# (July 2021) Ben Chestnut: From Side Business to $12 Billion – The Accidental Triumph of Mailchimp

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2025-08-25
- Length: 1h 19m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o

## Summary

Ben Chestnut, co-founder of Mailchimp, explains how a web design agency accidentally built an email marketing tool that grew into a $12 billion SaaS business without outside investment. He details the pivot from service-based revenue to a freemium model, the viral marketing success of sponsoring the podcast 'Serial', and the leadership challenges of scaling from a garage startup to a large enterprise. Chestnut also discusses the company's culture reset following public allegations of sexism and the eventual acquisition by Intuit.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o#t=0) Introduction and Early Life
- [14:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o#t=841) From Web Design to Email Tool
- [27:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o#t=1635) The Pivot to SaaS and Freemium
- [51:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o#t=3060) Viral Marketing and Podcast Sponsorships
- [59:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o#t=3579) Scaling Challenges and Leadership Crisis
- [1:13:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o#t=4403) Culture Reset and Acquisition

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies, companies scaling up, large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Mailchimp (product)
- Intuit (company)
- Constant Contact (company)
- Dropbox (product)
- Evernote (product)
- Joe Rogan Experience (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#115 Pure Gold Series: Lessons on Iterating from Seth Goldman + Updates on Eat the Change & Just Ice Tea](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2023-11-21-115-pure-gold-series-lessons-on-iterating-from-seth-goldman-updates-on-eat-the-c) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [An AWSM (Sauce) Bonus Episode with Carl Starkey](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2023-05-04-an-awsm-sauce-bonus-episode-with-carl-starkey) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [050 - "When No One is Listening" with James Somauroo](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/lets-combinate/2022-09-14-050-when-no-one-is-listening-with-james-somauroo) (Let's Combinate)
- [S7E18 Aaron Moncur | Building Pipeline, the Being An Engineer Podcast, and Engineering Communities](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-04-24-s7e18-aaron-moncur-building-pipeline-the-being-an-engineer-podcast-and-engineeri) (Being an Engineer)
- [029: Making a Social or Environmental Impact with Our Business, Adam Force of Change Creator](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2016-11-29-029-making-a-social-or-environmental-impact-with-our-business-adam-force-of-chan) (Product Startup)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-25-july-2021-ben-chestnut-from-side-business-to-12-billion-the-accidental-triumph-o. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.