Calm

Calm began in 2012 with two guys and an idea. Michael Acton Smith and Alex Tew wanted to make meditation accessible. But they had no money. No office. Just laptops in a London flat.

"We knew nothing about meditation," Acton Smith admits. "We were just two stressed-out entrepreneurs."

Their first app was basic. Really basic. A timer and some nature sounds. That was it. They launched it anyway.

For years, Calm struggled. Meditation wasn't mainstream yet. Investors were skeptical. "Everyone thought we were crazy," says Tew. The co-founders nearly ran out of cash several times.

But they kept going. Slowly adding features. Refining the product. Building an audience.

The turning point came in 2016. Calm introduced "Sleep Stories" - bedtime tales for adults. They were a hit. Downloads spiked. Revenue jumped.

Then in 2017, Apple named Calm its App of the Year. Suddenly everyone wanted in.

"It was wild," Acton Smith recalls. "We went from begging investors to turning them away."

But rapid growth brought new challenges. The team was tiny. The tech couldn't handle the load. Everything was breaking.

Calm had to evolve fast. They hired aggressively. Rebuilt their infrastructure. Expanded into new areas like music and stretching.

It worked. By 2019, Calm had over 40 million downloads and was valued at $1 billion.

"We never imagined it would get this big," says Tew.

Today, Calm is the top meditation app globally. Over 100 million downloads. 4 million paid subscribers. $300 million in annual revenue.

But Acton Smith and Tew aren't satisfied. "We're just getting started," Acton Smith insists. "Our goal is to help billions of people live happier, healthier lives."

Calm's rise wasn't smooth or easy. It took years of persistence. Countless setbacks. Near-death experiences.

That struggle shaped Calm's ethos. "We're still scrappy," says Tew. "We never forget where we came from."

It's a reminder that overnight successes rarely happen overnight. Real breakthroughs take time. Patience. Grit.

As Acton Smith puts it: "Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to pace yourself."

Wise words from someone who turned two laptops and an idea into a billion-dollar company. One deep breath at a time.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Embrace the power of simplicity in your product. Calm started with just a timer and some nature sounds. That's it. No fancy features, no complex algorithms. Just the basics. This simplicity allowed them to launch quickly and iterate based on user feedback. As Michael Acton Smith puts it, "We knew nothing about meditation. We were just two stressed-out entrepreneurs." Sometimes, less really is more.

Lesson 2: Create linkable assets to drive organic growth. Calm's free tools, like their "feelings wheel," have attracted over 8 million backlinks. This SEO tactic drives visibility and generates organic traffic. The "feelings wheel" alone attracts over 21,000 monthly visitors. Your content can be your best marketing tool.

Lesson 3: Experiment with unexpected content formats. Calm's introduction of "Sleep Stories" - bedtime tales for adults - was a game-changer. It wasn't an obvious fit for a meditation app, but it resonated with users. Sometimes, the best ideas come from left field.

Lesson 4: Leverage founder stories for brand building. Calm's founders, Acton Smith and Tew, often share their personal journeys and struggles with stress. This authenticity resonates with users and media alike. Your personal story can be a powerful branding tool.

Lesson 5: Be willing to "unship" features. Calm isn't afraid to remove features that don't work. As Acton Smith says, "Being flexible and experimenting, I think, is a key part of achieving the long term potential of an idea." Sometimes, progress means taking things away, not just adding them.

Lesson 6: Embrace competition as market validation. When Headspace entered the market, Calm didn't panic. Instead, they saw it as validation of the meditation app category. Tew notes, "The more companies that enter and try to bring customers into the market, the more consumers will be aware of your niche, making everybody's TAM bigger." Competition can grow the pie for everyone.

Speeches & Interviews

• 'Be You' with Michael Acton Smith, CEO of wellbeing app Calm
• World's Happiest App – The Founding Story of Calm | Slush 2021
• E868 Alex Tew, Calm: hypergrowth done well, making ... - YouTube

Book Recommendations

• Calm: Calm the Mind. Change the World by Michael Acton Smith

Further Readings

• How Calm Built a $2B Media, Content Marketing, & YouTube SEO Empire
• Calm App Business and Revenue Model Explained
• Clinical Studies | Calm Business
• The Happiest App in the World's Billion-dollar Marketing Strategy
• Calm - Who We Are
• Mind Candy Founder and Calm Co-CEO Michael Acton Smith Says People Are Slaves to Their Phones
• Calm (company) - Wikipedia