you all. If there is anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

X Company needed to bring their large, inspiring vision to life. They thought big, and they needed a partner that was aligned with their holistic vision. Read how Foxbox was able to help.

How Foxbox Digital Powers The X Company

 serves residents who prefer the live-work-play lifestyle, but with a twist—all done from home.

The X Company provides a state-of-the-art living space and social club with incredible amenities, including a rooftop pool, gym, neighborhood bar, private workspaces, as well as professional and social events.

It’s safe to say: The X Company is different.

They wanted a digital platform that improves upon the industry norm of the disconnected, poor experiences between residents and property managers.

Foxbox was perfectly positioned to help them. And that’s what we did.

"You can tell that Foxbox cares. That they really wanted to understand what we’re building. The app has a lot of technical complexity. We tried, and failed, building it before with another app developer prior to Foxbox. 

."

- Ben Brichta, Partner, The X Company

Here’s a little behind the scenes of how we made it happen.

It’s Not an App, It’s a Business Platform.

The X Company app is much more than a beautiful, convenient, and easy-to-use app for members. The custom-built platform powers the everyday business of their growing residential buildings.

The ability to easily scale with every new residential community construction.

When The X Company builds a new residential building and community, their digital-first platform allows them to easily expand to support the new local community within a few weeks.

Support members faster, with greater impact.

With this platform and some technical magic, we were able to allow The X Company community managers to use one platform, not 10.

We built an experience where a community admin can create a new residential user in their dashboard and automatically give proper permissions throughout all of the systems in one click, instead of the five screens and systems they would have done before.

Dashboard reporting that helps community managers and leadership understand how every service is being utilized.

With an ever-increasing amount of units becoming available, reporting how the residents are using the services becomes an important part of analyzing and improving core services.

We built a dashboard analytics view into how the residents were using their digital services along with their physical space experiences. This dashboard allows community managers and leadership to understand exactly how their services are utilized, when they're utilized, and what locations utilize them.

It’s Beautiful. It’s Powerful. It’s Secure. It Gives the Comfort of Modern Living for a New Type of Workforce.

The X Company, clearly different from the rest, wanted to make sure their residents’ experiences were digitally enabled.

"Your apartment building should be more than a dull stack of boxes. That’s why we don’t build apartments. We build social living communities for awesome people to thrive together."

- The X Company

Grant and revoke resident access in an instant, securely.

The X Company platform is secured by multi-factor authentication, with additional back-end security protections that protect residents when they lose phone access.

Mobile/Keyless entry that works online and offline.

The X Company App allows every resident to access every door from their bedroom to the garage and shared spaces. For common entries, the residents simply need to wave their hand in front of the sensor, as long as their phone is near them or in their pockets.

The app can grant temporary and secure access to friends, family, dog walkers, and more, all from within the app.

Real-time communication between residents and community managers.

Most platforms have an email-based or portal-based communication system which de-prioritizes response times. Our custom-built platform allows residents to speak with community managers in real-time through a chat-based support system integrated directly into the app.

Residents can use the app to find and book available conference rooms in addition to reserving and inviting friends to carefully curated social events. Entrepreneurial events, financial planning, and Yoga—you name it, they have it.

A Digital-First Community, Powered by Top-Notch Engineering, Design, and Product Teams.

The last thing The X Company needed was an app or development partner. They needed a firm to bring their large, inspiring vision to life. They thought big, and they needed a partner that was aligned with their holistic vision.

With our product strategy, visual design, and engineering sessions all running through our human-centered design process, we acted as a true digital transformation partner.

"Foxbox didn’t build requirements as a pass-through developer. The team really dug in and fit into the ecosystem and questioned what added value. They came to the assignment with a holistic understanding outside of the original scope of work. We enjoyed that."

- Ben Brichta, Partner, The X Company

We were the first company to implement two of the major digital lock platforms in one app (Avigilon and Salto KS).

The technical complexity of this cannot be understated.

Avigilon (formerly OpenPath) and Salto KS are digital access control platforms for apartment locks and common doors that are traditionally used as white-labeled platforms.

But we needed an experience that was seamless for community managers and residents, so we went the custom route. This allowed users to not only access their personal apartment locks but also amenities and remote unlock features.

Not only were we the first team to implement both Avigilon Mobile SDK and Salto KS in a single app, we were the first team to implement the Avigilon SDK.

"Foxbox Digital did an amazing job with implementing our SDK. As our first commercial user, we were delighted to see how well of a job they engineered the solution while providing a great digital experience for The X Company’s residents. Foxbox Digital is an engineering powerhouse, and they are the real deal."

- James Segil, OpenPath CEO

We integrated 11 platforms in the name of customer experience:

Avigilon and Salto KS - Digital Access Control Systems

Mixpanel - Product Analytics and Marketing Automation

We developed the X platform using these technologies:

React Native - cross-platform mobile framework for iOS and Android

Native iOS and Android bridges to support digital access control

Elixir - backend API powering the platform

Docker & Kubernetes - reliable, scalable cloud hosting infrastructure

The X Company Digital Platform Is the Future of Work and Play Residential Communities.

The X Company is one of the most innovative, if not the most innovative, residential buildings on the market. They are constantly pushing the status quo of what living, working, and playing should look like.

When we had the opportunity to work with The X Company, we jumped at the chance. Together, we were able to build a digital solution that transforms their current and future residential buildings.

Inside the Box

Articles, updates, and ideas you can put to use.

Foxbox Digital Ranks No. 7 on Inc. Magazine’s List of the Midwest Region’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Foxbox Digital Hires Former Executive Megan Zeeck as VP of People & Culture

A Breakdown of Every Year Since Starting the Business

You Can't Start A Business and Work A Job At The Same Time

Foxbox Digital Q4 2021 Update - We've Grown to 100 Team Members! Here's How We're Maturing

How Foxbox Digital Powers The X Company: A Rapidly Expanding Residential Community With Over 5,000 Units and $1 Billion in Construction Activity