Milestone: Brillion Studio joins the 2025 Cougar 100

Cougar 100 table card with Houston skyline graphic, set in a red and white floral centerpiece — The Cougar 100 table signage, Houston skyline printed over light-painted traffic, surrounded by the event's red-and-white florals.

Brillion Studio team and guests posed at their Cougar 100 table — Team photo before the ceremony kicked off, clients, collaborators, and the Brillion Studio crew.

The Brillion Studio group flashing the UH Cougars hand sign at their table — Cougar sign from the whole table, the room did this cue every time a new awardee was announced.

Wide ballroom shot during the Cougar 100 luncheon, stage and hundreds of attendees visible — The Hilton University of Houston ballroom mid-program. Roughly 600 alumni, operators, and partners.

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Early March 2025, ballroom at the Hilton University of Houston. Our company's name on the Cougar 100 list. I walked up, shook Dr. Renu Khator's hand, took the crystal, and walked off. That's the summary. What follows is the longer version, for the founders stuck where we were two years ago.

What the Cougar 100 actually is

The University of Houston Alumni Association's Cougar 100 is a ranked list of the fastest-growing alumni-owned and alumni-led businesses, measured by compound annual revenue growth over the last three years. It's verified, companies submit financials that a third-party firm reviews. The list isn't a popularity contest. The number on the certificate is revenue growth and nothing else.

What actually got us on the list

I'll spare the humble-brag. Three concrete moves matter, and all of them are the opposite of what you read in the typical agency playbook.

One. We killed two service lines.

In 2023 we were running social media management, event photography, and full-funnel growth. By mid-2024 we only sold one thing: end-to-end growth systems for commercial services and financial services SMBs. Revenue dropped for a quarter. Then it compounded, because every dollar we spent was on a narrower, deeper offer.

Two. We stopped chasing logos we couldn't do great work for.

Clients under $1M ARR and over $20M ARR both churn for different reasons, they can't afford us, or we can't afford their complexity. The $1M–$10M band is where we print value. So that's the only band we take on.

Three. We treated Houston like a moat, not a limitation.

Every founder I know in other cities would kill for UH-level alumni density. 300K+ alumni within 50 miles, a ranked list that signals credibility, and a referral network that actually answers the phone. We stopped apologizing for being Houston-first and started leading with it.

What the award doesn't tell you

Growth rankings are trailing indicators. The decisions that put us on this stage in 2025 were made in late 2022, before I had any evidence they would work. If you're running a $1M business right now wondering whether to narrow your ICP or kill a service line, the honest answer is: the data won't catch up to your decision for 18–24 months. You have to decide before you're sure.

A ranked list is the receipt. The decisions that earn it happen years before the ceremony.

Credit where it's due

To the clients who let us rebuild their funnels, their brands, and occasionally their pricing, thank you. To the UH Alumni Association for running a program that actually measures something real. To Dr. Khator for the personal handoff on stage, I grew up watching her put UH on the national map; handing the award was a full-circle moment.

What's next

The Cougar 100 marks the climb from $1M to somewhere in the $3M–$5M band. The climb to $10M is different, different hiring, different systems, different brand. That's what we're heads-down on now, and that's what the Milestones collection on this blog will document as it happens.

[ Frequently Asked ]

Questions we get on this topic.

What is the UH Alumni Association Cougar 100?

A ranked list of the fastest-growing businesses owned or led by University of Houston alumni, published annually by the UHAA. Ranking is based on verified compound annual revenue growth over the preceding three years.

How are companies ranked?

Applicants submit revenue figures for the last three fiscal years. A third-party accounting firm reviews them and ranks all qualifying companies by compound annual growth rate. Revenue-only, no vanity criteria like funding, headcount, or press.

Does this change how Brillion Studio works with clients?

Not materially. We still take on a narrow band of $1M–$10M commercial services and financial services clients, and we still run the same brand-build-grow playbook. What it changes is signal, new clients don't have to take our word for the growth track any more.