HubSpot

HubSpot is an American developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. HubSpot was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in 2006.

HubSpot, Inc.
TypePublic
IndustrySoftware
FoundedJune 2006 (2006-06)
Founders
Headquarters
Key people
Yamini Rangan (CEO)
Kate Bueker (CFO)
Kipp Bodnar (CMO)
Dharmesh Shah (CTO)
RevenueIncrease US$1.73 billion (2022)
Decrease US$−109 million (2022)
Decrease US$−113 million (2022)
Total assetsIncrease US$2.54 billion (2022)
Total equityIncrease US$992 million (2022)
Number of employees
7,433 (2022)
Websitehubspot.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Its products and services aim to provide tools for customer relationship management, social media marketing, content management, lead generation, web analytics, search engine optimization, live chat, and customer support.

History

HubSpot was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2006.[2]

The company grew from $255,000 in revenues in 2007, to $15.6 million in 2010.[2][3] Later that year, HubSpot acquired Oneforty, the Twitter app store founded by Laura Fitton.[4][5] The company also introduced new software for personalizing websites for each visitor.[6] According to Forbes, HubSpot started out targeting small companies but "moved steadily upmarket to serve larger businesses of up to 1000 employees."[7][8] HubSpot filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 25, 2014, requesting to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HUBS.[9] They raised more than $140 million by selling shares for $25 which then peaked at $840 in November 2021. In July 2017, HubSpot acquired Kemvi, which applies artificial intelligence and machine learning to help sales teams.[10] The company reported revenues of $1 billion in 2021.[11]

In February 2021, Axios reported that HubSpot would be acquiring The Hustle, a content and email newsletter company focused on small business owners and entrepreneurs.[12][13]

In September 2021, HubSpot announced Yamini Rangan as their new CEO,[14] while Brian Halligan stepped out of the role and became an Executive Chairman at the company.

On January 31, 2023, HubSpot announced the first layoffs in the company's history. Affecting ~500 employees, this layoff eliminated ~7% of its total workforce. On the same day, HubSpot also announced plans to restructure its Cambridge campus, centralizing operations within a nearby office the company had already been leasing.[15][16]

A photo of an open office floorplan. Exposed brick office. HubSpot's Cambridge HQ
Interior view of HubSpot's office space at its Cambridge HQ

Software and services

HubSpot Marketing Software provides tools for social media marketing, content management, web analytics, landing pages, customer support, and search engine optimization.[2][17][18][19][20]

HubSpot has integration features for salesforce.com, SugarCRM, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and others.[21] There are also third-party services such as templates, and extensions.[22] Additionally, HubSpot offers consulting services and an online resource academy for learning inbound marketing tactics.[23][24] It also hosts user group conferences and inbound marketing and certification programs.[24] HubSpot promotes their inbound marketing concepts through their own marketing,[18] and has been called "a prolific creator of content" such as blogs, social media, webinars and white papers.[7]

In 2010, an article in the Harvard Business Review said that HubSpot's most effective inbound marketing feature was its free online tools.[25] One such tool, the Marketing Grader, assessed and scored website performance.[26][27] The company introduced a Twitter tracking feature in 2011.[28][29]

In November 2016, HubSpot launched HubSpot Academy, an online training platform that provides various digital marketing training programs and free certifications upon completion.[30]

In 2018, HubSpot integrated Taboola on the dashboard, a global pay-per-click native ad network.[31]

In November 2019, HubSpot acquired PieSync, a customer data synchronization platform.[32]

In August 2021, HubSpot partnered with Envato to launch hundreds of high-quality CMS Hub templates.[33] [34]

HubSpot CRM Free

The company launched HubSpot CRM Free in 2014.[35] The CRM product tracks and manages interactions between a company and its customers and prospects. It enables companies to forecast revenue, measure sales team productivity, and report on revenue sources.[36][37][38] The software as a service product is free and integrates with Gmail, G Suite, Microsoft Office for Windows, and other software.[39]

Marketing Hub

HubSpot Marketing Hub integrates customer relationship and social media management,[40] campaign automation, and email marketing.[41] Usability features were added to the marketing tool in 2020.[42] As of 2021, there are four service tiers (Free, Starter, Professional, and Enterprise). Starter offers basic analytics, and Professional enables additional marketing automation options, custom workflows, A/B testing, more inboxes, and support for more currencies. The Enterprise version allows access to more contacts, revenue reporting, custom event automation, and campaign reporting.[41]

Operations Hub

HubSpot launched Operations Hub in 2021 as an extension of the customer relationship management tool. Available in multiple service tiers, Operations Hub helps customers use data in the CRM.[43][44]

Service Hub

HubSpot's customer service tool, Service Hub (previously known as Customer Hub)[45] was announced in 2017, moved out of beta testing in 2018,[46][47] and received a "refresh" in 2022. The contact center platform provides self-service automation, Twilio telephony,[48] as well as "sentiment analysis and churn forecasting" and testimonial capturing, according to The Irish Times.[45] TechCrunch says Service Hub also includes a "universal inbox" for all customer communications, tools for developing a "company knowledge base" and surveys, and a dashboard for team tracking.[46]

