Centennial-based company improves live meetings with engagement technology and analytics.

• Position: FAMILY PORTRAITS Educational Measures

Educational Measures is betting on the strength and success of true togetherness. The 13-year-old Centennial-based company develops second screen technology for live meetings. They collect live meeting data and analytics that drive actionable insights and continual improvement, increasing audience engagement.

Brothers Marc and Mike Crawford, the CEO and CTO. respectively, set the strategic direction when they co-founded the company. Ryan Crawford, the youngest of the family, joined two years later.

Before Educational Measures launched, the brothers, each separated by less than two years, grew up in a single bedroom, sharing toys, books and gossip.

"Ryan and Marc used to play G.I. Joe together." Mike recalls.

Marc went on to receive an MBA from University of Colorado Denver and was a management consultant at Keane Consulting Group.

"I was going to exciting places like Piano, Texas, and Topeka, Kansas, and was just feeling burnt out,' Marc says of that experience Mike came to him with a business idea, realizing he could improve upon the audio-visual work he was doing in the health-care sector.

"I liked the opportunity to build our own business, be our own bosses." Marc says, admitting he didn't know much about "live event technology."

"He still doesn't," Mike, the eldest brother, jokes.

Though it was his inspiration that led to Educational Measures. Mike continued as director of interactive media solutions at Jobson Publishing, a health-care information and marketing services provider until April 2004. He calls Marc "the risk-taker." whereas he describes himself as more "cautious."

To start, Mike handled operations and Marc managed sales and marketing. Later. Mike settled into the product side of the business. The transitions were smooth and without much formality.

"There wasn't a conversation delineating everybody's responsibility." Mike says. "Starting off. everybody did a little of everything. We knew each other's strengths. My forte was on the technical and operations side, whereas Marc is the more visionary guy." Ryan has absorbed the role of finance administrator.

In the beginning, the...