Bigger Faster Better

EVERY YEAR, THE INC. 500 celebrates founders and companies that have achieved rapid growth through careful planning and flawless execution. This year, we’re also honoring a slightly different breed—founders for whom good enough isn’t good enough, the ones who blast past what everyone else thinks are boundaries. Take Jared Isaacman. He might have been satisfied by the many years of profit his credit card processing company has generated. But how could that compare with zooming around in fighter jets? That’s what his newer company, Draken International, does to train U.S. military pilots. Draken has assembled one of the world’s largest fleets of privately owned fighter jets—and even on the ground, Draken looks like a business moving at Mach speed, despite the risks. “It’s not