In March 2025, World Wide Technology said its annual revenue had passed $20 billion. David Steward co-founded the company with Jim Kavanaugh in 1990, when it was a technology reseller. It has since expanded into testing, integrating and deploying systems for large organizations. The scale is striking, but the lesson is practical: supplying other businesses can build a valuable company when the supplier can handle the work its customers depend on.
Business-to-business companies sell to organizations rather than individual consumers. Their customers might be corporations, government agencies, utilities, healthcare practices or foundations. Some earn subscription income; others compete for contracts, license technology or place workers with clients. The revenue can recur, but so can the demands: long sales cycles, detailed procurement rules and substantial costs before a customer pays.
The companies in this list approach those challenges in different ways. Some have grown into major businesses; others have raised capital or been acquired. Those milestones do not tell us what each founder personally owns or has earned. They do show how a company can grow around a problem that organizations need to solve repeatedly.
1. David Steward: Technology Systems and Integration
Steward co-founded WWT with Kavanaugh and is its chairman. The company handles more than hardware sales: it offers consulting, procurement, testing, warehousing, integration and deployment. WWT reported more than $20 billion in annual revenue in 2025 and lists a workforce of more than 14,000.
For a large organization, buying technology is only part of the job. Systems from different vendors have to work together, and a failed rollout can disrupt daily operations. WWT’s Advanced Technology Center gives customers and partners a place to test solutions before deployment. Its integration and distribution capacity then helps put those systems into use.
Talent is equally distributed; opportunity is not. — David Steward
2. Janice Bryant Howroyd: Staffing and Workforce Services
Howroyd founded ActOne Group in 1978. The company provides staffing, workforce management, procurement and other business services to large companies, mid-market firms and government agencies. ActOne operates in 47 countries, serves more than 28,000 clients and has 2,600 employees.
Staffing can produce repeat business, but it is not a simple matter of matching a worker to a vacancy. The agency has to recruit and support people, while managing the gap between paying workers and collecting from clients. If a client regularly needs staff, the relationship may continue; the agency still has to fill roles reliably and manage its costs.
For all of our years in business, ActOne Group has lived from a belief that the worker is the center of our universe. — Janice Bryant Howroyd
3. Carla Walker-Miller: Energy Programs for Utilities
Walker-Miller Energy Services works with utilities and government on energy-efficiency programs. Its services include implementation, public outreach, workforce training, product procurement and customer support. TechTown Detroit reported in 2024 that the company had grown from two coworking cubicles into a multi-million-dollar business operating in six states, with more than 200 team members.
Utilities may bring in contractors to reach customers, arrange energy assessments, supply equipment or track program results. That work involves labor, logistics and procurement, all of which affect the cost of a contract. Winning the work is one milestone; delivering it well enough to compete for future projects is another.
4. Delali Dzirasa: Digital Services for Government
Dzirasa founded Fearless, a software and digital-services company that works with government. The General Services Administration lists Fearless Solutions as a small disadvantaged business and a HUBZone firm. Its federal contract vehicle has an ultimate term ending in 2036, and a USAspending award record identifies the company as Black American-owned.
A contract vehicle gives government buyers a route to procure services from a company. It does not guarantee that the company will receive work. Fearless still has to compete for task orders, meet security and delivery requirements, manage its staff and price each assignment. Procurement access creates an opportunity; execution determines whether it can become a sustainable business.
5. Dino A. James: Industrial and Facility Support
Dino A. James founded A. James Global Services, which describes itself as an industrial and facility-support company. Its work includes facility consulting and industrial electronic services. The company also describes a partnership to provide services for Washington-area rail operations.
Industrial work often brings several vendors, specialist workers and tight schedules together. Partnerships can help a smaller firm take on work beyond the capacity of its own payroll, provided the parties are clear about who is responsible for delivery and quality. For the customer, the aim is straightforward: get the technical work done so operations can continue.
6. Tope Awotona: Scheduling Software for Teams
Awotona founded Calendly in 2013. The company says more than 50 million people use its scheduling platform. Its pricing illustrates how a product used by individuals can also be sold to larger organizations: Calendly lists paid team plans by seat and an Enterprise plan starting at $15,000 a year for 50 seats.
Enterprise buyers may need features that are less important to an individual user, such as single sign-on, audit logs and onboarding. Integrations with products such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics can also make the scheduling tool fit more easily into existing workflows. That can support renewals, though continued use depends on the product working well for customers.
7. Shegun Otulana: Practice-Management Software
Otulana founded TheraNest, which made software for mental and behavioral health practices. He later led its parent company, Therapy Brands. The platform offered practice-management and electronic health-record tools. In 2021, KKR announced an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Therapy Brands. At the time, the company said its software supported more than 28,000 practices.
