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Hey folks —
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It’s 2025, and async work is somehow both the norm and still misunderstood.
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We’ve replaced meetings with recordings, but no one’s figured out how to watch them.
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That’s what today’s story is about.
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In 2016, screen recording was utility software.
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You used it to:
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Show off a product feature
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Record an internal how-to
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File a bug report for engineering
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Maybe explain a complex thing to avoid a meeting
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But no one thought it was how teams should actually communicate.
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Loom flipped that.
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Instead of pitching itself as a tool for marketers or creators, it framed async video as a faster, cleaner way to work.
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Not for content—for context.
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Suddenly, a 2-minute Loom replaced a 30-minute meeting.
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And just like that, screen recording became… communication.
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From side tool to default behavior inside companies. Here’s how Loom grew into a $975M business.
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Sponsored by
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Most outbound tools feel like duct-taped spreadsheets.
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CRM integrations that won’t break your workflow
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If outbound is part of your growth motion, Apollo should be too.
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Want to sponsor a future edition? Learn more here.
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1. Loom worked because it solved a problem people didn’t know they had
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You could already share your screen.
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You could already record video.
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You could already send messages.
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But each of those came with friction—manual uploads, clunky file sizes, no context, bad UX.
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Loom solved all of that in one shot. It became the fastest way to communicate something you would’ve said out loud—but didn’t want to schedule a meeting for.
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That shift in behavior was subtle, but sticky:
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It made async video feel like part of your job
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It created a sense of urgency (“just Loom me”)
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It built a muscle inside orgs (“I’ll record a quick Loom”)
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That’s how habits form.
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2. The core loop: create → share → onboard → repeat
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Loom’s growth engine wasn’t built on invites. It was built on usefulness that required someone else.
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Every video sent was:
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It looked like this:
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Over time, these internal loops snowballed.
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3. Retention wasn’t just individual—it was organizational
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Most SaaS products focus on individual retention. If one user keeps coming back, that’s a win.
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The more videos you received
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The more useful it became
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The harder it was to switch back
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This is what I call
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4. COVID didn’t create Loom’s growth—it accelerated a behavior already happening
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During COVID, async tools exploded. But Loom was already on its way.
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Live calls became exhausting
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People worked across time zones
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Managers wanted context without meetings
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Loom was in the right place with the right default.
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Massive usage spikes (recordings, shares, signups)
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Embedded use inside product and remote orgs
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Organic expansion without paid acquisition
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But COVID also set up the ceiling…
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5. The ceiling: Loom became the behavior, not the platform
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For all its usage, Loom had limits:
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People used it occasionally, not hourly
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There was no built-in system of record
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No multiplayer editing, comments, workflows, etc.
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Once you recorded and sent the video, it was done. There wasn’t a deeper layer.
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6. Atlassian’s acquisition makes sense
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Loom’s superpower—low-friction async video—makes perfect sense inside tools like Jira, Confluence, and Trello.
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Loom might not have had a massive standalone path, but inside a suite? It’s a killer feature.
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Like this breakdown?
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Every week, we go deep on startup strategy, product bets, and what makes (or breaks) a business.
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See you in the next one.
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