Mailchimp Growth Playbook
Send better email.
Bootstrapped
Giant
Strategy
Freemium
The Spark
Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius were running a design agency and realized their small business clients needed a way to send newsletters without technical headaches.
The Growth Engine
The 'Freemium-as-a-Default' Strategy & The 'Freddie' Brand Vibe: Mailchimp tacticaly conquered the market by making 'Email for Free' a viable business model. Their growth engine was the '2,000 Subscriber Free Tier'—which served as a massive acquisition top-of-funnel for every new business on earth. By maintaining a quirky, human-centric brand (personified by Freddie the mascot), they removed the 'Corporate' fear of marketing software. Their growth relies on 'The Small-Biz Ecosystem'—integrating with everything (Shopify, WordPress, Square) to ensure they are the 'Foundational Tool' for every entrepreneur's first day in business.