We started 18 years ago after my co-founder Dan and I were laid off from a dot-com. I got a severance paycheck and we used that to start the business.

The Side Project Era

We built Mailchimp as a side project while running a web design agency. I would say it was one of the first SaaS point solutions - one of the first cloud companies.

Staying Bootstrapped

Wary of giving up control to outside investors, Dan and I bootstrapped growth from profits and took no outside money. We tripled our revenue overnight by solving for our customers with the freemium model.

The Freemium Pivot

In 2009, we launched a free plan. This was controversial - giving away what we sold. But it unlocked massive growth. Small businesses could start free and upgrade as they grew.

Building in Atlanta

We stayed in Atlanta, not Silicon Valley. This kept our costs lower and gave us a different perspective on what small businesses actually needed.

The Exit

In September 2021, Intuit acquired Mailchimp for $12 billion in cash. We never raised a single dime of outside money. It is the largest bootstrapped outcome in history.

• Founded: 2001
• Acquisition: 2021 ($12 billion)
• Outside funding: $0
• Users at acquisition: 13M+
• Revenue at exit: $800M+