Red Hat Software Growth Chart

Tinkering/Pre-Start (Pre-1994)

While working for Greyvest, Bob Young attends UNIX software meetings beginning in 1991
Young is laid off from Greyvest in 1992
Young learns about Linux and free software from his audience for the newsletter New York Unix
Young begins to publish The Linux Journal in 1993

The Blade Years (1994-1999)

1994: Marc Ewing creates a version of Linux that is easy to use and calls it his “Red Hat Linux” software
July 29, 1994: Ewing sends pilot model of “Red Hat Linux” to a select group for trial
1994: Ewing’s software is primarily distributed through Young’s ACC catalog
1994: $0 year 1 revenue
January 1995: Ewing and Young become one company after Young’s “tour” to learn about Linux
Red Hat begins selling two versions of Linux: 1) free downloadable version with software and source code and 2) CD official version retailing at $49.95
In 1998, Ingram Micro becomes Red Hat’s distributor and accounts for 54 percent of sales (with one other distributor)
1997: Named product of the year for operating systems by InfoWorld Magazine
August 15, 1997: Frank Batten, Jr. makes an investment of $2 million

Growth Inflection Point (1999)

Year 6 growth inflection point: $12,396,284 revenue (grows 106 percent from 1998)
Red Hat negotiates product integration, co-marketing, and distribution partnership deals with companies like IBM, Dell, Intel, Compaq, Oracle, SAP, Netscape, HP, and Novell
March 1999: RedHat.com has 265,000 unique visitors and over 2.5 million page views
August 11, 1999: Red Hat goes public
November 1999: Matthew Szulik becomes CEO

Surging Growth (2000-)