Charles Keatts, Terracotta Inc.1

Inside Sales
San Francisco - CA United States

The big idea: In 25 words or less, please tell us how this Fast 50 Nominee is helping to address the planet's problems.

Terracotta is a great company, both to work for and in terms of the disruptive java technology for clustering that is growing in interest and usage throughout the globe.

Please describe how this nominee is using business as a force of positive change. What technology, idea, or strategy is the nominee using -- and what problem, such as global warming, poverty, or pollution, does it address? (suggested length: 100 words)

Terracotta began as a team at Walmart.com and grew that business by magnitudes. Ari Zilka, Orion Letizi, and others founded Terracotta to carry out that mission more clearly: JVM-level clustering using shared memory. Now we are doing things that people said were not possible using cutting edge technology. The energy here is intense, fun, driven, but organized. Unlike a lot of high-energy companies I don't feel like I'm bouncing around like a pinball. I feel like I have the resources I need here to succeed and realistic goals. There is a lot of talent here in sales, engineering, QA, management, and marketing. It's a cool place.

What are the results, both financial and social? How has the nominee's business performed, and what impact has it had on the problem it addresses? (suggested length: 100 words)

Over 100 companies worldwide are in production with Terracotta as open source software, and over 30 are paying customers just in the last year or two.