Article · About 15 min read

Unpacking 5 of Atlassian's Most Unconventional Company-Building Moves

First Round Review Free Advanced

Jay Simons on the five decisions that made the model work, including product advocates instead of reps and refusing to negotiate price for the first 50,000 customers.

  • Atlassian went from about 20 million dollars to roughly 2 billion in annual revenue during Jay Simons' tenure.
  • It reached 50,000 customers without a single modified license agreement, and hired its first lawyer at age eight.
  • Entry pricing sat just above free, and the company refused to negotiate terms or warranties with anyone.
  • It shipped a second product, Confluence, in year two, against the usual advice to stay focused.
Open on review.firstround.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. How did Atlassian reach 100 million dollars in revenue with no salespeople, and where did that model stop working?

Read with it

  1. The contemporaneous record, written while the claim was still true, with Scott Farquhar saying it in his own words rather than... TechCrunch Article · About 3 min read Atlassian's 2011 Revenues Were $102 Million With No Sales People Erick Schonfeld
  2. The useful half is where Simons says the model breaks and enterprise advocates became necessary, which stops this being read as... Inside Intercom Podcast · About 30 min How Atlassian built a $20 billion company with a unique sales model Jay Simons
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →