Nathan Barry

Founder and CEO of Kit (formerly ConvertKit)^{Source [2]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [4]}

Email marketingCreator economyBootstrapped SaaSSelf-publishingProduct design

Unclaimed profileLast verified Oct 2, 2026

About

Nathan Barry is the founder and CEO of Kit, the email marketing and creator commerce platform known as ConvertKit until 2024. He started it as a side project in 2013, and his own site describes it as 100% bootstrapped, with more than $45M in annual recurring revenue and more than $5M in annual profit (self-reported, as of October 2026).^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}^{Source [4]}

Before Kit he worked as a web and software designer. In January 2011 he released OneVoice, an iPad communication app for people who cannot speak, and in October 2011 he left his job at a software company after the app had earned $19,000 in profit. In December 2011 he released Commit, a $0.99 habit tracking iPhone app.^{Source [5]}^{Source [6]}^{Source [7]}

He then self-published design books and courses: The App Design Handbook (September 2012), Designing Web Applications (December 2012) and Authority (2013), along with a Photoshop for Web Design course. He published his income openly, reporting about $145,000 for 2012 across consulting, apps and books.^{Source [8]}^{Source [6]}

In October 2014 he stopped the book and training business to work full time on ConvertKit, which then had $1,000 a month in revenue. ConvertKit was one of the companies listed in Baremetrics' Open Startups program of public revenue dashboards, and Barry has shared figures such as $29 million ARR for 2021 and a 2021 secondary sale at a $200 million valuation.^{Source [2]}^{Source [9]}^{Source [10]}^{Source [11]}

Under his leadership the company acquired FanBridge in 2021 and SparkLoop in 2023, rebranded to Kit in 2024 and opened Kit Studios creator spaces in Boise, Chicago and New York City. Kit's team page lists 115 team members across 86 cities.^{Source [10]}^{Source [12]}^{Source [13]}^{Source [14]}^{Source [4]}

Career

OneVoice

2011

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

2013 to now

Company	Years	Role	Status
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) Started ConvertKit as a side project in 2013, went full time on it in October 2014 at $1,000 a month in revenue, and leads it as Founder and CEO of Kit.^{Source [2]}^{Source [4]} Kept the company bootstrapped; his site reports $45M+ ARR, $5M+ annual profit and $10M+ in profit shared with the team (self-reported, as of October 2026).^{Source [2]} Declined an acquisition approach from Spotify in 2021 and instead ran a secondary sale in which 48 individual investors bought about 3.2% of the company at a $200 million valuation, letting 25 team members sell shares.^{Source [10]}^{Source [11]}^{Source [15]}^{Source [16]} Acquired FanBridge, an email platform for musicians, in 2021 and the newsletter growth platform SparkLoop in June 2023.^{Source [10]}^{Source [12]}^{Source [17]} Announced in June 2024 that ConvertKit would rebrand to Kit in public, with livestreamed design sessions; the company then had $41 million in ARR and 80 people.^{Source [13]}^{Source [18]} Shared a profit sharing model in 2020 in which 52% of company profits went into a team pool, when the company had $20M ARR and 48 people.^{Source [19]} Suggest a correction to Kit (formerly ConvertKit)	2013 to now	Founder^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}Founder and CEO^{Source [4]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [12]}	Active
OneVoice Designed and released OneVoice, an iPad app that speaks for people who cannot, in January 2011, and left his job in October 2011 to focus on it as a startup.^{Source [5]}^{Source [6]} Built the app after his sister-in-law, who worked with an autistic boy, suggested an iPad replacement for clunky medical communication devices.^{Source [5]} Sold the app at $200, marketing it directly to speech language pathologists; it reached $19,000 in profit by late 2011.^{Source [5]} OneVoice earned $17,624 in 2012 after Apple's and the speech engine licensor's cuts, per his public income report.^{Source [6]} Suggest a correction to OneVoice	2011	Founder and designer^{Source [5]}^{Source [20]}	Status unknown

Company

Years

Role

Status

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Started ConvertKit as a side project in 2013, went full time on it in October 2014 at $1,000 a month in revenue, and leads it as Founder and CEO of Kit.^{Source [2]}^{Source [4]}

Kept the company bootstrapped; his site reports $45M+ ARR, $5M+ annual profit and $10M+ in profit shared with the team (self-reported, as of October 2026).^{Source [2]}
Declined an acquisition approach from Spotify in 2021 and instead ran a secondary sale in which 48 individual investors bought about 3.2% of the company at a $200 million valuation, letting 25 team members sell shares.^{Source [10]}^{Source [11]}^{Source [15]}^{Source [16]}
Acquired FanBridge, an email platform for musicians, in 2021 and the newsletter growth platform SparkLoop in June 2023.^{Source [10]}^{Source [12]}^{Source [17]}
Announced in June 2024 that ConvertKit would rebrand to Kit in public, with livestreamed design sessions; the company then had $41 million in ARR and 80 people.^{Source [13]}^{Source [18]}
Shared a profit sharing model in 2020 in which 52% of company profits went into a team pool, when the company had $20M ARR and 48 people.^{Source [19]}

Suggest a correction to Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

2013 to now

Founder^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}Founder and CEO^{Source [4]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [12]}

