Kit

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the email marketing platform Nathan Barry built for bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers after feeling burned by Mailchimp's complexity. Founded in 2013 in Boise, Idaho and bootstrapped from near-failure — Barry nearly shut it down at $2K MRR — to $43M+ ARR by 2024, it is one of the most famous indie SaaS comeback stories. Nathan documented the entire journey publicly in monthly income reports, which became one of the most-read "building in public" series in indie hacker history. The platform grew by making it trivially easy for creators to segment subscribers, set up automated email sequences, and sell digital products — competing on creator-specific UX rather than raw features. ConvertKit's landing page builder, visual automation editor, and commerce layer (sell digital products without a separate tool) made it a one-stop shop for the creator economy. Creators recommend it to other creators, fueling a word-of-mouth growth loop that required almost no paid marketing.