He worked on it 2 hours a day before his job — Starter Story grew into a business HubSpot bought
4 min read · RealCase summary
Pat Walls started Starter Story as a side project inside a Starbucks eight years before selling it, growing it into a business documenting how other founders built their companies.
By the time of its acquisition by HubSpot around May 2024, Starter Story had 1.6 million monthly visitors, more than 250,000 newsletter subscribers, over 10,000 paying members, an 8-person team, and around $83.3K in monthly revenue (roughly $1.1 million annually reported at the time, with sources citing $6M ARR later in 2024) at close to a 75% profit margin.
"8 years ago, I started a side project inside of a tiny Starbucks," Walls posted on X announcing the deal. "Today, Starter Story is being acquired by" HubSpot. The platform continues operating as part of HubSpot, with Walls staying involved and Starter Story keeping its independent branding.
Key takeaways
- ›Started Starter Story with about $100 in costs, working 2 hours a day before his full-time job for a full year
- ›Grew revenue from $5,000/month before his first hire to about $79,000/month by 2022 and roughly $91,700/month ($1.1M/year) by 2023–2024
- ›Reached 1.6 million monthly visitors and over 10,000 paid members, then sold the business to HubSpot in February 2026
Original source
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