HubSpot acquires Starter Story

It was cool to discover that Starter Story was acquired by HubSpot.

What We’re Building with Starter Story

HubSpot Media is acquiring Starter Story — the founder storytelling brand trusted by 100M+ builders a year. Here’s what it means and what’s coming next.

HubSpotHubSpot Staff

Especially as an indie founder and also as someone who led a community in that space (Indie Hackers, which at the time was owned, after being acquired, by Stripe. It was then subsequently unacquired 🫠).

HubSpot had previously acquired The Hustle for around $27 million. It feels it was overvalued, imho, but this was peak COVID time, when many things were. The Hustle operated in a similar niche to Starter Story and Indie Hackers. Not quite the same, but similar. The Hustle has continued to thrive and be invested within under the HubSpot banner, which is often not what happens in many acquisitions.

It definitely feels as if business focused communities are more attractive to acquire, which is understandable tbh, founders are always a curious bunch who are up for exploring new tools. Business focused communities can do well if they can attract the attention, build a brand and ride a wave of growth. That doesn't mean it's easy, I've seen many others attempt it and fail.

Here's a video from Pat, the founder of Starter Story.

As a founder, and as having had led community in that space, I thought I'd share some thoughts on what I've see.