Claude's paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year. New users hit record numbers between January and February. Previous users came back in record numbers too.
A few years ago, getting a VC check was the ultimate shortcut. The fastest way to scale. The signal that you'd "made it." But with AI is a little bit different.
Global VC funding declined 30% in Q1 2024. One of the lowest quarters since 2018. And bootstrapped startups are quietly catching up. Recent data shows bootstrapped businesses are growing as fast as VC-backed startups, while spending only about one-quarter as much on customer acquisition.
Lovable hit $400M ARR with 146 employees. That's $2.7M revenue per employee. Midjourney goes even further. $500M revenue. ~110 employees. $0 raised from investors. That's over $4.5M per employee. Bootstrapped. For context: most SaaS companies celebrate $200k-$300k per employee as a strong benchmark.
If 146 people can generate $400M, what does the math look like at 10?
Timelaps
