How Klaviyo transformed from a lifestyle business into a $4.15B email titan

The Klaviyo EC-1

Origin stories are satisfying because we already know the hero will overcome the odds — and in doing so, they’ll reveal their core strengths.

Yesterday, we published a four-part series about how Klaviyo co-founders Andrew Bialecki and Ed Hallen bootstrapped their startup into an e-commerce marketing automation platform now valued at $4.15 billion.

Neither founder was bitten by a radioactive spider or received a serum that enhanced their entrepreneurial skills: instead, they focused on outreach to prospective customers to find out what they were willing to pay for and largely ignored the competition.

“Bootstrapping Klaviyo, it came out of this: ‘Hey, if we are super disciplined about finding a problem that someone will pay us to solve, we have a real company,'” said Hallen.

Klaviyo still isn’t a well-known brand, even though millions respond every day to the personalized, automated emails sent through its platform.

Our ongoing EC-1 series offers entrepreneurs real insight into growing and scaling successful companies, but they’re also useful for consumers who want to understand how the internet really works.

• Part 1: How Klaviyo transformed from a lifestyle business into a $4.15B email titan
• Part 2: How Klaviyo used data and no-code to transform owned marketing
• Part 3: Marketing in 2021 is emotional and not just transactional
• Part 4: Drama and quirk aren’t necessary for startup success

Thanks very much for reading Extra Crunch. I hope you have a great week!

Walter Thompson
Senior Editor, TechCrunch
@yourprotagonist

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