Our Story

Founder story

About 20 years ago, Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius started a web design agency called the Rocket Science Group. Their focus was on big, corporate clients, but on the side, they created a delightful email marketing service for small businesses.

Mailchimp was designed as an alternative to the oversized, expensive email software of the early 2000s. It gave small business owners who lacked the high-end tools and resources of their larger competitors access to technology that empowered them and helped them grow.

Ben and Dan loved serving these users, because understanding small businesses is in their DNA: Ben grew up helping his mom around her hair salon that she ran from their family kitchen, and Dan’s parents ran a bakery. With Mailchimp, they found that working for small businesses gave them the freedom to be more creative and adapt quickly to their needs. So, in 2007, Ben and Dan decided to shutter the web design agency and focus exclusively on Mailchimp.

While the new company started as an email marketing tool, our customers repeatedly asked us to spread the Mailchimp magic to other channels. They taught us that Mailchimp’s brand promise is to help small businesses “look pro and grow,” no matter the channel.

Over the past couple of years, we launched a slew of new channels and functionalities: social posting digital ads, a Marketing CRM, shoppable landing pages, postcards, websites, smart content tools, advanced automations, and more. We’re no longer just an email marketing tool—we’re an all-in-one Marketing Platform. As our product and team continues to grow, one thing stays the same: Ben and Dan’s mission to empower the underdog.

Learn more about our Co-founders.

Culture

Mailchimp strives to create a culture that empowers a humble, creative, and independent workforce. We are passionate about our small business customers and believe that collaboration and creativity are powerful tools to help them make their dreams a reality.

We love how each new hire adds to our culture. And, we’re hiring.

We believe that what makes us different makes us stronger. Building a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization is good for our teams, our customers, and our community. We empower each other to bring unique perspectives and experiences to work, and we continually seek new ways to do so.

We help our team members thrive in the Mailchimp of today and support them in building the Mailchimp of tomorrow. We do this in a number of ways—through leadership development programs, learning resources, and enriching experiences both in and out of the office. With these resources, we work to establish a foundation of consistency and equity to build on so we can continue to adapt, experiment, embrace failure, and create value.

Our Mailchimp Speaker Series is a cornerstone of our company culture, and has been an ever-evolving employee program for the last decade. Since day 1, we've used this as an opportunity to challenge and inspire our employees by inviting people in who are creative, interesting, and thought provoking.

Learn more about our culture.

Corporate citizenship

We believe that Big Change Starts Small, whether you’re just starting your business or trying to create positive change in your community. We’ve learned that in a world full of big issues, small world changers need a champion. That’s why Mailchimp has invested more than $12 million to help small and medium sized organizations get started and grow.

We believe in the power of creativity to help people sharpen their talents and build the critical life skills to help them thrive. We know that social entrepreneurs are poised to make some of the most exciting changes in our community. And we know that local organizations deserve the same investment and celebration that they give to our neighbors who need it most. Mailchimp has long recognized the importance of these issues, and we thoughtfully build programs to help the organizations driving big change.

Big change starts inside our own company, too. We connect employees with our investments through programs like Launchpad, our partnership with Clayton State University, and Mailchimp Community College, which equips those employees with the tools to think deeply about fostering equity and inspiring positive change in Atlanta.