Mode
Mode is a collaborative analytics and data science platform founded in 2013 by Ben Stancil, Derek, and Josh, all first-time founders who previously worked together at Yammer. The company grew from an internal tool used at Yammer into an eight-figure SaaS business with 150-200 employees serving enterprise customers like Anheuser-Busch, Bloomberg, DoorDash, and Zillow. They acquired early customers through content marketing focused on entertaining data-driven storytelling, product launch momentum, and their existing network in the analytics community.
Key Takeaways
- •Used content marketing as primary growth channel
- •Got first customer via Multiple channels: content marketing through blog posts about data-driven topics (Miley Cyrus/VMAs post, pop culture/sports/politics from data angle), product launch buzz, and personal network from analytics community
- •Most effective channel: content-marketing
- •Monetizes with subscription pricing
- •Built initial product in 9 months
Revenue
Traction
Tech
Why They Built It
The founders discovered that many companies were building similar internal data analysis tools. They realized there was a market opportunity to create a dedicated platform for analysts and data scientists to collaborate on data analysis, visualization, and sharing.
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