$100K ARRin 2 years

3 milestones

Acquired

Sold to Postmanfor (price undisclosed)as of April 2024Source

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.

Orbit: Creando la categoría de Community Growth e invirtiendo $22M

Founder

Patrick Woods

Co-Fundadores•Technical•USA

Commitment

Full-time

Experience

Experienced

Product

Orbit

Plataforma de crecimiento de comunidades que ayuda a equipos de DevRel y comunidad a rastrear, medir y hacer crecer comunidades de desarrolladores.

Type

SaaS

Industry

Marketing

Model

Freemium

Marketing Strategy

How Patrick acquired customers

Growth Channel

Comunidades

Also Used

Twitter / XBoca a Boca

Tech Stack

Tools used to build Orbit

ReactRuby on RailsPostgreSQLGitHub integrationsDiscord API

The Full Story

TL;DR

Patrick Woods creó el modelo Orbit para relaciones de desarrolladores, luego construyó Orbit para ayudar a equipos a gestionar comunidades, recaudando $22M en el proceso.

Pasé años en relaciones de desarrolladores y éxito de clientes en empresas como Keen IO y Figure Eight. Vi el mismo problema en todas partes: los community managers no tenían buenas herramientas.

El modelo Orbit

Antes de construir software, creé el modelo Orbit, un framework para pensar en comunidad que va más allá de los funnels de ventas. Se enfoca en relaciones, no solo en conversiones.

Developer Relations primero

Nos enfocamos específicamente en DevRel y comunidades de desarrolladores inicialmente. Estos equipos necesitaban rastrear contribuciones en GitHub, Discord, Twitter y más. Las hojas de cálculo no eran suficientes.

Invirtiendo en la visión

Recaudamos más de $22M de inversores que creían en el futuro centrado en comunidades. La inversión llegó porque no solo estábamos construyendo una herramienta, sino definiendo una categoría.

Crecimiento liderado por la comunidad

Nuestro crecimiento ha sido completamente liderado por la comunidad. Las personas que usan Orbit hablan de Orbit. Son nuestro equipo de marketing.

Fundado: 2019
Total recaudado: $22M+
Enfoque: Equipos de DevRel y comunidad
Categoría: Crecimiento de comunidades
Canal de crecimiento: Liderado por comunidad

Key Takeaways

Crea el framework antes de construir el software

Enfócate en un nicho desatendido primero (DevRel)

Tus usuarios pueden ser tu mejor equipo de marketing

Crear una categoría requiere paciencia pero crea defensas duraderas

Originally published onPatrick Woods personal site

Founder proof brief

A one-page proof brief turns Patrick's Orbit playbook into your next test.

See what it covers before you sign up: the pattern worth copying, the channel to test, and the risk to avoid when you adapt this story.

Pattern

$100K ARR

Channel

Comunidades

Output

Action checklist

What a proof brief covers

A one-page brief that turns Patrick's pattern into a testable plan
Channel bet: start from Comunidades
A risk check before copying the Orbit playbook

See what a proof brief covers

See what it covers first. Create an account only if you choose to unlock.

Inspired by Patrick's journey? Generate a business idea in the Marketing space using AI and real founder data.

Milestone Journey

Patrick achieved 3 milestones on the path to $100K ARR

Primer Cliente

3 months

January 2020

9% faster

vs avg 3 months

+9 months to next milestone

$10K MRR

$20,000

1 year

October 2020

42% faster

vs avg 1 year

+1 year to next milestone

$100K ARR

$240,000

2 years

October 2021

32% faster

vs avg 3 years

2 years

Total journey time

Milestones achieved

Patrick's Path to $100K ARRPremium

The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone

How Patrick actually did it

5/7 funnel stages sourced

Reconstructed from Patrick's own published sources. Quoted claims are the founder's words, verified verbatim; anything marked as our analysis is exactly that.

Where the idea came from

Client workPivot from DeveloperMode (developer-relations consultancy co-founded by Patrick Woods and Josh Dzielak before Orbit)

Patrick Woods and Josh Dzielak first ran DeveloperMode, a developer-relations consultancy; conversations with those consulting clients surfaced a recurring gap in DevRel tooling, which led them to build Orbit as a product.

“After hundreds of conversations with client at DeveloperMode, we decided to go all-in on building a product to help companies build and grow developer relationships.”

Announcing Orbit (Patrick Woods personal blog)

Validation

Validated before building

Talking to usersValidated

Hundreds of conversations with DeveloperMode's consulting clients (DevRel and community teams) surfaced the same unmet tooling need, which directly motivated building Orbit.

Founders describe the decision to build Orbit as following directly from repeated client conversations at their prior consultancy.

“After hundreds of conversations with client at DeveloperMode, we decided to go all-in on building a product to help companies build and grow developer relationships.”

Announcing Orbit (Patrick Woods personal blog)

OtherValidated

Before building software, Josh Dzielak and Patrick Woods published the Orbit Model as thought leadership on the DeveloperMode blog, replacing the sales funnel with a community/connection framework. The model circulated and gained community reception ahead of the product itself.

