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Globoforce Inc: Going Global

Eric Mosley has discovered that it takes a lot of effort, not to mention a well-planned strategy, for a small business to become a global force. Mosley says his nine-year-old company, Globoforce Inc., which is co-headquartered in Southborough and Dublin, Ireland, is addressing a key market need: the development of a Web-based platform that enables large multinational companies -- especially those seeking to increase employee engagement -- to run and manage their worker-recognition programs.

The product also gives those same employees access to a portfolio of giftcard-based rewards offered by merchants across the world. Globoforce is compensated based on the volume of a client's platform usage, rather than a licensing fee.

The technology provider has attracted an enviable list of Fortune 500 clients, including Avnet Inc., Dow Chemical Co. and Intel Corp., that have a global workforce.

"Our DNA is to be global -- that was a legacy decision right from the very beginning," says Mosley, 37. Globoforce booked $65 million in 2007, an 85 percent increase over the prior year's total.

Mosley says the company is on track to hit $100 million this year. Creating software for a global audience with multiple currencies, languages and cultures has required constant development and refinement over the past nine years, says Mosley. And because of the company's substantial reinvestment in that technology, Mosley says Globoforce only became profitable in 2006.

"One of the downsides of having a global solution is that it's an enormous undertaking," Mosley says. "The gestation period is very long. ... In hindsight, we picked a category we wanted to dominate, and that category was very ambitious."

In fact, when he launched the company in his native Ireland in 1999, Mosley faced a challenge. He strongly believed in the concept, recognizing that there was a greater need among large, multinational organizations for a sophisticated product to recognize top performers.

Yet, he also knew Globoforce would have to overcome certain perception issues to persuade such large clients to work with a small company with limited finances.