{"id":12831,"date":"2020-11-15T23:04:33","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T07:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/?p=12831"},"modified":"2022-12-20T11:20:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T19:20:15","slug":"3-things-i-learned-bootstrapping-clickup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/3-things-i-learned-bootstrapping-clickup\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Things I Learned Bootstrapping ClickUp to $20M ARR in the World\u2019s Most Competitive Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This article was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/3-things-i-learned-bootstrapping-to-20m-arr-in-the-worlds-most-competitive-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SaaStr.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve had several near-death experiences in my life, one being my own company.<\/p>\n<p>By all accounts, we were almost screwed.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine entering the most crowded software market in the world.<br \/>\nWhy, for god\u2019s sake, would anyone choose to build\u00a0<i>another<\/i>\u00a0productivity app?<br \/>\nIt was a\u00a0<i>dumb<\/i>\u00a0decision.<\/p>\n<p>Until it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-loaded lazyloaded aligncenter wp-image-84264\" src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image1-1.png\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 622px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image1-1.png 622w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image1-1-480x392.png 480w\" alt=\"G2 competitive analysis graph\" width=\"515\" height=\"421\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image1-1.png 622w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image1-1-480x392.png 480w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image1-1.png\" data-large_image_width=\"2203.3948339483395\" data-large_image_height=\"1920\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We defied all market odds and became one of the fastest-growing software companies ever, bootstrapping our way to $20M ARR.<\/p>\n<p>And unlike most of today\u2019s startups, we didn\u2019t do it the traditional way:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>We didn\u2019t raise outside funding;<\/b>\u00a0we scraped by and grew organically<\/li>\n<li><b>We didn\u2019t pick a vertical;<\/b>\u00a0we went big and went wide<\/li>\n<li><b>We didn\u2019t hire engineers from Google or Facebook;<\/b>\u00a0we hired for work ethic and growth potential<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even if we knew how to get VC money (we didn\u2019t), no one would fund our vision anyway.<\/p>\n<p>But it worked. And it can work for you as well.<\/p>\n<p><b>Here are three things I learned from bootstrapping a software startup from $0 to $20M ARR.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>1.\u00a0<\/b><b><i>Natural<\/i><\/b><b>\u00a0Product-Market Fit creates faster and more sustainable growth than\u00a0<\/b><b><i>artificial<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Everyone talks about Product-Market Fit; it\u2019s the holy grail of SaaS.<\/p>\n<p>But nobody explains the two ways of getting there.<\/p>\n<p>The first is what I call\u00a0<i>Natural<\/i>\u00a0Product-Market Fit. It means product-led growth combined with virality and organic marketing methods.<\/p>\n<p>The second is the more popular route for startups:\u00a0<i>Artificial<\/i>\u00a0Product-Market Fit. Execs and investors make loads of cash, you generate tons of PR overnight, and you eat up market share by literally purchasing users.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a catch though: most companies that go artificial pump their VC windfall into sales and marketing; not R&amp;D to build a better product.<\/p>\n<p>At\u00a0ClickUp,\u00a0we did the opposite.<\/p>\n<p><b>What\u2019s more, we learned you can grow faster going the natural route to Product-Market Fit.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyloaded lazy-loaded aligncenter wp-image-84266 \" src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-scaled.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-scaled.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-1080x608.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-980x552.jpg 980w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-480x270.jpg 480w\" alt=\"clickup compared to top competitors with funding\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-scaled.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-1080x608.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-980x552.jpg 980w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-480x270.jpg 480w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ClickUp-Zeb-Evans-IT-Arena-10-scaled.jpg\" data-large_image_width=\"3179.7894736842104\" data-large_image_height=\"1920\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Not only did we grow faster than our competition, we also achieved Product Market Fit in<i>\u00a0less time\u00a0<\/i>and without throwing millions of dollars into ad campaigns and sales teams.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Natural<\/i><\/b><b>\u00a0Product-Market Fit is the only way you can achieve PMF without spending money on sales and marketing.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Okay, but what\u2019s the secret\u00a0<i>path<\/i>\u00a0to NPMF?<\/p>\n<p>How does bootstrap David beat VC-backed Goliath?<\/p>\n<p>It starts with listening to the most important\u00a0people in the world:\u00a0<i>your organic users.<\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>2. Pair actionable feedback from organic users with your vision<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Your first users are not only your most loyal and passionate, they\u2019re also your sounding board for what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not.<\/p>\n<p>You need to build a cyclical relationship with your customers; an authentic feedback loop that brings your product closer to NPMF. And it all starts with organic users.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Win organic users<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Winning (not buying) your first legion of fans requires growing organically.