The Orbit Model framework article, co-authored by both founders, is the earliest documented articulation of the idea, predating the company's August 2019 founding by about two months.

“The Orbit Model replaces conversion with connection”

Why Orbit is better than Funnel for developer relations (DeveloperMode blog, co-authored by Josh Dzielak and Patrick Woods)

First test users

WaitlistFree testers

Orbit's public launch post asked interested DevRel/community practitioners to hand over their email for early access, i.e. a waitlist.

“If you'd like early access to Orbit, please drop your email address in”

Introducing Orbit (Orbit blog, co-authored by Josh Dzielak, Patrick Woods, Dustin Larimer)

Acquisition channels, and whether they worked

CommunitiesScalingWorked

Orbit's founders frame their whole go-to-market around the idea that developer tools spread through community trust and use rather than being sold by a sales team.

“The reality is that software isn't sold – it's adopted”

Powering community-led growth with $4 million in seed funding (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods and Josh Dzielak)

An engaged developer/DevRel community let prospective users evaluate and learn about Orbit on their own terms, which the founders describe as standing in for a traditional pre-sales motion.

“an engaged community can empower potential customers to explore and learn about a new product or technology on their own terms, serving as the perfect complement to a product-led go-to-market”

Community is the new presales (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods, Co-Founder & CEO)

Word of MouthScalingWorked

Community members and advocates functioned as the effective sales force, referring and vouching for Orbit to peers.

“Community members, especially the advocates, are the salespeople, and adoption is just community members selling to each other.”

Powering community-led growth with $4 million in seed funding (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods and Josh Dzielak)

How it changed as they grew

At launch: 3 people (Patrick Woods, Josh Dzielak, and Dustin Larimer (3 co-founders, no early non-founder hires mentioned at launch))

First 10k mrr: 3 people (Still just the 3 co-founders working full time, about to make first hires)

Pre seed · 2019-11

Seed · $4,000,000 · 2020-12

Series a plus · $15,000,000 · 2021-05

Pricing new tier: Single generous free tier, no self-serve paid plans, since the product's 2019 launch → Orbit Starter (free) plus paid Growth ($200/mo), Premium ($1,000/mo), and custom Enterprise tiers

As adoption grew, the lack of any published pricing became a source of friction for users depending on Orbit for real workflows, prompting self-serve pricing.

“the lack of pricing transparency has introduced friction for some folks”

Announcing Orbit Pricing Plans (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods, Co-Founder & CEO)

Sources (7 in the founder's own words)

Announcing Orbit (Patrick Woods personal blog) · founder-authored · 2019-10
Why Orbit is better than Funnel for developer relations (DeveloperMode blog, co-authored by Josh Dzielak and Patrick Woods) · founder-authored · 2019-06
Introducing Orbit (Orbit blog, co-authored by Josh Dzielak, Patrick Woods, Dustin Larimer) · founder-authored · 2019-11
Powering community-led growth with $4 million in seed funding (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods and Josh Dzielak) · founder-authored · 2020-12
Orbit has raised $15M Series A to enable proactive community teams everywhere (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods) · founder-authored · 2021-05
Announcing Orbit Pricing Plans (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods, Co-Founder & CEO) · founder-authored · 2022-04
Community is the new presales (Orbit blog, by Patrick Woods, Co-Founder & CEO) · founder-authored · 2021-05

Launch Strategy

How they introduced the product to the world

Usuarios Beta

Initial go-to-market approach

Validation

How they tested demand before building

MVP

Method used to confirm market interest

Most common approach — build and learn fast

Launch Pricing

Price point when the product first launched

Gratis

Initial pricing strategy

Common for building initial traction

Starting Audience

Whether they had followers before launch

Existing Audience

Leveraged existing followers

Having an audience accelerates early growth

Time Investment

Average weekly hours during building phase

60 hrs

per week on average

Full-time dedication

Initial Investment

Capital required to get started

$50,000

in startup costs

Significant upfront investment

Biggest Challenge

Definir una nueva categoría para el crecimiento de comunidades más allá de los funnels de ventas tradicionales

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Frequently asked questions

Who acquired Orbit?

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.

What is Orbit?

Plataforma de crecimiento de comunidades que ayuda a equipos de DevRel y comunidad a rastrear, medir y hacer crecer comunidades de desarrolladores. It operates in Marketing.

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 Comunidades.

What industry is Orbit in?

Orbit operates in Marketing.

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The Full Story

TL;DR

Patrick Woods creó el modelo Orbit para relaciones de desarrolladores, luego construyó Orbit para ayudar a equipos a gestionar comunidades, recaudando $22M en el proceso.

Pasé años en relaciones de desarrolladores y éxito de clientes en empresas como Keen IO y Figure Eight. Vi el mismo problema en todas partes: los community managers no tenían buenas herramientas.