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Other Playbook

How 810 startups used other to grow. Here's what the data says about what they actually did.

810
Companies
$175k
Avg MRR
$2.5M
Top MRR
46%
$50k+ Hit Rate

Most Used Tools (176 companies)

Notion18 (10%)
TweetHunter14 (8%)
HypeFury14 (8%)
AudioPen14 (8%)
Descript14 (8%)
ConvertKit14 (8%)
Riverside.fm13 (7%)
HubSpot12 (7%)
Slack9 (5%)
LinkedIn9 (5%)
Twitter9 (5%)
Evernote8 (5%)
Stripe6 (3%)
YouTube6 (3%)
Mercury5 (3%)

How They Got Their First Customer

wife's dental practice (friends and family testing)1
public pitches and talks, accelerator exposure1
Services before products - made $60k in a week selling services1
Product Hunt launch for initial traffic, then YouTube influencer outreach campaign1
Influencer campaigns1
Direct sales to TGS (a grocery delivery startup in Egypt)1
Direct engagement - Curtis began by disputing a single review for his first client through a chance encounter1
Co-founder friend with whom Kevin pooled money to start acquiring businesses.1
Chance encounter with United Therapeutics founder Martine Rothblatt1
Business to Professor model - partnering with professors to get classes to use the tool1

Time to PMF

12 months2
under 8 months1
under 12 months1
around six months1
7 months1
60 days1
6 months1
5 weeks1
5 months1
4 months1

Top Companies by MRR (810)

Spanxby Sara Blakely

Spanx is a shapewear company founded by Sara Blakely. This is a brief podcast episode description from How I Built This Summit where Blakely discusses her early confidence in building the business and a difficult moment she experienced at Office Depot.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Luke's Lobsterby Luke Holden

Luke's Lobster is a seafood company founded by Luke Holden. The source provided is only a podcast episode title with no substantive content about the company's traction, financials, or business model.

Otherothervia How I Built This
LÄRABARby Lara Merriken

LÄRABAR is a food/nutrition product company founded by Lara Merriken. This source is a podcast episode from 2018 with insufficient detail to extract meaningful traction metrics or business information.

Otherothervia How I Built This
The Knotby Carley Roney, David Liu

The Knot is a wedding planning marketplace founded by Carley Roney and David Liu. Without specific details in the source text, further information about their traction, technology, and growth channels cannot be extracted.

Marketplaceothervia How I Built This
Aden + Anaisby Raegan Moya-Jones

Insufficient content provided. Only a podcast episode title and founder name are available, with no actual interview transcript or detailed information about the company's business model, traction, or growth strategy.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOPby Angie Bastian, Dan Bastian

Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP is a popcorn snacking brand founded by Angie and Dan Bastian. Without additional context from the source material, specific traction metrics and growth details cannot be extracted.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Dysonby James Dyson

This source is a podcast episode featuring James Dyson, founder of Dyson, a hardware company. Insufficient detail is provided in the given text to extract meaningful traction data or company metrics.

Hardwareothervia How I Built This
Dave's Killer Breadby Dave Dahl

Insufficient source material provided. Only a podcast episode title is given without the actual content or transcript.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Chesapeake Bay Candleby Mei Xu

Insufficient data provided. The source is only a podcast episode title with founder name and company name, with no actual content about the company's story, traction, or business details.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Belkin Internationalby Chet Pipkin
Hardwareothervia How I Built This
Framebridgeby Susan Tynan
SaaSothervia How I Built This
Pelotonby John Foley
Hardwareothervia How I Built This
Compaq Computersby Rod Canion

Insufficient content provided. The source text only contains a title reference to a 2019 podcast episode about Compaq Computers founder Rod Canion, with no actual interview transcript or detailed information about the company's founding, traction, or business model.

Hardwareothervia How I Built This
TOMSby Blake Mycoskie

TOMS is a social enterprise co-founded by Blake Mycoskie that combines commerce with social impact. Without specific details from the podcast episode provided, limited traction metrics can be extracted.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Five Guysby Jerry Murrell

Five Guys is a fast-casual burger restaurant chain founded by Jerry Murrell. Without access to the podcast content details, specific traction metrics and growth channels cannot be extracted.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Carol's Daughterby Lisa Price

Carol's Daughter is a beauty brand founded by Lisa Price that began in her Brooklyn kitchen and grew significantly over time. As the business expanded, Lisa initially delegated leadership to experts but later came to regret stepping back from decision-making. The company represents a bootstrapped consumer brand that scaled from home-based operations to a larger enterprise.

Otherothervia How I Built This
Burton Snowboardsby Jake Carpenter
Hardwareothervia How I Built This
ActOne Groupby Janice Bryant Howroyd

Insufficient source material provided. Only the podcast title 'ActOne Group: Janice Bryant Howroyd' is available, without the actual podcast content, transcript, or interview details needed to extract structured startup traction data.

Agencyothervia How I Built This
Rent The Runwayby Jenn Hyman

Rent The Runway is a designer clothing rental marketplace co-founded by Jenn Hyman that generates $100 million annually. The company uses a phased launch strategy to scale its business. Hyman shared insights on entrepreneurship and long-term strategy at the How I Built This Summit.

Marketplaceothersubscriptionvia How I Built This
Drybarby Alli Webb

Insufficient source material provided. Only a podcast episode title and founder name are available, with no substantive content about the company's founding, traction, or business metrics.

Otherothervia How I Built This
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Other Growth Patterns