Fast Horse turned 15 on October 1. Each year on that day, give or take, we take a day as an agency to celebrate “Founder’s Day,” which Mike recapped earlier this week. As a side note to this post, I have to agree that Founder’s Day this year was indeed a rousing success and Whirlyball is hands-down one of the best group activities out there.

This year on Founder’s Day, probably because 15 is one of those milestone-type anniversaries, I got to thinking about the original Founder’s Day—the day Fast Horse opened—and how far we’ve come since then.

Jorg started Fast Horse in 2001 after a long stint at another agency in town and I somehow convinced him that I should join him as an intern and Fast Horse’s first employee. It’s debatable whether an official job offer was ever made or whether I just kind of told Jorg I was going to show up when Fast Horse opened. Probably the latter.

The entry to Fast Horse’s first office.

Back then Fast Horse subleased a small space from a now-defunct tech firm in downtown Minneapolis. It wasn’t fancy, but it was plenty comfortable for us and provided a very good venue for the many hours spent tossing a football around while figuring out how to attract clients. Unfortunately our entry signage and collective fashion sense left something to be desired

The events of the first day turned out to be both unremarkable and remarkable at the same time. Unremarkable in that, other than the somewhat menial tasks involved in getting our space up and running, the highlight of the day was the first Founder’s Day lunch: hot dogs at the New Amsterdam Café with our good friend Bruce Benidt.

On the other hand, that first day was remarkable when you consider the Fast Horse that grew from those humble beginnings. We have an extremely talented group of people, a beautiful new building in the North Loop, an enviable client roster, and we’re doing better work than ever. And of course our Founder’s Day celebrations have gotten bigger and better every year and are a far cry from the days of no clients and hot dogs. Looking back, it would have been hard to imagine in 2001 what Fast Horse looks like today, and I’m excited to see what Founder’s Day looks like 15 years from now.

Fast Horse World Headquarters.