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how you find them (or lead them to find you):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Helpful content\u00a0<\/b>(yes, content is still king)<\/li>\n<li><b>SEO<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Message boards and communities<\/b>\u00a0(Quora, Reddit, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-loaded lazyloaded aligncenter wp-image-84242 \" src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image4.png\" alt=\"ways to grow organically \" width=\"787\" height=\"388\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image4-980x483.png 980w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image4-480x237.png 480w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image4.png\" data-large_image_width=\"1860.8624229979466\" data-large_image_height=\"1920\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our blogs not only help visitors with problems they\u2019re trying to solve, but they also position us as an alternative to the status quo.<\/p>\n<p>Actively helping in niche groups on social platforms helped build our first communities, grass-roots style.<\/p>\n<p>We first started creating value content over two years ago.\u00a0<b>Today, that free content nets\u00a0<\/b><b>ClickUp<\/b><b>\u00a0$12M in free clicks every month.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The returns were slow at first; organic is a long game. But if you\u2019re consistent and patient, you\u2019ll attract organic users. And organic users are your\u00a0<i>best<\/i>\u00a0users \u2014 they snowball in ways that paid users can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Listen to user feedback<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve won over organic users, you need to listen to them. Contrary to popular belief, users do know what they want.<\/p>\n<p>We used Canny to gather user feedback, organize it, and act on it. There are many <a href=\"https:\/\/frill.co\/blog\/posts\/19-user-feedback-tools-you-need-to-try\">user feedback<\/a> platforms out there to help you do this.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyloaded lazy-loaded aligncenter wp-image-84245\" src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image7.png\" alt=\"platforms for user feedback\" width=\"809\" height=\"393\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image7-980x477.png 980w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image7-480x234.png 480w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image7.png\" data-large_image_width=\"1860.8624229979466\" data-large_image_height=\"1920\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But nothing beats talking to your users in-person or on Zoom. Open that feedback loop, get in front of your customers, and develop that real connection.<\/p>\n<p>Organic feedback is the special sauce for building your product, trust, and authenticity, it should also help inform your product backlog (not all of it, but you get the idea.)<\/p>\n<p>Listening and delivering to your fanbase creates a feedback loop; it helps your product, makes you stand out, and creates communities that will serve you for years to come.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Combine user feedback with your vision<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>The intersection between user feedback and your vision is where you begin to find NPMF.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-loaded lazyloaded aligncenter wp-image-84243 \" src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image5.png\" alt=\"product feedback and vision\" width=\"708\" height=\"346\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image5-980x479.png 980w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image5-480x234.png 480w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image5.png\" data-large_image_width=\"1860.8624229979466\" data-large_image_height=\"1920\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Let me be clear: you can\u2019t let your users define your vision for you. They aren\u2019t creating your product. You are.<\/p>\n<p>You must stick to your vision or you\u2019ll end up being another carbon copy of what exists already.\u00a0When feedback\u00a0<i>aligns<\/i>\u00a0with your grand vision, you\u2019ve hit a sweet spot for reaching Natural Product-Market Fit.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s when you can pair\u00a0<i>actionable feedback<\/i>\u00a0with your\u00a0<i>product vision.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>So what do you do once you have actionable feedback that aligns with your product vision?<\/p>\n<p>You SHIP IT! And ship it\u00a0<i>really freaking fast.<\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>3. Iterate and ship fast like your life depends on it (it does)<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Shipping fast matters more than anything.<\/p>\n<p>Delivering on features, requests, and bug fixes are what creates a viral loop and make your customers your best advertisers.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Choose progress over perfection<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve launched a new release every Friday for the last two years. It\u2019s a speed and consistency that none of our competitors can keep up with.<\/p>\n<p>Is it always perfect? Of course not.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-loaded lazyloaded aligncenter wp-image-84240 \" src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image2.png\" alt=\"iterating on user feedback graph\" width=\"862\" height=\"464\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image2-980x527.png 980w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image2-480x258.png 480w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image2.png\" data-large_image_width=\"1860.8624229979466\" data-large_image_height=\"1920\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>What matters most is progress over perfection. It\u2019s<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/clickup.com\/about\">\u00a0<b>one of our core values<\/b><\/a>\u00a0<b>at ClickUp.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We choose to ship fast knowing we will improve it with the help of our users. This high frequency compounds over time, getting us closer to perfect at a faster rate than our competition.<\/p>\n<h3><b>How to ship really fast<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Here are six (somewhat controversial) approaches we take to ship faster than our competition.<\/p>\n<p><b>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/clickup.com\/resources\/software-teams\/technical-debt\">Tech debt<\/a> is B.S. (early on)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hear me out: there is no example of a company with Product Market Fit that couldn\u2019t scale.\u00a0There are graveyards, however, of SaaS companies that failed to ship fast enough.