2. Ben Chestnut

Company: Mailchimp

Website: https://mailchimp.com/

Business: A marketing automation platform and email marketing service, used by businesses to manage their mailing lists and create email marketing campaigns.

 

About Ben Chestnut and Mailchimp

Ben is the CEO and co-founder of Mailchimp, an email marketing company.

Ben leads a team of 1,200+ employees across 6 offices that empower millions of businesses and entrepreneurs around the world to grow with Mailchimp’s smart marketing and commerce tools, award-winning customer support, and inspiring content and community.

On September 13 2021, Intuit confirmed it would be acquiring Mailchimp for a valuation of approximately $12 billion in cash and stock.

 

mailchimp-logo

 

Ben co-founded Mailchimp with Dan Kurzius in 2001 as a side project to their web design agency. Wary of giving up control to outside investors, Chestnut and Kurzius bootstrapped growth from profits and took no outside money. Ben and Kurzius each own 50% of Mailchimp, which had $700 million in 2019 revenue. Mailchimp’s garnered enough customers that in 2007 they committed to it full time.

They designed Mailchimp as a delightful yet powerful email marketing tool to give small businesses access to technology that was once reserved for the enterprise.

Ben learned about small business from his mum, who ran a hair salon from the family’s kitchen in Georgia. He studied industrial design at Georgia Tech, taught himself how to build websites, and worked at Cox Interactive Media.

Mailchimp has grown a lot in the past 20 years, but their mission to empower the underdog remains as strong as ever. The company has a revenue of over $700 million and continues to grow in 2021 after its acquisition by Intuit. Mailchimp is headquartered in Atlanta with additional offices in Brooklyn, Oakland, Santa Monica, Seattle, and Vancouver.

 

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