HubSpot Academy

HubSpot Academy is an online training program with free courses for content, email, inbound and social media marketing, as well as graphic design, web development, and search engine optimization.[49][50] Some of the courses offer certifications.[51] In 2022, Avi Stern of The Jerusalem Post and Christian Rigg of TechRadar described the Academy as "one of the nation's leading digital marketing sources for businesses" and "an industry-leading learning center for all things CRM", respectively.[52]

Tech industry reviews

HubSpot has been described as unique because it strives to provide its customers with an all-in-one approach.[19][53] A 2012 review in CRM Search said HubSpot was not the best business solution in each category but that taken as a whole, it was the best "marketing solution" that combined many tools into one package.[7] It identified HubSpot's "strengths" as the sophistication of its call to action (marketing) tool, its online ecosystem, and its "ease of use". Its weakness was described as having "more breadth than depth." The review said the lack of customization and design tools could be limiting and that it was missing advanced features such as business process management (BPM) tools to manage workflow.[7]

Conferences

INBOUND conference in 2018

HubSpot hosts an annual marketing conference for HubSpot users and partners called "INBOUND". The event is typically located in Boston. In 2019, HubSpot hosted its largest conference in the event's history, with a record of over 26,000 attendees from 110 countries.[54][55] The first INBOUND conference took place in 2012. Since then, speakers such as Oprah Winfrey,[56] Michelle Obama, Barack Obama,[57] Tig Notaro, and Issa Rae have spoken at their events.

Controversy

In July 2015, HubSpot's CMO, Mike Volpe, was dismissed for violating HubSpot's code of business conduct. It was found that he tried to obtain a draft copy of the book Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start Up Bubble, written by his former employee Daniel Lyons.[58][59] According to an article in The Boston Globe, records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act indicated that HubSpot executives considered the book "a financial threat to HubSpot" and Volpe used "tactics such as email hacking and extortion" in the attempt to prevent the book from being published.[60]

In April 2016, after his book was published, Lyons wrote in The New York Times that HubSpot had a "frat house" atmosphere. He also called the company a "digital sweatshop" in which workers had little job security.[61] Later that month, HubSpot's founders gave an official response to the book, in which they addressed several, but not all, of Lyons' claims.[62]

Reception

The Boston Business Journal named HubSpot a "Best Place to Work in 2012".[63] In 2015, the company was named the best large company to work for in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe.[64][65] In 2017, HubSpot was named seventh by CNBC as one of the best places to work.[66] Glassdoor named HubSpot the best place to work in 2020 and the #2 best place to work in 2022.[67][68]

