HubSpot

HubSpot, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: HUBS
Industry Internet Marketing
Founded June 2006
Headquarters Cambridge, Massachusetts
Key people

Brian Halligan, CEO & cofounder

Dharmesh Shah, CTO & cofounder
Products HubSpot, marketing consulting services
Revenue $115.9 million (2014)[1]
Number of employees
 785[1]
Website www.hubspot.com

HubSpot is a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that develops and markets a software product for inbound marketing also called HubSpot.

HubSpot was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006. Originally funded by Shah and a faculty member at MIT, it raised more than $100 million in funding from Larry Bohn, General Catalyst Partners, David Skok, Matrix Partners, Rob Theis, Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures, Salesforce and Fidelity. The company advocates for the inbound marketing concept in its own marketing through viral videos, Twitter, webinars and an annual inbound marketing report.

Corporate history

HubSpot was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2006.[2] Shah invested $500,000, which was followed by angel investments from Edward B. Roberts, the chair of the Entrepreneurship Center at MIT and fellow MIT Sloan classmate and Entrepreneur Brian Shin.[3] The company introduced the HubSpot software in beta in 2006 and officially launched it in December 2007.[4] An additional $5 million in funding was raised in 2007,[5] which was followed by $12 million in May 2008,[6] and $16 million in late 2009.[5] The company grew from $255,000 in revenues the first year the software was released to $15.6 million in 2010.[2][7] Later that year HubSpot announced its acquisition of oneforty. Oneforty began as an app store for Twitter,[8][9] but shifted into an online resource for social media marketing.[8] The company also introduced new software for personalizing websites to each visitor.[10] According to Forbes, HubSpot started out targeting companies of 1–10 employees, but "moved steadily upmarket to serve larger businesses of up to 1000 employees."[11][12]

HubSpot raised $32 million in additional venture funding in February 2012 from Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures, Salesforce and others.[13] In March 2012, HubSpot acquired Google Chrome notification center company, Chime, by Fahd Ananta, Thariq Shihipar and Guru Mahendran.[14] HubSpot raised $35 million in another round of venture funding in November 2012 from Altimeter Capital, Cross Creek Capital and others.[15] At the 2013 annual Inbound Marketing Conference, HubSpot announced a software product for sales staff called Signals (now called Sidekick). By December 2013, Sidekick had 26,000 users and HubSpot set it up as a separate startup within the company.[16]

HubSpot filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 25, 2014 for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HUBS.[17]

Ethics scandal

In July 2015, Hubspot's CMO Mike Volpe was dismissed for violating HubSpot’s code of business conduct and ethics code after an independent investigation overseen by its board of directors found that he tried to procure a draft copy of a book about the origins of the company.[18] This book was Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble by Daniel Lyons, a former Newsweek journalist who had worked for HubSpot from 2013 to 2014.[19]

The materials, released by the FBI in March 2016 under Freedom of Information Act, indicated that certain Hubspot executives viewed the upcoming book as "a financial threat to HubSpot, its share price, and the company’s future potential", reported The Boston Globe. The FBI report discusses "tactics such as email hacking and extortion" in the attempt to prevent the book from being published. The individuals involved were ultimately not charged for any wrongdoing; the records released do not indicate why.[20]

Marketing

HubSpot evangelizes the inbound marketing concept through its own marketing.[21] According to CRMSearch, "the company promotes a message of 'publish your way in' and practices what it preaches as a prolific creator of content, including blog posts, social media posts, white papers, webinars and more."[11]

The company manages an 8,000-member LinkedIn group called Pro-Marketers.[21] The HubSpot Internet Marketing blog was ranked as the 21st most influential marketing blog in AdAge’s 2013 Power 150.[22] It hosts HubSpot TV, a live broadcast with commentary on current events.[21] HubSpot does not have a PR agency on retainer.[5]

According to Harvard Business Review, HubSpot's most effective inbound marketing has been its free online tools,[23] such as Marketing Grader (formerly Website Grader), which grades a website's performance and gives it a score based on how it compares to other websites that have been ranked.[6][24] WhoRetweetedMe.com, which was introduced in Beta in August 2011, shows the number, timing and audience of tweets containing any URL provided by the user.[25][26]

