How three friends from school turned a startup pain point into a thriving business

EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBER-ONLY ARTICLE [ERIC HAGERMAN]() Special Projects Editor, Inc [Sometimes inspiration comes from close to home](). For Jose Herrera, the germ of his idea to create an outsourcing call center built specifically to serve startups grew out of his not-so-pleasant stint working at a call center back home in the Dominican Republic. That was during high school, but the experience stuck with him, and years later it fueled his vision for the anti-sweatshop call center that became Horatio, which he co-founded with two friends from Columbia Business School. His premise was a little unconventional in the entrepreneurial realm: [Treat your employees really well and they will pay it forward](), taking care of complaining customers with a positive and caring attitude. All the more important for a startup that may be launching MVPs instead of fully evolved products. It made perfect sense—except to investors. So Herrera and his co-founders, Alex Ross and Jared Karson, bootstrapped the business. When they lost half their clients during the pandemic, they kept their employees. [Doing the right thing has served Horatio well, landing the company at No. 8 in the Northeast of the 2023 Inc. Regionals](), with a two-year revenue growth rate of 1,960 percent. [Join Inc. Unlimited to read the exclusive story of how three friends turned a startup's pain point into a niche business, and get access to the rest of our 2023 Inc. Regionals coverage.]() [Join Inc. Unlimited]() [fb2.png]() [istagram.png]() [twitter.png]() If you no longer wish to receive Inc. Unlimited Emails, [unsubscribe here](). To update your email communication, please manage your preferences [here](). [Inc]() © 2022 Mansueto Ventures 7 World Trade Center, 29th Floor, New York, NY 10007-2195 [Inc. Privacy Policy]()