Today, GitLab is valued at over $9 billion. But in 2015, it was a tiny startup with just a couple employees. Let’s dig into their YC Demo Day pitch.

GitLab is a platform for software development. It lets developers collaborate, version control their code, and more.

Who Ever Saw an Accelerator Startup Like This?

Founder Sid Sijbrandij pitched investors that spring from a strong position. His year-old startup was already profitable and doing nearly $1 million a year in revenue.

His customers slide is bonkers for an early stage startup. Just a year in, he has logos like Apple, Microsoft and GM. Best of all, these are paid plans.

And no wonder! Sid explains that his product is 10x cheaper than competitors with way more features.

I see tons of startups coming out of the top accelerators. But I’ve never once seen one like this.

For a company still in YC to hit a nearly $1 million a year run rate is nuts. GitLab’s growth from January to March alone was 77% month over month, a staggering rate I almost never see.

The Investor Perspective

This shows you how easy investing can be sometimes. For anyone investing in early stage software startups in 2015, this would be an obvious bet.

But the question is, can you get an allocation?

For many venture funds, the answer was yes. Khosla Ventures led the $1.5 million seed round, but several other funds got a slice, including Tuesday Capital, Sound Ventures, and Liquid 2 Ventures.

This makes me feel better about my odds of success investing. All I need to do is meet lots of founders and pick the assassins like Sid!

What Founders Can Learn From Sid

Sid’s pitch shows that there’s no substitute for strong business performance. He could’ve stood on that stage wearing a chicken suit, and people would’ve dumped barrels of cash on his head.

He has a great product. He also has tons of deep pocketed customers, a profitable business and rapidly growing revenue.

If you have all that, you don’t need much else.

Wrap-Up

Sid built an awesome business and pitched it well. He raised the cash he needed, got back to building, and created a major company.

That’s the goal!

I find it charming that Sid’s a little bit awkward, just like many founders today. And in ten years, some of the founders today will be where Sid is now.

What do you think of the GitLab pitch? Leave a comment and let us know!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

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