SolarWinds sold enterprise software with no large sales force. It offered downloadable trials, low prices and a strong online community instead. Its tools were for the people who keep networks running. The software watched routers, servers and applications and warned administrators when something went wrong. SolarWinds filed to go public in 2009, one of the few tech listings of that bleak year.

Father and Son in Tulsa

Donald Yonce and his son David started the company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1999. Their bet was that IT staff would buy practical, affordable tools themselves, without long sales cycles. Prices were low enough that an administrator could often buy without asking a committee. The Yonces built a loyal following through free tools and online forums. The company later moved its headquarters to Austin.

Orion and the Hack

SolarWinds priced its IPO at $12.50 a share in May 2009. Silver Lake and Thoma Bravo took it private in 2016, and it listed again in 2018. In 2020 hackers compromised its Orion software in one of the most serious cyberattacks in American history. Its products stayed a fixture in IT departments anyway. In 2025 Turn/River Capital took the company private for about $4.4 billion.

Cover: Windmill of Sologne, Jules Dupré. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a windmill (wind and sun).