Thank You Slack: Seven Years From Employee #9 to a Global Company

James Sherrett reflects on leaving Slack on June 5, 2020, exactly seven years after joining as the ninth employee, during which Slack grew from $0 revenue and eight employees to over 2,200 employees in 16 offices and nearly $1B in revenue as a NYSE-listed company. He recounts early marketing and positioning work (“Be less busy”), the 2013 invite launch that drew 8,000 signups in 24 hours, early customer development and support, and the shift into account management and the 2014 paid launch with credits, invoicing, and the “Fair Billing Policy.” He describes building teams, opening Slack’s EMEA office in Dublin in 2015, and later leading Executive Briefing Centres and Innovation Tours. He leaves to prioritize the rest of his life, pursuing advisory work, writing, personal projects, and volunteering.

00:00 A farewell to Slack

02:06 Why I had to leave

04:22 Thank You, Slack letter

05:36 Joining as marketer

06:49 Positioning Be less busy

07:55 Launch day signups

09:00 Customer feedback loop

14:00 Saying No Nicely

17:35 Account Management begins

17:55 Paid launch and billing

20:35 Offsite, swag and scale

22:44 Enterprise sales emerges

25:00 Building the Dublin office

28:54 Culture and hiring in EMEA

32:39 Scaling EMEA sales

34:35 Executive Briefing Centers

35:52 Innovation Tours program

38:35 Gratitude and next chapter

41:35 Final reflections and farewell

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