Rob Ryan founded video communications company, Ascend Communications in 1988. He grew the company to $16M in revenue by the early 1990s before his board began contemplating selling Ascend. In effort to save Ascend from being sold, Rob developed a business process called, the Sunflower Model. Utilizing the Sunflower Model, Rob was able pivot Ascend and within a few years reached billion of dollars in revenue. Ascend continued to grow until 1999 when it merged with Lucent Technologies for $24B.
