The 9th Xchange becomes big fish in Ann Arbor’s pond

The 9th Xchange was founded in Florida, but it opened up an office in Ann Arbor two years ago looking for more room to grow. But not too much. “We like being a big fish in a small pond,” says John Bonaccorso, CEO of The 9th Xchange.The Michigan Economic Development Corporation reached out to Bonaccorso a few years ago about expanding in Michigan. Bonaccorso liked the idea of thumbing his nose at conventional wisdom and decided to grow his business in Michigan. In particular, he was attracted to the talent in Ann Arbor.”The most important thing was the amount of technical people there,” Bonaccorso says.It has since grown its offices in Ann Arbor SPARK to 15 people of the firm’s 40 employees. Bonaccorso expects to double the number of people each year to complement the firm’s expected 100 percent annual growth.The 9th Xchange creates a market for used intellectual property. So if a firm is finished using a piece of software it needed for a project, it can resell it. The 9th Xchange makes sure the original creators still get their fair share of royalties.Source: John Bonaccorso, CEO of The 9th XchangeWriter: Jon Zemke