How Mattermark Acquired Early Users – Danielle Morrill speaks at Hustle Con 2016

About this video

Danielle Morrill recounts founding Mattermark, a data platform for tracking startups. She describes how initial blog posts criticizing TechCrunch’s coverage evolved into a free spreadsheet-based research tool, then into a paid SaaS product for venture capital firms after a TechCrunch feature validated the idea. The company grew to roughly $3.5M ARR within three years and is now expanding beyond VC clients to serve sales teams.

Key takeaways

• Danielle started Mattermark to solve a problem she was personally frustrated by—TechCrunch’s lack of coverage of early-stage startups—rather than by pursuing a predetermined business opportunity.
• The product evolved organically from free daily blog posts with data to spreadsheets shared via email, then to a simple database, driven by direct user requests and feedback.
• Danielle attributes early traction to a TechCrunch article that explicitly mentioned the need for a solution in this space, which she and her co-founders acted on immediately; they also gained credibility by securing early enterprise customers like a16z and selling directly to VC firms.
• Mattermark’s pricing of $499/month was set somewhat arbitrarily, based on Danielle’s memory of her previous employer’s expense approval threshold, but it resonated with early customers willing to pay.
• Early employee growth rate proved to be a valuable, though non-obvious, signal for identifying startups with momentum, even though tracking it was technically difficult.

Episode details: published June 15, 2016 · 7.6K views · 17:12 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The business ideas, figures and results discussed are the hosts’ and guests’ own claims, shared as brainstorming and entertainment — not verified facts and not investment advice.

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