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Dropbox, San Francisco, CA

Gold Stevie Award Winner 2012, Click to Enter The 2014 American Business Awards

Company: Dropbox, San Francisco, CA
Entry Submitted By: The Hatch Agency
Company Description: Dropbox is a file hosting service based in San Francisco, California that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, and client software. Dropbox was founded in 2007 by MIT graduates Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, as a Y Combinator startup company. People at over two million businesses and 95% of Fortune 500 companies are using Dropbox for file storage, sharing and collaboration.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Company of the Year - Computer Software - Up to 250 Employees

Nomination Title: Dropbox for Business

Tell the story about what this nominated organization achieved since January 1 2012 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Dropbox is a cloud-based file storage service that enables you to bring your photos, documents, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Dropbox's simple and intuitive sharing system has led to its adoption within a wide variety of businesses - from commercial real estate firms and nonprofit agencies, to technology companies and law firms - allowing employees to seamlessly collaborate, share and remotely access files from anywhere, on any device. Whether employees are at work, home, or on the go, they can access the information they need from any device right from Dropbox.

Throughout 2012, Dropbox strengthened its position in the consumer and enterprise cloud storage markets through its breadth of offerings, new product features, various acquisitions, and partnerships - all resulting in steady growth. Today, Dropbox is valued at $4 billion and has over 100 million users storing more than one billion files every day. People at over two million businesses and 95% of Fortune 500 companies are using Dropbox for file storage, sharing and collaboration.

Dropbox’s success can be attributed to its focus on building a strong product that is adaptable for many uses. The product’s simplicity and ease of use drives a loyal user base with strong network effects and virality, which has led to widespread adoption in businesses and positioned Dropbox as a leader in the consumerization of IT movement.

Over the past year, Dropbox recognized the need to quickly expand the team behind its business product and develop features critical for IT admins. Most recently on this front, in February 2013, Dropbox launched a new admin console and introduced sharing controls to give IT admins visibility and control into what is happening with their organization’s data - including the ability to view user activity, monitor linked devices, control file and folder sharing, and more. As users continue to find new use cases for the product, Dropbox continues to identify needs and develop features and tools tailored to the end user.

Some of the key announcements and achievements from 2012 include:

• Acquired Cove, which provided online collaboration tools for groups, bringing founders Aditya Agarwal and Ruchi Sanghvi to the Dropbox team (February 2012)
• Acquired small tablet marketing company TapEngage (July 2012)
• Acquired cloud music service Audiogalaxy (December 2012)
• Acquired photo streaming service Snapjoy (December 2012)
• Announced the first overseas Dropbox office in Dublin, Ireland, to allow for more international expansion, consumer growth, and localized support. Dropbox users are spread among over 200 countries, and the office will serve as a hub for all international operations (December 2012)
• Expanded partnerships driven by integration on smartphones with OEMs such as Samsung, HTC, ZTE, Vodafone, and T-Mobile.
• Updates to photo sharing, enterprise admin controls, and site redesign.

Enhancements continue to be driven by listening to customer needs and the company’s commitment to provide tools to better store files securely and efficiently.

Dropbox received honors in 2012 for its accomplishments and rapid growth, including:

• Best Cloud Service and Best Overall Startup at the TechCrunch Crunchies
• Ranked 22 on Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies
• Time's 50 Best Apps of 2012

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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader of this nominated organization:

Drew Houston is the CEO and cofounder of Dropbox, and has led Dropbox's growth from a simple idea to a service relied upon by millions around the world. Prior to starting Dropbox, Drew studied computer science at MIT, and founded Accolade, an online SAT prep startup. After graduating from MIT, Drew recognized that people needed a way to store and share files without sending email attachments or carrying USB drives. He began writing a solution to this problem in 2007, and after demoing an early version to Arash Ferdowsi, they worked together to create Dropbox. Drew has been named one of the top "Twentysomething Entrepreneurs" by Businessweek. He was also included in Fortune’s “40 Under 40” list and Inc. Magazine's “30 Under 30”.