Bu and I were using multiple email tools, but they all felt outdated, slow, and built for marketers, not developers.
We also had to deal with emails landing in the spam folder and felt the pain of building a beautiful email template that would work everywhere.
So, we started playing with the idea of building the “Stripe of Email” as a side project.
Once we had a working MVP, we shared it with a friend who was working at another startup. He liked it and started using it in production. We sent him a $10 payment link as a way to validate if the product was really good or not.
To our surprise, he paid (!), which gave us the confidence to apply to Y Combinator.
After pitching the idea to Gustaf, Harj, and Diana, they finally accepted our application!
We immediately quit our jobs and moved to San Francisco to join the YC Winter 2023 batch.
We launched react.email because we were frustrated by how difficult it was to build modern email templates that worked well across all email clients.
This project caught the attention of a lot of people, and it became clear that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Resend was incorporated in January 2023, and we shared the news online.
The response was overwhelmingly positive, and the announcement tweet alone had more than 1M views.
This was also the month Jonni Lundy joined our founding team as Operations Manager.
Introducing Resend
Why are we doing this? What problem are we solving? Why now?
resend.com/blog/introducing-resend
We organized the first Resend launch week and shipped seven new features in seven days.
Launch Week 1: Wrap Up
All about the seven new features we launched in the last seven days.
resend.com/blog/launch-week-1-wrap-up
After finishing Y Combinator, we raised a $3m seed round (see full list of investors).
We also had our first team gathering in Lisbon, Portugal.
Resend raises $3M
Who invested on us. Where we're going. Why are we doing this.
resend.com/blog/resend-raises-3m-seed-round
We announced that Zeh Fernandes joined our founding team as Product Designer.
Welcoming Zeh Fernandes, our new Product Designer
We're thrilled to share the news that Zeh Fernandes is joining Resend.
resend.com/blog/welcoming-zeh-fernandes
After operating behind a waitlist, we finally opened the product to everyone.
We announced that Vitor Capretz joined the team as a Software Engineer.
Welcoming Vitor Capretz, our new Software Engineer
We're thrilled to share the news that Vitor Capretz is joining Resend.
resend.com/blog/welcoming-vitor-capretz
We shared the news that Krithika Yetchina joined the team as Customer Support Engineer.
React Email also reached 10,000 GitHub stars that month.
Welcoming Krithika Yetchina, our new Customer Support Engineer
We're thrilled to share the news that Krithika Yetchina is joining Resend.
resend.com/blog/welcoming-krithika-yetchina
We celebrated 1,000 paying customers as we closed the first year of Resend as a company.
We organized our second launch week, and this time, we called it Forward.
This marked the launch of marketing emails and turned Resend into a multi-product company.
Resend Forward: Wrap Up
All about the new features we launched last week.
resend.com/blog/resend-forward-wrap-up
After months of work, Resend became SOC 2 Type II compliant.
Resend is SOC 2 Type II compliant
Our journey to becoming compliant and what it means for you.
resend.com/blog/soc-2
After 15 months since officially starting Resend, we reached 100,000 users.
What's next after 100,000 users
How we got here and where we're going next.
resend.com/blog/what-is-next-after-100-000-users
After months of work, we launched our handbook and shared 35 articles on how we approach engineering, design, support, and marketing.
We also announced that Felipe Volpone joined the team as a Software Engineer.
Handbook
The process behind Resend.
resend.com/handbook
Resend became GDPR compliant and we wrote about the journey to get there.
We also shared that Brian Kerr joined the team as a Customer Success Engineer.
Resend's journey to GDPR compliance
Our path to complying with GDPR and continuing our commitment to protecting your data.
resend.com/blog/gdpr