There was a debate in 2009 on whether HubSpot was over-commmercializing tweetups after it used Twitter to secure celebrity guests on HubSpot TV.[27] In 2009, as an April Fool's joke, the company created a personality grader tool.[28] The next year, as a marketing stunt, HubSpot claimed it received a cease and desist letter from "Kronos Media". It created a "Captain Inbound" character to defend HubSpot from an "evil" interruption marketing firm. There were polarizing responses whereby some customers thought the legal troubles were genuine and felt misled and others enjoyed the ruse.[29] On August 23, 2011, HubSpot's "social media scientist," Dan Zarella, was awarded a Guinness World Record for the largest online marketing seminar after "The Science of Social Media" obtained 10,899 attendees.[30][31] That same year HubSpot announced its acquisition of OneForty through a series of Tweets, obtaining 400 retweets or mentions within the first two hours.[32]

HubSpot publishes "The State of Inbound Marketing Report" annually.[33] The 2012 report found that 89 percent of businesses are maintaining or increasing their inbound marketing budgets.[33] In 2011 it found that 65 percent of companies had a corporate blog, up from 28 percent the prior year.[34] Additionally, 44 percent of marketers said Facebook was critically important to their marketing strategy, up from 24 percent in 2009.[35] The 2010 report found that 77 percent of Internet users read blogs.[36] It also publishes a State of the Twittersphere report.[37] The Twittersphere report has found that links in a tweet are more likely to be clicked on if the tweet is short and the link is posted early in the message[38] and that Twitter profiles with a picture attract six times as many followers on average.[39][40] Additionally, HubSpot's research found that New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and London were the top tweeting cities in the world.[41] In 2008 the company estimated Twitter had 4 to 5 million users, 30 percent of which were “brand new or unengaged.”[42]

Software and services

HubSpot provides a software product for inbound marketing also called HubSpot.[6][12] It includes tools for social media marketing, spam, content management, web analytics, landing pages and search engine optimization, among others.[2][13] The HubSpot suite of online tools has three primary applications: Content management tools for creating or managing blogs, templates, forms and landing pages; Exposure optimization applications that help the content be found, such as through search engine optimization; and Lead tracking and intelligence tools, which track and manage e-mail marketing, customer interactions, qualified prospects, reports and analysis.[21][43] As of 2012, about 8,000 companies use HubSpot.[44] 85 percent of customers are based in the US.[11]

HubSpot has integration features for salesforce.com, SugarCRM, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and others.[45] Nimble users can have HubSpot automatically add visitor data to their Nimble account,[46] and user's of PR Newswire's iReach can access iReach from the HubSpot dashboard.[47] There are also third-party services, templates and extensions that can be downloaded through the HubSpot App Marketplace.[48] HubSpot offers consulting services and hosts the HubSpot Academy, an online resource for learning inbound marketing tactics.[49][50] It also hosts user group conferences and offers inbound marketing and HubSpot certification programs.[50]

Corporate culture

HubSpot's offices

HubSpot has a corporate culture similar to many technology companies on the West Coast of the US. It has repeatedly been named as a Best Place to Work by the Boston Business Journal.[51] The company began an unlimited vacation day policy in 2010[52] and started an employee training program, called the HubSpot Fellows Program, the same year.[51] HubSpot's "startup within a startup" program was started in 2008.[53]

HubSpot offered a $2,500 bounty for referring a successful candidate,[54] which was increased to $10,000 in 2011, while the company was looking for HTML5 developers.[55] Senior recruits coming from large corporations are offered a “jailbreak” bonus of $1,000 for each year they spent at a big company.[54] The culture of the company, including the experience of being fired by HubSpot, is described in The New York Times article "Congratulations! You’ve Been Fired" by Dan Lyons.[56]

Critical reception

A review in CRM Search said HubSpot "is not the best product in every category ... yet may still be the single best marketing solution in bringing all the tools together."[11] Many of HubSpot's individual applications have competitors, but HubSpot strives to provide an all-in-one approach.[43][57]

