Orbit was acquired by Postman for an undisclosed price on April 2024. Postman acquired Orbit April 12, 2024. Platform shut down as standalone, integrated into Postman API Network. Patrick Woods now leads growth for Postman API Network.

How long did it take Orbit to reach $100k arr?

Patrick Woods took 2 years to reach $100k arr with Orbit.

Was Patrick Woods a solo founder?

No. Patrick Woods built Orbit with co-founders.

What marketing channel did Orbit use to grow?

Orbit grew primarily through Communities.

Orbit: Creating the Community Growth Category and Raising $22M

Die vollständige Geschichte

TL;DR

Patrick Woods created the Orbit Model for developer relations, then built Orbit to help teams manage communities - raising $22M in the process.

I'd spent years in developer relations and customer success at companies like Keen IO and Figure Eight. I saw the same problem everywhere: community managers had no good tools.

The Orbit Model

Before building software, I created the Orbit Model - a framework for thinking about community that goes beyond sales funnels. It focuses on relationships, not just conversions.

Developer Relations First

We focused specifically on DevRel and developer communities initially. These teams needed to track contributions across GitHub, Discord, Twitter, and more. Spreadsheets weren't cutting it.

Raising on the Vision

We raised over $22M from investors who believed in the community-first future. The funding came because we weren't just building a tool - we were defining a category.

Community-Led Growth

Our growth has been entirely community-led. The people using Orbit talk about Orbit. They're our marketing team.

Founded: 2019
Total raised: $22M+
Focus: DevRel and community teams
Category: Community growth
Growth channel: Community-led

Wichtigste Erkenntnisse

Create the framework before building the software

Focus on an underserved niche first (DevRel)

Your users can be your best marketing team

Category creation takes patience but creates lasting moats

Die vollständige Geschichte

TL;DR

Patrick Woods created the Orbit Model for developer relations, then built Orbit to help teams manage communities - raising $22M in the process.

I'd spent years in developer relations and customer success at companies like Keen IO and Figure Eight. I saw the same problem everywhere: community managers had no good tools.