GrowthHackingIdea - From 0 to $1.1B (+ growth model)

I love that you're part of my network. Let's make 2025 epic!! I appreciate you :)

Today's hack
From 0 to $1.1B (+ growth model)

In 2012, a developer from Ukraine, Dmitriy Zaporozhets - co-founder of GitLab, tried to make money through donations...
He earned $100/month.
6 years later, his company achieved a $1.1 billion valuation.

What had helped him make that huge jump that you can replicate?


In 2011, he decided to solve his own problem (there was GitHub - service for developers, but it didn't allow installation on your own server). So Dmitriy started to develop his own open-source service after his full-time job.

In 2012, Dmitriy tried to make money through donations but earned just $100/month.

In 2013, Dmitriy tweeted "I'm sick and tired of my day job, I want to work on GitLab full-time". Sid Sijbrandij - one of the volunteer contributors of GitLab - offered to join forces + monthly salary. They became co-founders.

Later in 2013, they tried to make money from consulting and support, but it didn't work well enough.
Some of the users (enterprises) asked them to develop additional features.
By the summer of 2013, GitLab Enterprise Edition was born. It was a game changer.

Here's the full growth hacking model uncovered:
1. As a developer, you download and use the open-source service for free.
2. Then you like it, tell your friends, and connect your team.
3. At some point, you need some features that are available only in the GitLab Enterprise Edition.
4. You go to your corporate accountant and ask him to acquire it.

By 2015 they had:
+ 600 voluntary contributors.
+ 100,000 users.
+ $1M annual revenue (Qualcomm, NASA, Nasdaq OMX, and Interpol were among paying customers).
+ 60% growth in revenue each month.

In winter 2015, they sent this exact application to Y Combinator and got accepted.

In summer 2015, after Y Combinator's demo day they raised $1.5M in funding + another $4M a few months later.
In 2016 - $20M.
In 2017 - $20M.
In 2018 - $100M at a $1.1 billion valuation.

Source: ain.ua


Cheers,
Charlie Patel ;)

Want to hang out with fellow growth marketers and SaaS founders who love amazing deals. Join the FB Group


Your friend wants to get access to our invite-only community of growth hackers from companies like Uber, Google, Microsoft, TechStars, Disney, Adobe, Coca-Cola, Amazon, etc.? Here's your personal invitation link for him/her: http://e.growthhackingidea.com/?ref=2145324&a4=1&a5=9



Unsubscribe | GrowthHackingIdea / StartupGrowth.com | 1460 Broadway New York, NY 10036

Older messages

15% more productive team and you

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

I love that you're part of my network. Let's make 2025 epic!! I appreciate you :) Today's hack 15% more productive team and you Will your growth double if you and your team's efficiency

From 0 to $5B (local non-US market)

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

I love that you're part of my network. Let's make 2025 epic!! I appreciate you :) Today's hack From 0 to $5B (local non-US market) Nadiem Makarim is a guy who managed to create

+113% in overall conversions (study)

Monday, March 3, 2025

I love that you're part of my network. Let's make 2025 epic!! I appreciate you :) Today's hack +113% in overall conversions (study) Optimizely once decided to test a new approach for their

50 survey questions to hack your audience

Sunday, March 2, 2025

I love that you're part of my network. Let's make 2025 epic!! I appreciate you :) Today's hack 50 survey questions to hack your audience No insights on what your audience thinks = no clear

First 8 steps to $110K MRR

Saturday, March 1, 2025

I love that you're part of my network. Let's make 2025 epic!! I appreciate you :) Today's hack First 8 steps to $110K MRR Once upon a time, Josh Pigford decided to create a company. Here

You Might Also Like

This week in NatureTech #32

Thursday, March 6, 2025

[4-minute read] ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

🎙️ New Episode of The Dime We Don’t Want Legalization—We Want Decriminalization ft. Luna Stower

Thursday, March 6, 2025

​ Want to be featured on The Dime Podcast? Scroll to the end of this email to find out how. Listen here 🎙️ We Don't Want Legalization—We Want Decriminalization ft. Luna Stower​ Cannabis started as

Topic 30: Everything You Need to Know about Knowledge Distillation

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

This is one of the hottest topics thanks to DeepSeek. Learn with us: the core idea, its types, scaling laws, real-world cases and useful resources to dive deeper ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

😎 Bustin' out budget benchmarks

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Benchmark data by industry plus free budget templates View in browser Masters in Marketing You know that riddle that goes around the tubes now and then? “The poor have it. The rich need it. And if you

🦅 I should've done this sooner

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Experimenting is good. Working with people that know there stuff is better | Practical ways to convert leads through cold outreach ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

$120k/Year with a small audience?

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

If you're wondering how to build a thriving business while staying authentic and leveraging the power of SEO and YouTube... ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Founder Weekly - Issue 675

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

March 05, 2025 | Read Online Founder Weekly (Issue 675 March 5 2025) Welcome to issue 675 of Founder Weekly. Let's get straight to the links this week. Mr. Wonderful Lost Out on $400 Million… Will

How advertisers unlock measurable outcomes for performance-based campaigns

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Scaling performance advertising beyond search and social ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Your Practical Path to Marketing Automation

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner... presented by social-media-marketing-world-logo We're halfway through the week, Reader, how's your marketing strategy