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How Mailchimp Stayed Independent for Two Decades
Lucas and Luna explore how Mailchimp built a billion-dollar business without taking a single dollar of venture capital — and why, when Intuit acquired it for $12 billion in 2021, the founders walked away with nearly the entire cheque. They break down the specific tactics that made the bootstrapped model work: the 'freemium with friction' pricing strategy that kept conversion rates above 5 percent, the decision to build a proprietary ad network instead of selling customer data, and the deliberate culture of profitability over growth. Along the way they touch on how Mailchimp's…
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