A comparative analysis conducted by VentureSkies compared data security in HubSpot’s CMS with WordPress-based websites. It showed that HubSpot maintains an increased level of information security, as well as protection against hacking, through a set of security measures including human factors (e.g., 24/7 monitoring), restricted access to hosted data (limited to Web server level, no file server access), restrained JavaScript and multilayered infrastructure security embracing network, storage and compute environments.[58]

A review in CRM Search identified HubSpot's "Strengths" as the sophistication of its Call to Action (CTA) tool and its online ecosystem, the HubSpot Marketplace. According to the review "Ease of use is a design hallmark for this application" and its pricing is reasonable. Under "Weaknesses" the review said "it has more breadth than depth." It said the lack of customization and design tools can be limiting. According to the reviewer, it lacks some advanced tools such as Business Process Management (BPM) tools to manage workflow.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Kirchoff, Lindsey (February 22, 2013), HubSpot Continues Rapid Trajectory with 82% Revenue Growth, HubSpot, retrieved December 27, 2013
  2. 1 2 3 Stone, Avery (August 8, 2011). "HubSpot wants to be Salesforce.com for small business". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  3. ↑ "From the Blackboard to the Boardroom". Entrepreneur. March 11, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  4. ↑ Keohane, Ellen (December 4, 2007). "HubSpot enters search field with user-friendly system". Direct Marketing News. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Kirsner, Scott (October 19, 2009). "Brian Halligan's To-Do List: Run Company, Write Book, Raise $16 Million". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 Ha, Anthony (May 16, 2008). "Marketing software company HubSpot raises $12M". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  7. ↑ Alspach, Kyle (December 15, 2011). "HubSpot: We plan to be like HP, a huge company that lasts 100 years. But in Cambridge". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Rao, Leena (August 18, 2011). "HubSpot Buys Social Media Management Platform And App Directory Oneforty". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  9. ↑ O’Dell, Jolie (August 18, 2011). "Twitter app store Oneforty acquired by HubSpot". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  10. ↑ Alspach, Kyle (December 14, 2011). "HubSpot: What we're working on now will change the Internet". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Schaeffer, Chuck. "HubSpot Marketing Software Review—An Independent Marketing Software Analysis". CRMSearch. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  12. 1 2 Colao, J.J. (March 15, 2012). "HubSpot Looks to Pounce as Traditional Marketing Gets "Obliterated"". Forbes. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Gage, Deborah (March 8, 2011). "Google Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Give HubSpot $32M". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  14. ↑ Ha, Anthony (March 28, 2013). "HubSpot Acquires Notification Aggregator Chime And Calendar App PrepWork". Techcrunch. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  15. ↑ "IPO-bound marketing biz HubSpot grabs $35M for aggressive growth". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  16. ↑ Alspach, Kyle (December 23, 2013). "A startup within HubSpot: Signals gets its own team". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  17. ↑ FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933: HubSpot, Inc.
  18. ↑ beta Boston
  19. ↑ My Year in Startup Hell, Dan Lyons in Fortune, April 2016
  20. ↑ Extortion, hacking claims sparked HubSpot investigation, FBI records show, Boston Globe, 24 March 2016
  21. 1 2 3 4 Steenburgh, Thomas; Avery, Jilly; Dahod, Naseem (January 24, 2011), HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0, retrieved December 30, 2013
  22. ↑ Todd Andrlik; Charlie Moran. "AdAge Power 150: A Daily Ranking of Marketing Blogs". Advertising Age (Crain Communications). Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  23. ↑ Psaty, Kyle (April 27, 2010). "HubSpot’s New Alerts Grader Cures Social Media Email Overload". BostInno. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  24. ↑ Gomer, Gregory (December 6, 2011). "HubSpot Marketing Grader Launches: We Put 30 Boston Startups Head to Head #Deathmatch". Bostinno. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  25. ↑ Gomer, Gregory (August 10, 2011). "HubSpot Powers Useful Tool to Track ReTweets, Suffers Unfortunate Name: WhoretweetedMe". BostonInno. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  26. ↑ Dugan, Lauren (August 16, 2011). "Find Out Which Influencers Retweeted You". MediaBistro. