Appboy Is Growing Up, But Keeping It Real

I often think, founding a startup is a lot like being a new parent. As a parent you wonder: who will this baby girl be in a year, or 20? What will she like to do? What will she look like? Will she want to watch hockey games with me? Who will be her friends? What will she achieve? Your child’s interests change from one day to the next until, eventually, they find their footing and go out into the world independently. And that’s just awesome. That’s the bittersweet moment every parent anticipates.

A startup begins with an idea. Co-founders then think about how they’ll give birth to that idea and create a product to show the world. They’re not sure exactly what that startup will look like in weeks, months or years, but they’re inspired by that initial idea, by giving birth to something that will blossom into an independent, sustainable, scalable business. There are times of uncertainty and ambiguity, of growth and setbacks, of triumph and pivots large and small. As with parenting, you try to plan for what you can, and react with thought, compassion, and a relentless focus on the end goal––whether independent, healthy child or independent, healthy business––for what you can’t. You could never have predicted all the twists and turns this crazy narrative would take, but the continued evolution leaves you fulfilled and proud.

Today we are thrilled to unveil the brand redesign and evolution the Appboy team has been working on over the past several months. First, a bit more backstory.

At Appboy, we have watched our baby go from Bill, Jon, and me to the close to 100 people we are today. From one beta customer four years ago, to working with the leading brands in the market, each trusting us with their hard won (and retained) customers. Today, we help our partners manage more than a billion customer profiles around the world and more than 100 billion data points every month. We have grown up, but we’re still based on the same idea and promise we always were: to empower brands to build better relationships with their customers in this always-connected, mobile dominated world. It’s important to take a moment as you grow to make sure the experience you provide, the communications you share, the values you embody truly reflect the brand you have always wanted to be and have evolved to become. That’s why we set out to refresh our brand look, dashboard experience, communications, content, and more, and why I’m writing this today.

When I think Who is Appboy? two words that come to mind are human and connected. While our platform, our technology, is the heart of the Appboy product, that product is built by people dedicated to helping marketers build meaningful, long-term relationships with their customers. We try to infuse humanity into everything we do. Relationships are also built on a series of connections. Our customer profile-centric platform enables these ongoing connections, and our new Relate Magazine and Relate Weekly Newsletter exist to inspire and empower mobile marketers to make these connections as well. LTR, our new long-term relationships focused event series, is a platform for sharing the best ideas in connecting with customers. The members of our Success Squad are true partners for our clients, connecting Appboy to you, and you to your customers. In the always-on mobile and digital dominated worlds, human connection is more important than ever, and customers expect it and crave it. Our updated dashboard makes building those connections seamless, with a more intuitive UI and features and functions driven by our customer feedback.

Our new logo is a reflection of the importance of these layers of connections: two parts, coming together. Our updated look is strong, modern and sophisticated, but inviting, warm and diverse at the same time. These attributes aren’t a mistake. They reflect the broad range of personalities that make Appboy a great, growing startup. Our people are without a doubt our most valuable asset as an evolving brand. They connect us to our past and will move us confidently into the future. Dedicated, insanely smart, kind to each other, customer-centric. Our people are what continue to make Appboy the go-to partner for brands looking for the next-level CRM to take their customer relationships deeper into the 21st century.

This is the new face of Appboy, a deeper expression, a stronger promise, of the idea Jon, Bill and I launched with four years ago. We will continue to push the envelope to the service of our clients and partners and, in doing so, remain the strongest player in the field. Thank you partners, clients and investors for your continued support. We couldn’t do it without you, and welcome your feedback, as always, with open arms.

There is so much more to come, and we couldn’t be more excited for the road ahead.