13 years ago today, I launched Buffer.
Itβs hard to believe my little side project turned startup turned business is now a teenager. In recent years, Iβve reflected a lot on how to build Buffer to exist and thrive long-term.
With that in mind, I thought it could be fun to share 13 fun facts which demonstrate our longevity mindset and the impact it has on both the product and the team.
Here we go:
1. Over Bufferβs lifetime, our total revenue has been $159.16M.
2. Weβve raised only $4M, so weβve made close to 40X our funding so far in revenue.
3. For 8 of our 13 years, weβve been profitable.
4. 49% of the team have been at Buffer for over 5 years; thatβs 39 of 79 teammates! 31 people (39%) have been at Buffer for over 7 years, and 5 people (6%) have been on the team for more than a decade.
5. 34 teammates have taken a 6 week sabbatical since the program started in 2019.
6. 49 babies have been born to teammates in Bufferβs lifetime.
7. 4,955 active users started using Buffer over a decade ago, and 2,321 of those are paying customers.
8. We initially supported just 1 social network, now we have 11 channels you can connect with Buffer.
9. Over the last 6 years, weβve spent $4.5M buying back the majority of our VC investors to build a long-term company with no exit plan.
10. Teammates have collectively received $1,395,923 through annual profit sharing distributions weβve issued on 5 of our 13 years.
11. Weβve donated $269,185 to 28 different charitable organizations since our first contribution in 2017.
12. For 11 years, weβve been a fully remote and distributed company. Today, weβre spread across 51 cities in 19 countries.
13. Finally, Iβve built and led Buffer working from 25 different countries over the last 13 years.
Hereβs to many more years π₯