Celebrating our 15th year: thank you, and what comes next

This month, IP Arrow begins its 15th year in business. Before anything else, we want to say thank you to the people who made it possible.

Thank you

To every client we work with today, and to every client we've had the privilege of working with over the years: thank you.

You trusted us with your brands, your products, your releases and your reputation. You told us when something wasn't working, and you pushed us to build things that hadn't been built yet. Many of you also recommended us to someone else. Most of our new clients still find us that way, and there's no higher compliment.

White-glove service, every time

People sometimes ask how we've lasted this long in a business that changes every year. Our answer is simple: no two clients are protected the same way.

A sports league, a toy company and a streaming service don't have the same problem. Their products are different, their counterfeiters and pirates are different, and the way their teams want to work with us is different. So every client gets a program built around them, not a package picked from a menu.

In practice, that means:

• Your program is built around you. Search terms, exclusion lists and approved sellers are set up for your brand before the first scan, and we keep tuning them as your catalog, your markets and your release schedule change.
• You reach our team directly. No ticket queue and no call center. When something lands in our client's inbox, they forward it to us and we handle it, usually in under two hours.
• Every listing is checked before it's reported. Our review team checks every link. If we aren't sure, we hold it rather than report it, so your name is never attached to a bad takedown.
• Reporting that fits how you work. Some clients want a regular summary and a quiet inbox. Others want an alert the moment a leak appears. Both are the right answer, because it's their program.

That's what white-glove service means to us: each client is treated as the only client, with a program that fits them. It's how we started, and it's why we're still here.

Why this milestone matters

Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy. There are roughly 36.2 million of them, making up 99.9% of all U.S. firms. Together they employ about 45.9% of private-sector workers and generate 43.5% of U.S. gross domestic product.

Staying in business is another matter. Most small businesses don't make it to 15 years:

How many small businesses are still open

Share of U.S. small businesses still operating after each milestone

1. 2 years68%
2. 5 years49%
3. 10 years34%
4. 15 years26%Our 15th year

Show the data

Years in business	Still operating
2 years	67.6% to 67.9%
5 years	48.9% to 49.2%
10 years	33.6% to 33.8%
15 years	25.6% to 25.7%

Fewer than half of small businesses reach five years. Only about a third reach ten, and about one in four reaches 15. We're proud to be in our 15th year.

The numbers also show something encouraging: the longer a business lasts, the better its odds. More than two-thirds (69.5%) of businesses that reach five years go on to reach ten. Among those that reach ten, 76.5% make it to 15 or beyond.

Businesses that last tend to be the ones customers keep coming back to. Ours have, and that's the real milestone we're celebrating.

What we've taken down

Behind each of those numbers is a client whose program was built for them, and a review team that checked the work before it was reported.

Looking ahead to the next 15

Counterfeiters and pirates don't stand still, so neither do we. In recent years we've added merchandise protection on 31 platforms, including TikTok Shop's in-app catalog. We've built Bullseye, our image recognition algorithm that catches listings with evasive titles. We've added leak early warning that alerts clients before the official release, and invisible watermarking that traces leaks back to their source.

Over the next 15 years, we'll keep adding platforms as counterfeiters move, keep improving our tools, and keep building new ones for problems that haven't appeared yet.

What won't change is how we work: a program built around each client, a review team that checks every link, and a direct line to the people doing the work.

Not a client yet?

If you're reading this and wondering whether we can help with counterfeit merchandise, piracy, leaks or something you haven't seen before, we'd like to hear from you. Tell us what you're seeing, and we'll tell you how we'd handle it.

Contact our team

To our clients, past and present: thank you for helping us reach our 15th year. We're looking forward to the years ahead.

The IP Arrow team

Sources: survival rates are based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Business Employment Dynamics data. Small business counts, employment and GDP share are from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2026.