Elevating Entrepreneurship

Like all the best business ventures, Aggie 100 began as a back-of-the-napkin idea. In 2005, Richard Scruggs ’77 ’79, former director of the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship at Mays Business School, saw a need to recognize Aggie entrepreneurs beyond graduation.

“Scruggs had observed from other entrepreneurship centers that no one was paying much attention to their graduates. The success of entrepreneurs after they graduated was anticipated but not recognized by their alma maters. Scruggs wanted to organize something to celebrate them for taking a risk with what they learned at Texas A&M and applying it in the real world,” explained Blake Petty ’98 ’00, current executive director of Mays Business School's renamed McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship.

Thus Aggie 100 was born, designed to honor the 100 fastest-growing Aggie-owned or Aggie-led businesses in the world. As Petty said, measuring growth in this way “points straight back to the entrepreneurial nature of the program.”

“Many programs recognize largest businesses or most employees, because that 10-to-100 moment for a company is remarkable,” he added. “But for us as an entrepreneurship center, that 0-to-10 moment—measuring from where you started to where you are now—that’s what entrepreneurship means.” It obviously means just as much outside Texas A&M as well, with the Aggie 100 inspiring over 20 other universities to follow suit in launching their own “100” programs to celebrate their graduates’ successes.
 

Making the List

On Oct. 4, Aggie 100 celebrated its 20th anniversary by announcing the 2024 ranking of the 100 fastest-growing Aggie companies from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023. Nominations are already open for the 2025 ranking.

To be eligible for Aggie 100, nominated companies must meet three levels of criteria involving company revenue and longevity, Texas A&M leadership and overall character. This means all awarded companies must have been in business for at least five years and have a verifiable revenue of $250,000 or more three years before the nomination year.

To earn a spot on the Aggie 100 list, companies must also operate under the leadership of a Texas A&M graduate, meaning an Aggie must have founded the company and be an active member of the most senior management team, own 50% or more of the company, or serve as the company’s chief executive for the entirety of the three-year, pre-nomination period. Lastly, Aggie 100 prides itself on aligning with the Texas A&M core values and limits recognition to companies that operate in a manner consistent with the Aggie Code of Honor.

To claim a coveted spot on the list, applicants provide high-level company information to PKF Texas, an independent accounting firm, to accurately identify the 100 fastest-growing companies. With that data, the firm evaluates the nominees’ submissions and provides the rankings based on a percentage of compound annual growth in sales or revenues over a three-year period.

As the program celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall, Aggie 100 has evolved beyond its humble beginnings. More recently, Aggie 100 averages over 600 nominations each year, and 2023 surpassed all previous application records. Petty credited this jump to a niche character trait he calls being “Aggie competitive.”

“It would make sense not to nominate other companies because every spot they take could bump you off; yet we see nominations flood in from honorees nominating other businesses,” he explained. “It’s very ‘Aggie competitive.’ All these people are engaging other businesses, because if they’re going to compete, they might as well compete against the best, right?”

Over the last two decades, the program has had the honor of celebrating some of Texas A&M’s finest business successes and the extraordinary milestones they’ve reached—many in record time. Hailing from various backgrounds, backstories and back-to-back Aggie 100 appearances, each of these wildly successful past honorees represents the unique talent and ambition continuously found at Texas A&M.

All-Time Honoree

Taseer Badar ’95 | ZT Corporate

Taseer Badar ’95 has placed on the Aggie 100 list 33 times with over 20 unique companies under the umbrella of ZT Corporate, a leading private equity firm based in Houston with offices in New York and Los Angeles. He holds the record for the highest number of awards for any single honoree and credits this accomplishment to his dedicated team members, praising them for being “a powerhouse of talent and the driving force behind ZT’s success.” 

Regarding his own inspiration for entrepreneurship, Badar simply said: “Some people start businesses. Others run them. I like to do both.” His knack for business began at 8 years old with a paper route and continued with a toner cartridge refilling business during his time at Texas A&M, which earned him nearly a quarter million dollars by graduation. Over 25 years later, he has settled into the role of chief executive officer of ZT Corporate, which continues to strategically grow through acquisitions and investments—a move that Badar anticipates will land him back on the Aggie 100 for years to come.
 

A Business That Gives Back

Col. John Albers ’90, USMC (Ret.) | Albers Aerospace

Col. John Albers ’90, USMC (Ret.) served in the United States Marine Corps for 24 years before returning to civilian life and founding The Albers Group, now named Albers Aerospace—a company that provides high-quality products and services as part of the defense industrial base—earning Aggie 100’s No. 1 spot with the company’s first application in 2021 and placing twice more in subsequent years.
 

Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Kevin Bernhard ’00 | JK Bernhard Construction Co. and Steel Frame Solutions & Drywall

Kevin Bernhard ’00 learned about Aggie 100 from his college roommate years after they graduated from Texas A&M. “We were always pretty competitive,” Bernhard admitted, “so when he told me that he had made it on Aggie 100, I knew I had to do it too.”