Woo hoo! HubSpot turns 20 years old today!
@bhalligan and I “officially” founded HubSpot on June 9th, 2006.
That date is not arbitrary. It was picked for a reason. More on that in a little bit…
First, fun story: HubSpot was the company I was never supposed to start. I had promised my wife that I wasn’t going to do another startup. We had met before I ever started my first company at a time when nobody believed (including me) that I had what it took to be an entrepreneur. I was working as a software developer in Birmingham, Alabama and starting a company was not at all on my mind.
I ran that first company as founder/CEO for over a decade before selling it for a life-changing amount of money. I decided to go to grad school and was thrilled that I got accepted into MIT (it had always been a dream of mine).
That’s where I met Brian. One thing led to another and we figured out that we were both passionate about SMBs and decided to start a company together that focused on them. So, I convinced my wife to release me from my promise. But, I did want to make sure I finished up my graduate program (I had a graduate paper to submit in order to earn my degree).
On Friday June 9th, 2006, I graduated with a M.S. in the Management of Technology (a weird degree that is very much MIT). That degree is no longer offered and I was the last person to graduate with it.
So, the day of my graduation, June 9th, 2006 we officially started HubSpot. We were off to the races!
That was twenty years ago today.
So many great memories over those years.
I’d like to thank my wife Kirsten. If she had not agreed to let me start another startup, HubSpot would not exist.
We started with 3 customers in those early days (including my wife – who is still a paying customer) and now we have over 300,000. I am deeply grateful to our customers – past and present. You are the reason we started the company and you are the reason we continue to work hard. Our core tenet of HubSpot culture is to Solve For The Customer.
I’m grateful to the thousands of HubSpot solutions partners and technology partners. Without you, HubSpot would not be the platform and ecosystem it is today. Thanks for helping us Solve For The Customer.
And last but not least, I’m grateful to all the HubSpotters past and present. I’m not known to be a “people person” but the truth is that HubSpot could not have become the company it is without you and it has given me great joy to see so many of you learn, develop and grow at HubSpot. Thank you.
I honestly have never had more fun and been more excited for the future than I am right now. With the leadership of @yaminirangan we are writing the next chapter of HubSpot. The agentic customer platform chapter.
Sorry for the self-indulgent post. Will save the "lessons learned" topic for another time.
Thanks for your support.
Cheers.