Hockey Stick Growth Charts

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-)

  • 2000: Hundreds of employees now working all over the world
  • Bill Gates invests in Red Hat stock