Congratulations to iSuppli not only on its strategic sale to IHS for $95M last week http://bit.ly/blcJdL, but for creating a company of value and excellence despite the dot com bust, the 2001 economic crash, and the 2008 Great Recession.

The first year (1999), when we were riding the dot com boom, iSuppli’s vision was huge, and its early capital strategy carefully staged. iSuppli’s CEO, Derek Lidow, first recruited a “dream team” of the leading experts from the leading companies in his market sector (I remember interviewing one successful candidate from IBM over that Thanksgiving weekend – the only time he could cross the country to meet with us discreetly). When you hear investors say they invest in strong management teams, this is what they mean.

Over the past 11 years, iSuppli has demonstrated the qualities of leadership and savvy management that have created its value: refocusing its strategic direction after the dot com bust, careful capitalization strategy throughout its 11 years of challenging economic changes, and carefully controlling capital during downturns.

And beyond the financial story, the company created loyalty among its employees (the 10th anniversary party included even folks who had moved on to other ventures, and lasted very late into the night), and consistently kept its focus on creating value for its customers.

And the happy news is that iSuppli’s new home with IHS is both a strategic and cultural fit, with shared values.

All this is easy to say, and challenging to execute. A success story for our times. I am proud to have been a small part of its early days, and favored to have watched its evolution over these years.

Congratulations, everyone at iSuppli.