nathanbarry

I love everything that Colossus puts out. Thanks for sharing this one!

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!

I didn't know that! runs off to pin the animated robin hood for my 3 year old

Yikes. I'm glad you're going public with this. Companies shouldn't be able to get away with legal bullying like this.

What data do you base that claim on?

Interesting. That wasn't my experience at all. Maybe hunger is the wrong word: love of learning is better.

I grew up to truly love learning and be excited for our weekly trips to the library to get more books. Then when I had access to the internet I spent so much time learning code and design. My parents taught me how to learn and then gave me access to whatever I needed (mostly just the library and a computer).

Thanks for sharing! Glad you enjoyed the article.

Such a great interview. It's fascinating to see how different education styles can have such a big impact.

While homeschooling isn't the right fit for everyone, I was homeschooled and it had a huge impact on me. My habits now for constant learning, working to complete tasks quickly, building projects with my hands (remodeling, woodworking, etc), and my desire to start companies all came from the time and energy that my parents put into crafting a unique education for me.

I'm so excited to see more and more parents considering homeschooling their kids.

Perfect!

Hey HN,

I got frustrated with how long it takes to build a site to get a creative project off the ground, so for the last year I've been working with the whole team at ConvertKit to build a new landing page editor.

It's now totally free and you can start building a page without needing to create an account. I'd love to hear what you think!

Love seeing the transparent breakdown!