Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp

Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp

Type	Private
Founded	Malibu, California 2010
Headquarters	Malibu, California, U.S.
Key people	Jeff Stibel, Chairman & CEO.
Products	Business information, services,
Website	www.dandb.com

Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp is a privately held company headquartered in Malibu, California, USA that provides credit and credibility solutions for businesses throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company was formed in July 2010 when it acquired the North American Credit-on-Self division, also known as the Self Awareness Solutions (SAS) operating unit, of Dun & Bradstreet^[1] after raising approximately $200M from Great Hill Partners.^[2] Internet entrepreneur Jeff Stibel is the chairman and CEO.^[3][4]

History

In 2010, Dun and Bradstreet, formed in 1841, spun off assets that merged with newly created Credibility Solutions to form Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., an independent company focused on credit and credibility solutions for small businesses. The company has grown from 8 employees to over 600 since becoming an independent entity in 2010. Dun & Bradstreet said Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. is a 'separate legal entity' that pays D&B royalties for certain intellectual-property rights. These include "a perpetual license to use the D&B brand".^[5][6]

In four years, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. has grown drastically, earning many awards including the "Best Places to Work" award for both their Los Angeles office for three consecutive years ^[7][8][9] and Bethlehem office,^[10] 2 Small Business Champion award ^[11][12] and an EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award^[13] for their CEO, Jeff Stibel.

In 2012, it launched an advocacy initiative, Access to Capital, designed to help business owners understand the type of loans available and which may be right for their business. This initiative also included a widely quoted quarterly survey^[14] produced with Pepperdine University ^[15] and a series of education and matchmaking events across the country.^[16] Also in 2012, the company launched its innovative 529 education savings plan initiative with a multiple match,^[17] which was discussed within the Wall Street Journal^[18] the New York Times^[19] and US News.^[20] Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., through this EdAhead initiative, donated $150,000 to the Santa Monica-Malibu school district in 2013,^[21] as well as additional amounts to school districts in Bethlehem,^[22] Tucson^[23] and Guilford County.^[24]

On February 21, 2014, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. filed suit in New York State Supreme Court over the contentious relationship that exists between them and D&B. Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. alleges that D&B is sabotaging the relationship because they are not happy with what Dun & Bradstreet Credibility. is doing with the D&B trademark, believe the royalties to be too low, and were upset by an unsolicited offer for Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. to acquire D&B. The private offer was rejected without presenting it to shareholders. The case is Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. v. Dun & Bradstreet Inc., 650568/2014, New York State Supreme Court, New York County.

Products and Services

Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp products and services^[25] include the DUNSFile, which establishes a business’s DUNS number and basic credit file, CreditBuilder, which helps businesses monitor and build their credit file, giving them full access to the D&B scores and reports, and the ability to submit trade references to D&B for its acceptance and approval, CreditAdvisor, which allows the businesses to see other companies' reports and receive email alerts when competitors’ scores or ratings change, Credibility Review, which allows businesses to take control of their online presence and CreditSignal, a free product offering which provides companies with alerts, informing them of changes in their D&B credit scores and ratings.

Failure wall

The company maintains a "failure wall" to acknowledge and learn from company and employee mistakes and failures.^[26] The failure wall first came about when Stibel had the idea to create a wall on which employees, himself included, would be able to write out a failure they had experienced.^[27][28]

Controversy

The company had received some complaints from small businesses for their high pressure sales tactics^[29] including three businesses who raised questions about where the company was unfairly preying on their anxieties. ^[6] This matter is now the subject of a lawsuit.^[30]

Attempted acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet

In 2013, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. and “two of the world’s largest private equity firms” proposed to acquire Dun & Bradstreet Inc. for a price ranging from $115 to $125 a share. Dun & Bradstreet Inc. rejected the offer, and the parties are now in litigation in New York.^[31]

References

External links

• Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp
• DandBCredibility on Facebook
• DandB on Google+
• @DandB on Twitter