NO CODE

Tweet #1: Zapier Buys Makerpad

Zapier recently announced it was buying Makerpad, its first ever acquisition.
 
Zapier is a no-code automation company that provides drag-and-drop style tools so that non-programmers can create software like websites and mobile apps.
 
Makerpad is a no-code education platform that provides paid and free tutorials and videos and access to a no-code community.
 
And the acquisition story all began with a tweet…
 
The Tweet

🏆 Top tools used by Makerpad members:

1. @airtable
2. @zapier
3. @webflow
4. @SlackHQ @carrd @bubble
5. @loom @AdaloHQ
6. @stripe
7. @NotionHQ
8. @typeform @MemberstackApp @parabolahq

— Ben Tossell (@bentossell) September 15, 2020
Walter Chen replied to this tweet:  "This tracks my intuition that if there's going to be a central utility of no code, it'll be either @airtable or @zapier."

After seeing Walter’s tweet, Zapier CEO Wade Foster called Ben Tossell, Makerpad’s founder.

"Wade reached out after seeing this tweet that essentially said, 'Zapier should buy Makerpad ASAP',” Tossell said, per Business Insider.
 
Software companies buying content companies…is this the new thing?
Interestingly, this acquisition has the look and feel of the recent acquisition of The Hustle, a business and tech newsletter firm, by Hubspot.  Just like in the case of Zapier/Makerpad, Hubspot is a software firm (CRM software) buying a content company in The Hustle.
 
Zapier has over $140 million in annual revenue and is valued at $5 billion according to Forbes.  It’s been profitable since 2014 and has over 400 employees.  Makerpad was founded in 2019 and has a large and growing userbase which just in the past 10 months has increased 4X per Tossell. 
 
Wade Foster, the CEO of Zapier said of the acquisition:
  • "Zapier will continue to make automation easy and Makerpad will teach you how to do it. Together we'll work toward ensuring anyone with a problem or an idea, no matter their technical abilities, can solve it themselves," Foster added.
Zapier bootstrapped it
This tale is full of zingers…Zapier has grown like wildfire but has only raised a $1.3 million seed round in 2012 from Bessemer, Y Combinator, and DFJ, per the company. 
 
Unlike most Silicon Valley unicorns, Zapier has never raised multiple rounds of money from venture capitalists.

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