2007
Coding in Copenhagen
No. 002
DESCRIPTION◆
The trio spent the next year building, perfecting, and consulting on the side—they had to feed their families somehow. By September, Zendesk 1.0 was ready for launch at TechCrunch. They were denied, but didn’t let it stop them.
ZENDESK VALUE: Purpose
2007
Zendesk goes live
No. 003
DESCRIPTION◆
Not to be deterred by lack of funding—or a real office—our founders put the software online and recruited friends and family to give it a try. Almost immediately, 1,000 companies signed up for a free trial.
ZENDESK VALUE: Purpose
2008
A surprise investor has fresh ideas
No. 004
DESCRIPTION◆
Our seed round was closing when German angel investor Christoph Janz emailed. Mikkel and Christoph met—nonchalant, impulsive vs. moderate, precise. Janz was in for $500K. “We’d gone so far on a tenth of that. We’d gone so far on zero.”
ZENDESK VALUE: Purpose
2008
Zendesk gains speed on fertile soil
No. 005
DESCRIPTION◆
Before SF, before Boston: There was Mikkel’s in-laws’ farm in Jutland, Denmark. It’s the home of chickens, ducks, geese, and turkey—and that’s where Mikkel was, struggling to get online, when MSNBC, our first marquee customer, signed.
ZENDESK VALUE: Humblidence
2008
We really transcended phone support
No. 006
DESCRIPTION◆
The Buddha Machine was a music player by Beijing duo FM3, inspired by Buddhist temples. The Buddha Machine Wall was a site we made with 21 virtual Buddha Machines—any or all could play at once. The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones raved.
ZENDESK VALUE: Community