\u00a0If you have PMF, you always have room to figure it out and fix things later.<\/p>\n<p><b>2. Separate HTML and CSS roles<\/b><\/p>\n<p>People programming in Javascript should not be writing HTML and CSS.<\/p>\n<p>They shouldn\u2019t be making your product pixel-perfect. This little change will make everyone on your team happy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a win-win for your engineers and will save you lots of time.<\/p>\n<p><b>3. Don\u2019t write automated tests (early on)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>When you\u2019re changing things quickly on the front end, the reality is you\u2019re going to spend a lot of time breaking and then fixing tests while not actually breaking your product.<\/p>\n<p>There is a ton of overhead that goes into maintaining those tests. Save it.<\/p>\n<p><b>4. 5x engineers<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Everybody talks about 10x engineers.<\/p>\n<p>Stop looking for these unicorns. Look for 5x engineers, there are more of them.<\/p>\n<p>If they can do a week\u2019s worth of work in a day, hire them.<\/p>\n<p><b>5. Work-life imbalance<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This one isn\u2019t politically correct but it\u2019s the key to creating a nimble company that moves faster than your competition.<\/p>\n<p>We only hire people who are obsessed with what they do and love solving problems.<\/p>\n<p>If your entire company works 10% harder than the rest of the market, that will compound and help you beat your competitors in the long run.<\/p>\n<p><b>6. Users will forgive you<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Very minor bugs are okay. Product imperfections are okay.<\/p>\n<p>We say \u201cship it and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been part of our core philosophy since day one and ties back to progress over perfection.<\/p>\n<p><b>If you do all of these things, you can ship weekly.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Create a Natural Product-Market Fit flywheel<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Combine everything together and you get a flywheel that no amount of VC money can buy.<\/p>\n<p>This flywheel transformed my vision (that should\u2019ve been dead in the water) into the fastest growing software in our industry today.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-loaded lazyloaded aligncenter wp-image-84241 \" src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image3.png\" alt=\"natural vs artificial product market fit\" width=\"822\" height=\"453\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image3-980x540.png 980w, https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image3-480x265.png 480w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/image3.png\" data-large_image_width=\"1860.8624229979466\" data-large_image_height=\"1920\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Now, say it with me:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Win free, organic users<\/li>\n<li>Listen to feedback to improve your product<\/li>\n<li>Combine that with your vision<\/li>\n<li>Ship as fast as possible<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2026and boom. You will have created this obsessed fanbase of active users and advocates for your product.<\/p>\n<p><b>Or, you can go the artificial route:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Get a ton of money<\/li>\n<li>Spend it as fast as possible on sales and marketing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Do they both work? Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>But only one allowed\u00a0ClickUp\u00a0to grow faster and win over 2 million high-quality users for free, in the most competitive software market in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published on SaaStr. I\u2019ve had several near-death experiences in my life, one being my own company. By all accounts, we were almost screwed. Imagine entering the most crowded software market in the world. Why, for god\u2019s sake, would anyone choose to build\u00a0another\u00a0productivity app? It was a\u00a0dumb\u00a0decision. Until it wasn\u2019t. We defied [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","cu_sticky_sidebar_cta_is_visible":true,"cu_sticky_sidebar_cta_title":"Start using ClickUp today","cu_sticky_sidebar_cta_bullet_1":"Manage all your work in one place","cu_sticky_sidebar_cta_bullet_2":"Collaborate with your team","cu_sticky_sidebar_cta_bullet_3":"Use ClickUp for FREE\u2014forever","cu_sticky_sidebar_cta_button_text":"Get Started","cu_sticky_sidebar_cta_button_link":"","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[762,777],"tags":[17,46,16],"class_list":["post-12831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-news","tag-clickup","tag-productivity","tag-project-management"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/top-5-reasons-to-switch.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Zeb Evans","author_link":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/author\/brian\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>3 Things I Learned Bootstrapping ClickUp to $20M ARR in the World\u2019s Most Competitive Industry | The ClickUp Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/3-things-i-learned-bootstrapping-clickup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Things I Learned Bootstrapping ClickUp to $20M ARR in the World\u2019s Most Competitive Industry | The ClickUp Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was originally published on SaaStr. I\u2019ve had several near-death experiences in my life, one being my own company. By all accounts, we were almost screwed. Imagine entering the most crowded software market in the world. Why, for god\u2019s sake, would anyone choose to build\u00a0another\u00a0productivity app? It was a\u00a0dumb\u00a0decision. Until it wasn\u2019t. We defied [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/3-things-i-learned-bootstrapping-clickup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The ClickUp Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/clickupprojectmanagement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-16T07:04:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-20T19:20:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/top-5-reasons-to-switch.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1050\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zeb Evans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@clickup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" 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