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Inside Bolt: From near-death to ~$40m ARR in 5 months—one of the fastest-growing products in history | Eric Simons (founder and CEO of StackBlitz)

13 Mar 2025 23 published claims 2 attributable people
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Speakers in the public record

Eric SimonsLenny Rachitsky

Claim mix

belief 11evaluation 3prediction 3recommendation 2observation 1uncertainty 1commitment 1preference 1

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Claim ledger

The useful parts, with receipts.

23 published records

01 / observation

They're PMs, they're designers, they're entrepreneurs. Because these are people that have always been great at building products, but previously, the only way that they could get their ideas into coded software was through a developer's fingertips.

“They're PMs, they're designers, they're entrepreneurs. Because these are people that have always been great at building products, but previously, the only way that they could get their ideas into coded software was through a developer's fingertips.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

02 / belief

I think that's the hard thing about being an entrepreneur. There are periods of time where you have to make judgment calls that are not going to be the consensus view.

“I think that's the hard thing about being an entrepreneur. There are periods of time where you have to make judgment calls that are not going to be the consensus view.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

04 / belief

I mean, now you have a real, personalized service. I think there's kind of a moment around that where it's like, "Oh, okay, wow.

“I mean, now you have a real, personalized service. I think there's kind of a moment around that where it's like, "Oh, okay, wow.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

06 / belief

Yeah. That's what's wild is, I think Sonnet was really the first model that flipped the equation, because that was really us, and old Cursor, and all these other things.

“Yeah. That's what's wild is, I think Sonnet was really the first model that flipped the equation, because that was really us, and old Cursor, and all these other things.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

07 / belief

We were like, "Wow, this is one of the biggest things, launch day reception we've ever seen." And I think on the first day, I think we added 60K of ARR, or something.

“We were like, "Wow, this is one of the biggest things, launch day reception we've ever seen." And I think on the first day, I think we added 60K of ARR, or something.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

09 / belief

I think PMs, designers and entrepreneurs that are non-technical, that's the most exciting thing to me, just because it's a brand new market that's being unlocked here.

“I think PMs, designers and entrepreneurs that are non-technical, that's the most exciting thing to me, just because it's a brand new market that's being unlocked here.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

10 / belief

I would say that's probably the main one, because I think if you have a large existing code base, you're going to need something like Cursor.

“I would say that's probably the main one, because I think if you have a large existing code base, you're going to need something like Cursor.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

14 / evaluation

Because that's kind of what we've seen with Bolt where, if you want to build a product that's going to be able to scale to that size, you have to look at all factors and go, "We have to build, make sure the technology provides the best experience, zero latency, transient cost.

“Because that's kind of what we've seen with Bolt where, if you want to build a product that's going to be able to scale to that size, you have to look at all factors and go, "We have to build, make sure the technology provides the best experience, zero latency, transient cost.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

15 / recommendation

The other interesting takeaway here is, it feels like it's a similar moment to when AJAX came out and then everyone's just like, "Wow, you can build new things here." So it feels like there's a lesson here of just, "If there's a new technology that has enabled, something big that we think may, let's just work there for a while, and see if something comes up.

“The other interesting takeaway here is, it feels like it's a similar moment to when AJAX came out and then everyone's just like, "Wow, you can build new things here." So it feels like there's a lesson here of just, "If there's a new technology that has enabled, something big that we think may, let's just work there for a while, and see if something comes up.”
Speaker
Lenny Rachitsky
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

16 / evaluation

It's not like something you'd necessarily see in the UI, but it's how fast it is, and how reliable it is. And this is because of how we are actually doing the compute, because what's going on here is when you type into, whether it's Bolt or another product, it has to spin up a dev environment to actually make that application.

“It's not like something you'd necessarily see in the UI, but it's how fast it is, and how reliable it is. And this is because of how we are actually doing the compute, because what's going on here is when you type into, whether it's Bolt or another product, it has to spin up a dev environment to actually make that application.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

17 / prediction

Because yeah, we're here to just build great products, and just push the limits of what's possible with the technology. And I think that we do our jobs well, kind of crazy things can happen, but I mean, the current track rate we have, we're going to be exceeding the forecast for Q1 with the current rate we're on, and our forecast for the year is we want to get to 100 million of ARR.

“Because yeah, we're here to just build great products, and just push the limits of what's possible with the technology. And I think that we do our jobs well, kind of crazy things can happen, but I mean, the current track rate we have, we're going to be exceeding the forecast for Q1 with the current rate we're on, and our forecast for the year is we want to get to 100 million of ARR.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

18 / evaluation

You're the StackBlitz guy, and you're the AOL guy?" So when I first came out to Silicon Valley, we got into a, I was building a K12 education startup at the time, and this is back during the days where Y Combinator, they only gave you like 20 grand, and so there was this offshoot of Y Combinator called Imagine K12, it was Jeff Ralston who, I think he was CEO of YC a couple of years back.

“You're the StackBlitz guy, and you're the AOL guy?" So when I first came out to Silicon Valley, we got into a, I was building a K12 education startup at the time, and this is back during the days where Y Combinator, they only gave you like 20 grand, and so there was this offshoot of Y Combinator called Imagine K12, it was Jeff Ralston who, I think he was CEO of YC a couple of years back.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

19 / recommendation

But I think from, at least what I feel like seems like the next at least five years of what we're looking at, I think people are still going to, there's still going to be places to specialize, and really go deep. But I think you want to go into it with the idea, not like, "I'm going to go and learn computer science because I'm going to get a job for sure out of it.

“But I think from, at least what I feel like seems like the next at least five years of what we're looking at, I think people are still going to, there's still going to be places to specialize, and really go deep. But I think you want to go into it with the idea, not like, "I'm going to go and learn computer science because I'm going to get a job for sure out of it.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

20 / commitment

I think we'll be investing a lot more, and especially as you start splintering people out of being on the same call every day, so that's where this stuff really starts to matter.

“I think we'll be investing a lot more, and especially as you start splintering people out of being on the same call every day, so that's where this stuff really starts to matter.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

22 / prediction

" And what ended up happening is, in the first two months, we went from zero to 20 million of ARR. And I think we're on month four, or four and a half or something like that at this point, and we've already crossed 30 million of ARR, and we're on the verge of crossing 40.

“" And what ended up happening is, in the first two months, we went from zero to 20 million of ARR. And I think we're on month four, or four and a half or something like that at this point, and we've already crossed 30 million of ARR, and we're on the verge of crossing 40.”
Speaker
Eric Simons
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast
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