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Nathan Barry avatar

Nathan Barry

Founder of Kit (ConvertKit), bootstrapped from a failing side project to $1M+ MRR

@nathanbarry Boise, United States152K followers$1.19M MRRSaaS FoundersMarketing & SEO ToolsCreators & WritersEducators & Course Creators

About Nathan Barry

Nathan Barry is the founder and CEO of Kit, formerly ConvertKit, the email marketing platform built specifically for creators. Before Kit he was a designer and blogger who self-published books on app and web design and on building an audience, proving to many indie makers that teaching what you know online can be a real business.

He launched ConvertKit in January 2013 as a public challenge to reach $5,000 in MRR within six months. It fell short and stalled at around $1,300 a month, and he nearly shut it down. Instead he doubled down in late 2014, investing $50,000, focusing on professional bloggers and doing hands-on concierge migrations. The company ended 2015 at $98K MRR and 2016 at $500K MRR, and its open Baremetrics dashboard showed more than $1.1M in MRR by early 2019.

Kit has stayed independent and bootstrapped, with core values of teaching everything it knows and working in public. The company rebranded from ConvertKit to Kit in 2024, and Nathan continues to write publicly about growth, compensation and creator businesses from Boise, Idaho.

Products by Nathan Barry

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) logo

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

kit.com

Email marketing and commerce platform built for creators, with visual automations, landing pages and paid newsletters.

$1.19M MRR

Builds indie alternatives to:MailchimpSubstack

Revenue

Nathan Barry has publicly reported $1.19M MRR (ConvertKit) (as of 2019). Source

Nathan Barry's journey, 2012–202411 milestones · self-reported
  • Revenue (monthly, log scale)
  • First product
  • Launch / milestone
  • Started 2012
  1. 2012Revenue: ~$2,100/month on average from the App Store≈ $2.1K/mo nathanbarry.com
  2. 2012Revenue: App Design Handbook: $12K on launch day≈ $12K/mo nathanbarry.com
  3. 2013First product: Launched ConvertKit through his public Web App Challenge
  4. 2013Revenue: 2013 revenue: $256,725≈ $21K/mo nathanbarry.com
  5. 2014Milestone: ConvertKit stalled near $1.3K MRR; doubled down≈ $1.3K/mo
  6. 2015Revenue: ConvertKit ended the year at $98K MRR≈ $98K/mo
  7. 2015Revenue: ConvertKit passed a $1M annual run rate≈ $83K/mo nathanbarry.com
  8. 2016Revenue: ConvertKit ended the year at $500K MRR≈ $500K/mo
  9. 2016Revenue: ConvertKit scaled from $100K to $500K MRR≈ $100K/mo x.com
  10. 2019Revenue: ConvertKit passed $1M MRR≈ $1M/mo
  11. 2024Milestone: Rebranded ConvertKit to Kit

Timeline

  1. 2013 — Launched ConvertKit through his public Web App Challenge.
  2. 2014 — Doubled down on ConvertKit with a $50K investment after it stalled near $1,300 MRR.
  3. 2015 — Ended the year at $98K MRR.
  4. 2016 — Ended the year at $500K MRR.
  5. 2019 — ConvertKit's open metrics dashboard passed $1M in MRR.
  6. 2024 — Rebranded ConvertKit to Kit.

How Nathan builds

  • Teach everything you know and work in public.
  • Pick a narrow niche first, then expand once you win it.
  • Direct sales and concierge onboarding can unlock early SaaS growth.
  • Stay independent so you answer only to customers.
  • Consistent creation compounds into authority over time.

Learn from Nathan Barry

[book]

Authority

How to build an audience and earn a living by self-publishing and teaching what you know.

by Nathan Barry

Nathan Barry FAQ

Who is Nathan Barry?

Nathan Barry is the founder and CEO of Kit (formerly ConvertKit), an email marketing platform for creators, and the author of Authority, The App Design Handbook and Designing Web Applications.

How much revenue does ConvertKit/Kit make?

Kit's open metrics showed about $1.19M in monthly recurring revenue in January 2019; the company has kept growing since and remains bootstrapped.

Why did ConvertKit change its name to Kit?

The company rebranded from ConvertKit to Kit in 2024 as it broadened into a fuller platform for creator businesses.

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