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  27. ↑ Roush, Wade (April 20, 2009). "HubSpot, Hybernaut bury the hatchet for now". Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  28. ↑ Arrington, Michael (April 1, 2009). "April Fools: YouTube Flails, Amazon Cloud Computing In A Blimp, 3D Chrome Browsing, Google Masters A.I.". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  29. ↑ Dziadul, Kristin (June 10, 2010). "HubSpot Gambles with Trust to Explore New Marketing Strategy". Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  30. ↑ Landry, Lauren (August 25, 2011). "Lead Gen Machine HubSpot Breaks Guinness World Record by Hosting World’s Largest Webinar". BostInno. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  31. ↑ Partrick, Kimberly (August 23, 2011). "HUBSPOT SET NEW LARGEST ONLINE MARKETING SEMINAR RECORD". Guinness World Records.
  32. ↑ Basich, Zoran (August 18, 2011). "Annals Of PR: HubSpot Buys Oneforty, Says ‘Tweet This’". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  33. 1 2 Walter, Ekaterina (February 27, 2012). "Brands ramp up social media efforts in response to inbound marketing advantages". TheNextWeb. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  34. ↑ Barone, Lisa (May 11, 2011). "Not Blogging? You’re in the Minority". Small Business Trends. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  35. ↑ "Facebook Success Beyond the 'Like'". eMarketer. May 19, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  36. ↑ Berg, Paula (July 11, 2011). "Six Reasons Every Brand Should Blog". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  37. ↑ Elliott, Christopher (January 16, 2009). "Changing travel, one tweet at a time". MSNBC. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  38. ↑ Osborne, Charlie (February 1, 2012). "How to get people to click on your Tweets (infographic)". ZDNet. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  39. ↑ Tahmincioglu, Eve (November 28, 2011). "Want to stand out in a job search? Upload a photo". MSNBC. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  40. ↑ Wauters, Robin (April 6, 2010). "Want More Followers On Twitter? Make Sure You Have A Profile Picture". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  41. ↑ McMillan, Graeme (June 14, 2011). "New York Is the World Capital of Twitter? Don’t Believe What You Read". TIME. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  42. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Marshal (December 22, 2008). "Report Says Twitter Would Take 36 Years to Catch Facebook – If Facebook Stopped Growing Today". ReadWriteWeb. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  43. 1 2 McCarthy, Kevin (May 26, 2011). "The Tech Behind HubSpot". BostInno. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  44. ↑ Dahl, Darren (October 17, 2012). "Small players seek an alternative to the expense of pay-per-click". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  45. ↑ Greenberg, Paul (January 24, 2012). "CRM Watchlist 2012 Winners – The Marketing Mavens". ZDNet. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  46. ↑ Kelly, Meghan (February 14, 2012). "New Nimble helps brands control their social presence". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  47. ↑ Drolet, Danielle (October 26, 2011). "PR Newswire, HubSpot partner on iReach enhancements". PRWeek. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  48. ↑ Marketplace, HubSpot, retrieved December 27, 2013
  49. ↑ Blackwell, Gerry (January 16, 2008). "HubSpot: The Evolution of Marketing". Small Business Computing. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  50. 1 2 HubSpot Academy, May 18, 2009, retrieved December 26, 2013
  51. 1 2 Regan, Keith (June 10, 2011). "Hubspot's West Coast attitude gets talent". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  52. ↑ "8 companies with the best vacation perks". CNN Money. June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  53. ↑ Markowitz, Eric (September 2011). "My Story: Brian Halligan of HubSpot". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  54. 1 2 Nickisch, Curt (November 2011). "Will Work for Perks". Boston Magazine. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  55. ↑ Nickisch, Curt (September 5, 2011). "For Software Developers, A Bounty Of Opportunity". NPR. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  56. ↑ The New York Times, April 9, 2016: "Congratulations! You’ve Been Fired" by Dan Lyons
  57. ↑ Roush, Wade (August 24, 2007). "Online Marketing for Dummies—and for People with Better Things to Do". Xconomy. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  58. ↑ Scholten, Ulrich. "Hackers, Phishing, Databreach: Why HubSpot Is More Secure than WordPress". VentureSkies. Retrieved 6 January 2016.

Further reading

External links

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