Tella

Tella is the screen recording and video creation tool Karl Hughes and Alex Smith bootstrapped from New Zealand starting in 2021. It grew to $1M+ ARR within two years by targeting a specific underserved creator: developers, product managers, and course creators who need to record their screen with their face in the corner and produce a polished-looking result without video editing skills. Tella records screen + webcam simultaneously and applies professional-looking backgrounds, rounded corners, and smooth transitions automatically. Tella's "director cuts" feature — pre-set visual styles that make any screen recording look like it was edited by a designer — became the product's viral hook. Tella recordings spread on Twitter and LinkedIn as creators shared product demos and tutorials that looked far more polished than typical Loom recordings, prompting "what tool are you using?" comments that drove organic signups. The async video use case (replace a meeting with a well-produced walkthrough video) positioned Tella in the remote work communication market alongside Loom and Claap.