MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

Post by chatmasta » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 3:37 PM UTC

adekok wrote: post #69

ohnoesmyscv wrote: post #36

Depends on what you mean by 'making it' as a startup - is it the revenue growth? burn rate? profit growth? Number of users? Number of employees? A SF office? How well funded you are? It's hard to grow a business without going the conventional SV route and getting VC funding. Unless you have a revolutionary product, the bigger competition will likely stomp over you unless you have resources to grow your team and produ…

> Unless you have a revolutionary product, the bigger competition will likely stomp over you unless you have resources to grow your team and product and marketing. Or if you are comfortable with a small market share but a profitable one. Case in point, me. I started FreeRADIUS in 1999. Started making money in 2007. Incorporated in 2008. I now have multiple offices, multiple employees, and good growth. No investment.…

Post by zymhan » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 3:41 PM UTC

lgleason wrote: post #60

echelon wrote: post #37

The Atlanta tech scene is blossoming, just like our film industry. We have a couple of incubators, including a few that are funded/supported by Georgia Tech. The cost of living here is super cheap, and there are brilliant and talented people everywhere. We have satellite offices for tons of major tech companies, so there are traditional tech jobs too. Earning $200k here while the cost of living is so low is phenomina…

I'm in Atlanta. It's a great place to work for a non-tech corporation, but the startup scene is so so. Most of the "tech" startups fall in to one of two categories. First, ones that will not get traction and are doing something that someone else is already doing or two high tech boiler room operations where they hire a few tech people and an army of sales types to try to sell it. Sadly tech people in Atlanta are seco…

Post by bendmorris » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 3:52 PM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #95

bendmorris wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Earning $200k most places is pretty nice, but most sources show that in Atlanta almost no one is making that much. The average is less than half that. For most of us, moving to Atlanta would probably coincide with a sharp pay cut. If that wasn't the case, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

According to this CNN Money calculator you would only need to make $114k here to match a 200k salary on SF. Even less if you didn't want to live downtown. The housing costs are listed at 75% less than SF! http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

Post by mlinksva » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 4:04 PM UTC

gallerytungsten wrote: post #19

You know what word doesn't appear in that story? Spam. Mailchimp is a company that provides lots of unsolicited commercial emails. In other words, spam. You can dress it up and call it "marketing software for small businesses" but that doesn't change the essential fact: Mailchamp is a spammer. Is it any surprise that spamming is profitable? I've received hundreds of Mailchimp emails. Not once did I sign up for any of…

Post by eeeeeeeeeeeee » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 4:05 PM UTC

jonstokes wrote: post #30

And then somehow they managed to totally disregard their customers' needs and screw everyone with the Mandrill changeover. Seriously, has everyone forgotten that fiasco? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11170713 I'll never trust them or use them again, after that. No way no how.