Practices need to manage records, schedules and billing as part of their everyday operations. Software subscriptions can create repeat revenue, but providers have to find the tools dependable and suited to how they work. The majority investment marked a change in ownership and a new stage for Therapy Brands; it was not simply another product launch.
8. Sevetri Wilson: Software for Nonprofits and Funders
Wilson founded Resilia, a software company that serves nonprofits and the organizations that fund them. Its offer combines digital tools with coaching and technical assistance. In 2022, Resilia announced a $35 million Series B financing and reported more than 15,000 nonprofit users, as well as enterprise customers that included foundations and corporations.
Resilia works with both sides of philanthropy: nonprofits seeking operational support and funders working with multiple organizations. That gives the company a broader customer base, but the coaching and technical assistance also require people and resources. As it grows, Resilia has to keep the tools useful to both groups without letting service costs outrun revenue.
9. Jewel Burks Solomon: Visual Search for Industrial Parts
Solomon co-founded Partpic, which helped enterprise customers identify industrial parts from images. In testimony published through the federal government’s RegInfo portal, she said the company licensed its technology to businesses for use on their websites. Amazon acquired Partpic in 2016.
The product addressed a specific problem: finding the correct replacement part for maintenance or repair. Licensing allowed Partpic to reach customers through the digital channels of established companies. Solomon’s testimony also described the challenges of integrating a startup into a larger organization. An acquisition can give a technology broader reach, while changing how the business operates and the founder’s role in it.
10. Rodney Williams: Proximity Technology for Businesses
Williams co-founded LISNR, a company that develops ultrasonic software for secure interactions between businesses and customers. LISNR says its technology serves retail, mobility, finance, education and live events. It reports 131 patents and more than $43 million raised since its founding in 2012. That funding figure reflects capital raised by the company; it is not a measure of Williams’s personal wealth.
The technology can support proximity verification and contactless transactions. For LISNR, a sale to a business involves more than demonstrating the software: it has to work inside the customer’s products and user experience. Integrating with a client’s systems may take time, but a successful deployment can put the technology into the client’s ongoing operations.
What the Business Models Reveal
The companies earn money in different ways. Software and technology licensing can bring subscription or royalty payments. Staffing revenue depends on placements and workforce needs. Energy services may rely on program contracts. Each model has its own costs, from software development and hosting to payroll, field teams and equipment.
Contract terms matter just as much as the headline value. A service-level agreement, or SLA, may set expectations for uptime, response times, service quality or remedies when a provider falls short. For a supplier, those terms are commitments to meet and costs to plan for. A renewal may depend on performance, but also on the buyer’s budget and procurement process.
Annual recurring revenue, or ARR, can help describe subscription income over a year. It does not tell us whether a company is profitable. Support, engineering, hosting and customer acquisition all carry costs. A retainer can give a service firm more predictable income, but only if the fee covers the work and the people needed to deliver it.
Valuation is similarly hard to reduce to one figure. Buyers may value reliable growth and repeat customers, but margins, debt, retention and customer concentration matter too. Revenue, funds raised, user numbers and acquisition announcements measure different things. None, on its own, tells us how much a founder owns or has earned.
Cash flow can determine whether a contract is manageable. A supplier may need to hire workers, buy materials or pay subcontractors weeks or months before the customer settles an invoice.
Together, these founders show the range of opportunity in selling to organizations. A repeat need can support a lasting company, but a contract alone does not build wealth. The supplier has to price the work, finance delivery and meet its obligations. Founders who retain ownership may share in the value a company creates; their personal outcome still depends on the business’s costs, performance and ownership structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a B2B business?
A business-to-business company sells products or services to organisations. Its customers may include corporations, government agencies, utilities, healthcare practices, foundations and other businesses.
How do B2B companies earn recurring revenue?
They may charge for software subscriptions, ongoing staffing, service retainers or renewed contracts. Repeat income depends on customer demand, contract terms and the supplier’s performance. A renewal is never automatic.
What does an SLA do?
A service-level agreement sets measurable expectations between a provider and a customer. It can cover uptime, response times, service quality and remedies if agreed targets are missed.
Does a large contract guarantee profit?
No. The supplier may have to pay workers and vendors before the customer pays. A contract’s total value does not reveal its delivery costs, payment schedule or final profit.
How can B2B ownership build wealth?
A founder who retains an ownership stake may benefit if the company grows, earns repeat revenue or is sold. But company revenue, investment raised and customer numbers are not personal wealth. The founder’s outcome depends on the stake retained and the company’s economics.
