[nathanbarry]

I started ConvertKit (email marketing for creators) as a side hustle in 2013. In 2011 I had started blogging about my process for building iOS apps. In 2012 that turned into an email list on MailChimp and then a self-published book called The App Design Handbook (launched right here on HN).

I thought that social networks like Twitter and Facebook would drive most of the sales, but it was actually the 800 person email list I'd built. From then I became obsessed with how to optimize email marketing. I hacked MailChimp to organize lists, give away incentives for opting in, and more. But it was all hacks. In early 2013 I decided to build an email marketing tool specifically for bloggers and content creators like me.

I made it really easy to give away free incentives (ebooks, sample chapters, etc) to get subscribers, pioneered a new writing interface for time-based email sequences, and made subscriber organization really easy. It stayed a side project for two years (hitting $2k MRR and then flatlining).

In 2015 I decided to double down and make it my full time venture. From there I focused on direct sales and concierge migrations (a fancy way to say I'd do the full switch for you for free). In 2015 we grew from $2k in MRR to $98k. Then in 2016 from $98k to $500k.

Today ConvertKit is at $33M in revenue and has a team of 68, but it all started as a side project!

[terminal_d]

Could you disclose the signups per month you received in your first year? How long did it take you to get to 100 signups?

[tj0ckis]

wowsie thanks for sharing.

your post makes me want to make the switch from the platforms i am using for myself and clients to yours :)

i'll definitely try it out very soon

[88stacks]

Nice job! Thanks for sharing that inspirational post!