References

  1. "HubSpot, Inc. 2022 Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 16 February 2023.
  2. Stone, Avery (August 8, 2011). "HubSpot wants to be Salesforce.com for small business". Fortune Magazine. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  3. 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.
  4. Rao, Leena (August 18, 2011). "HubSpot Buys Social Media Management Platform And App Directory Oneforty". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  5. O’Dell, Jolie (August 18, 2011). "Twitter app store Oneforty acquired by HubSpot". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  6. Alspach, Kyle (December 14, 2011). "HubSpot: What we're working on now will change the Internet". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  7. Schaeffer, Chuck. "HubSpot Marketing Software Review—An Independent Marketing Software Analysis". CRMSearch. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  8. Colao, J.J. (March 15, 2012). "HubSpot Looks to Pounce as Traditional Marketing Gets "Obliterated"". Forbes. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  9. "S-1".
  10. Ha, Anthony. "HubSpot acquires Kemvi to bring more AI into its sales and marketing platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  11. "HubSpot financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019". Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  12. Fischer, Sara (3 February 2021). "Scoop: HubSpot is acquiring The Hustle". Axios. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  13. "HubSpot acquires media startup The Hustle". TechCrunch. 4 February 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  14. "HubSpot's Next Chapter: Yamini Rangan Appointed CEO, Brian Halligan to Step Into Executive Chairman Role".
  15. "HubSpot Slashes 500 Jobs in Latest Tech Layoffs". CMSWire.com. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  16. Movement, Q. ai-Powering a Personal Wealth. "PayPal, HubSpot And Workday Are The Latest To Announce Mass Layoffs". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  17. Gage, Deborah (March 8, 2011). "Google Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Give HubSpot $32M". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  18. Steenburgh, Thomas; Avery, Jilly; Dahod, Naseem (January 24, 2011), HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0, retrieved December 30, 2013
  19. McCarthy, Kevin (May 26, 2011). "The Tech Behind HubSpot". BostInno. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  20. "HubSpot adds customer service tools to its marketing platform". TechCrunch. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  21. Greenberg, Paul (January 24, 2012). "CRM Watchlist 2012 Winners – The Marketing Mavens". ZDNet. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  22. Marketplace, HubSpot, retrieved December 27, 2013
  23. Blackwell, Gerry (January 16, 2008). "HubSpot: The Evolution of Marketing". Small Business Computing. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  24. HubSpot Academy, May 18, 2009, retrieved December 26, 2013
  25. Psaty, Kyle (April 27, 2010). "HubSpot's New Alerts Grader Cures Social Media Email Overload". BostInno. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  26. Ha, Anthony (May 16, 2008). "Marketing software company HubSpot raises $12M". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  27. Gomer, Gregory (December 6, 2011). "HubSpot Marketing Grader Launches: We Put 30 Boston Startups Head to Head #Deathmatch". Bostinno. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  28. Gomer, Gregory (August 10, 2011). "HubSpot Powers Useful Tool to Track ReTweets, Suffers Unfortunate Name: WhoretweetedMe". BostonInno. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  29. Dugan, Lauren (August 16, 2011). "Find Out Which Influencers Retweeted You". MediaBistro. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  30. Flanagan, Ellie. "HubSpot Academy Launches New Content Marketing Certification With a Lesson on Topic Clusters". www.hubspot.com. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  31. "Hubspot and Taboola Announce Strategic Partnership, Turning on Content Discovery for 40,000 Brands" (Press release). Businesswire. May 31, 2018. Retrieved 2022-04-17 via Taiwan News.
  32. "HubSpot Acquires PieSync". PR Newswire. November 4, 2019.
  33. "HubSpot Partners With Envato to Launch Hundreds of High-Quality CMS Hub Templates". PR Newswire. August 9, 2021.
  34. "HubSpot Partners with Envato To Build Better Digital Experiences". sanjayb.com. 2021-10-10. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  35. Salager, Serge (10 December 2014). "The effect of HubSpot's CRM launch on Salesforce". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  36. Chad Brooks (12 July 2017). "HubSpot review: Best CRM software for startups". Business News Daily. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  37. Maloney, Kathleen (19 December 2016). "14 free business tools to make your startup more successful in 2017". HuffPost. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  38. Williams, Mike (13 July 2017). "Best CRMs for SMBs in 2017". TechRadar. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  39. T.J. Houpes (25 September 2015). "What to expect from the HubSpot CRM platform". TechTarget. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  40. Clymo, Rob (May 27, 2022). "Hubspot social media management review". TechRadar. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  41. Sevilla, Gadjo (May 20, 2021). "HubSpot Marketing Hub Review". PCMag. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  42. Driscoll, Taylor (January 21, 2020). "HubSpot adds usability features to Marketing Hub Enterprise". TechTarget.
  43. Vizard, Michael. "HubSpot adds Operations Hub to drive revenue ops shift". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  44. Smith, Amy (March 28, 2022). "Best CRM Software in 2022". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  45. Taylor, Charlie (May 10, 2018). "HubSpot to build more products in Dublin as new solution goes live". The Irish Times. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  46. Ha, Anthony (May 11, 2018). "HubSpot adds customer service toolset its marketing platform". TechCrunch.
  47. Scardina, Jesse (May 15, 2018). "HubSpot customer service tool Service Hub aims to transform SMBs". TechTarget. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  48. Fluckinger, Don (March 15, 2022). "HubSpot gives customer service platform a makeover". TechTarget. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  49. Forsyth, Chelsea (February 2, 2022). "HubSpot CRM review". TechRadar. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  50. Irshad, Natasha (6 July 2022). "Free online courses for students to learn new skills". The Academia. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  51. Hart, Megan (May 20, 2021). "HubSpot vs. Salesforce CRM". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  52. Rigg, Christian (May 19, 2022). "The best CRM for real estate 2022". TechRadar. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  53. Roush, Wade (August 24, 2007). "Online Marketing for Dummies—and for People with Better Things to Do". Xconomy.
  54. "Takeaways from HubSpot INBOUND 2018". CMS Newswire. February 7, 2019.
  55. "Recap: INBOUND 2019". 6 September 2019.
  56. "Oprah Winfrey".
  57. "President Barack Obama". www.inbound.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  58. "HubSpot fires marketing chief, sanctions CEO over an incident involving book about the company". Archived from the original on 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  59. My Year in Startup Hell, Dan Lyons in Fortune, April 2016
  60. Extortion, hacking claims sparked HubSpot investigation, FBI records show, The Boston Globe, 24 March 2016
  61. Lyons, Dan (9 April 2016). "Congratulations! You've Been Fired". The New York Times.
  62. Primack, Dan (12 April 2016). "HubSpot (Finally) Responds to Dan Lyons' Book". Fortune.
  63. Regan, Keith (June 10, 2011). "HubSpot's West Coast attitude gets talent". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  64. Sarah Shemkus,"HubSpot Tops List of Large Companies" The Boston Globe, 12 November 2015 (page visited 16 June 20,16)
  65. "8 companies with the best vacation perks". CNN Money. June 6, 2011. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  66. Dickler, Jessica (2017-12-06). "These are the best places to work in 2018". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  67. Best Places to Work 2020 Glassdoor
  68. "Best Places to Work | Glassdoor". www.glassdoor.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.

Further reading

  • Lyons, Daniel (2016). Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start Up Bubble. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0316306089.
  • Halligan, Brian; David Meerman Scott; Dharmesh Shah (2010). Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-49931-3.
  • Business data for HubSpot:


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