When Jere Thompson Jr. co-founded Ambit Energy LP in 2006, the company made about $1 million that first partial year. By 2007, it hit $44 million, followed by $197 million in 2008 and $325 million in 2009.
“I don’t think you can achieve anything like that and make it a lasting success without great people and great business, and the success we had was because of the systems and management that the great people pulled in,” Thompson, the CEO, says.
The root of all his success comes back to people — the ones he initially recruited and the ones he eventually attracted to the business after proving himself.
“Really, it’s like filling out a basketball team,” Thompson says. “You fill out the five positions and look for the best people available and bring them into the company and persuade them this is what it’s going to take and this is the hard work we’re going to put into this thing, and in a few years, it’s going to pay off.”
He says the key to Ambit’s growth was to hire the most talented people out of the gate, set a high bar for them, and then plan for his future people needs.
