On the Line

REVIEW SUMMARY
Business. Star2Star Communications, Manatee County
Industry. Phone, telecommunications
Key. Firm, which has rapidly grown from startup to nearly $20 million in sales in three years, projects more fast growth in the next three years.

A major letdown awaited Norm Worthington the first time he launched an innovative phone communications and software firm.

That was in 2006. That's when Worthington, a semi-retired Sarasota veteran of a dozen previous startups, founded the business with $1.5 million of his own money. Worthington thought the concept of talking on the phone over the Internet — Voice over Internet Protocol — lacked cohesion. And, by extension, it lacked widespread customer demand.