PatSnap
PatSnap is a connected innovation intelligence platform founded by Jeffrey Tiong in 2007 to help R&D teams and IP professionals identify technological opportunities. Tiong bootstrapped initial development with a $40,000 university startup grant and spent 2-3 years building the product while taking on consulting work to fund operations. The company now has 8,000 customers, 800 employees, and has raised over $51 million in funding, serving major clients like Disney, Tesla, and NASA.
Key Takeaways
- •Used cold email as primary growth channel
- •Reached product-market fit in 2-3 years to first version, then additional 2+ years to product stability
- •Got first customer via Direct outreach to university library where he studied (alma mater, National University of Singapore)
- •Most effective channel: inside-sales
- •Monetizes with subscription pricing
- •Built initial product in 2-3 years
Revenue
Traction
Tech
Why They Built It
Jeffrey experienced the pain of patent and intellectual property research during an internship at a medical device startup in Philadelphia. He believed there should be a better, more affordable tool to decode patent databases and make them accessible to a wider audience.
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