Active

OneVoice

Designed and released OneVoice, an iPad app that speaks for people who cannot, in January 2011, and left his job in October 2011 to focus on it as a startup.^{Source [5]}^{Source [6]}

Built the app after his sister-in-law, who worked with an autistic boy, suggested an iPad replacement for clunky medical communication devices.^{Source [5]}
Sold the app at $200, marketing it directly to speech language pathologists; it reached $19,000 in profit by late 2011.^{Source [5]}
OneVoice earned $17,624 in 2012 after Apple's and the speech engine licensor's cuts, per his public income report.^{Source [6]}

Suggest a correction to OneVoice

2011

Founder and designer^{Source [5]}^{Source [20]}

Status unknown

Milestones

2026-06Kit opened its third Kit Studios location, in New York City, describing itself as a $300M bootstrapped business.^{Source [14]}
2024-06Announced that ConvertKit would rebrand to Kit, at $41 million ARR.^{Source [13]}^{Source [18]}
2023-06ConvertKit acquired SparkLoop and launched the Creator Network.^{Source [12]}^{Source [21]}
2021Turned down Spotify's acquisition interest and ran a secondary sale valuing ConvertKit at $200 million.^{Source [10]}^{Source [11]}
2021ConvertKit acquired FanBridge, an email marketing platform for musicians.^{Source [10]}^{Source [17]}
2020-02Reported $20M ARR with 48 people and more than $1.8M in total profit sharing paid out.^{Source [19]}
2018-11Disclosed that he joined a group of ten investors who bought the Cerro Gordo ghost town for $1.4 million.^{Source [22]}
2014-10Left the book and training business to work full time on ConvertKit at $1,000 a month in revenue.^{Source [2]}^{Source [8]}
2013Started ConvertKit as a side project and published Authority.^{Source [2]}^{Source [8]}
2012-12Published Designing Web Applications and announced The Web App Challenge to build a $5,000 a month software product in public.^{Source [6]}^{Source [23]}
2012-09Published The App Design Handbook, which made $12,000 on launch day.^{Source [8]}^{Source [6]}
2011-12Released the Commit habit tracking iPhone app.^{Source [7]}
2011-10Left his job at a software company to work for himself.^{Source [6]}^{Source [5]}
2011-01Released OneVoice, an iPad communication app.^{Source [5]}

Boards, investments and other roles

Organization	Role	Years
Self-published books and coursesMedia	Author and publisher^{Source [8]}^{Source [6]}^{Source [2]}	2012 to 2014
Commit (iPhone app)Other	Creator^{Source [7]}^{Source [8]}	2011
Cerro Gordo ghost town, CaliforniaInvestor	Co-investor (one of ten owners)^{Source [22]}	2018
Angel investmentsInvestor	Angel investor^{Source [2]}

Books

The App Design Handbook 2012^{Source [8]}^{Source [6]}
Designing Web Applications 2012^{Source [8]}^{Source [6]}
Authority 2013^{Source [8]}^{Source [24]}

Links

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Sources

Nathan Barry (@nathanbarry) profile, read via api.fxtwitter.com, X. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
About Nathan Barry, Nathan Barry (personal site). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Nathan Barry, Nathan Barry (personal site). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Meet the People Behind Kit, Kit. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code, Nathan Barry (personal site), 2011-11-15. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
One Year After Quitting My Job, Nathan Barry (personal site), 2012-12-29. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
How my behavior changing iPhone app made $1,673 in the first 3 weeks, Nathan Barry (personal site), 2012-01-11. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Books and Products, Nathan Barry (personal site). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Open Startups, Baremetrics. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
2021 Review, Nathan Barry (personal site). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Post on the ConvertKit secondary round, X (@nathanbarry), 2023-10-11. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Kit Acquires SparkLoop to Double Down on Goal to Pay out $1 Billion to Creators, Kit Newsroom, 2023-06-09. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
ConvertKit Launches Industry-First: Publicly Rebranding from ConvertKit to Kit, Kit Newsroom, 2024-06-06. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Kit is Building Physical Spaces for Creators, Opening its Third Kit Studios in New York City, Kit Newsroom, 2026-06-11. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Post on the AngelList roll-up vehicle secondary, X (@nathanbarry), 2022-05-22. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Post on declining Spotify's 2021 approach, X (@nathanbarry), 2022-09-10. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
ConvertKit revenue, valuation & funding, Sacra. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Post announcing ConvertKit is becoming Kit, X (@nathanbarry), 2024-06-06. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
ConvertKit: Shared Our Profit Sharing Model, Indie Hackers, 2020-02-24. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Topic: OneVoice, Nathan Barry (personal site). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Kit Launches The Creator Network to Help Fuel Newsletter Growth with Free Recommendations, Kit Newsroom, 2023-06-09. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
We bought a ghost town, Nathan Barry (personal site), 2018-11-26. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Starting The Web App Challenge: From Zero to $5,000/month In 6 Months, Nathan Barry (personal site), 2012-12-31. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Authority, Nathan Barry (personal site). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

History

Oct 2, 2026: Profile created from public sources (Founded editors)

Compiled by Founded editors from the cited public sources. Editorial policy / Request removal