How Clay Struggled for 5 years, then Scaled from 0 to $30M ARR in 2 Years

You can also listen to it as a podcast.

What does it take to build a product-led growth (PLG) engine that takes your company from $0 to $30M in annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in just two years? For Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of Clay, the journey has been anything but linear. Clay, a platform that automates data collection and enrichment for go-to-market teams, might seem like an overnight success, but the reality is far more nuanced.

In a recent interview, Kareem shared the frameworks, tough decisions, and lessons learned that helped Clay achieve hypergrowth after five years of iteration and perseverance. From narrowing their focus to experimenting with community-driven strategies, Kareem’s insights are essential reading for any founder navigating the challenges of building a product-led company.

Here’s how Clay found its momentum and scaled at lightning speed.

Start with Clarity: Define Your Problem and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

One of the most critical lessons Kareem shared was the value of clarity—both in your product and your target audience. The product was open-ended when Clay started, targeting software developers and non-technical users. This lack of focus created friction in their messaging and product development. As Kareem explained,

“We had to decide: are we building this for developers or non-engineers? And what’s the biggest opportunity here?”

After years of iteration, the team narrowed its focus to go-to-market teams—salespeople, marketers, and customer success professionals who needed better tools for data enrichment and prospecting. They could simplify their messaging and create a repeatable go-to-market motion by aligning their product with a specific audience.

What founders can learn:

1. Define your ICP early: Focus on a specific customer segment to reduce complexity and improve product-market fit.

2. Narrow your use case: Kareem’s team cut down extraneous features and prioritized a single, unambiguous value proposition: helping go-to-market teams automate data enrichment.

3. Iterate with purpose: Don’t be afraid to pivot or eliminate features that don’t serve your core audience.

Embrace Friction Early On: The Power of Iteration

Clay didn’t start as the success story it is today. In fact, Kareem admitted that the product struggled to gain traction for the first five years.

“We were building since 2017, but by early 2022, our revenue was still close to zero,” he shared.

What kept the team going was their belief in the vision: empowering non-technical users to leverage programming-like tools for growth.

The key was embracing the early friction and learning from it.

Kareem and his team spent countless hours refining the product, gathering user feedback, and iterating on features. One of their most significant breakthroughs came when they shifted their mindset to focus on momentum over perfection.

“Changing your mind in the middle without the data changing is the biggest risk for an early-stage startup,” Kareem explained.

Key takeaways for founders:

1. Iterate fast: Early friction is an opportunity to learn. Launch features quickly, gather feedback, and improve iteratively.

2. Focus on momentum: Instead of perfecting the product, look for ways to build on small wins and drive consistent growth.

3. Talk to your users: Kareem’s team prioritized direct customer conversations to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

Leverage Community to Drive Product-Led Growth

One of the most striking aspects of Clay’s success is its community-driven growth strategy.

Early on, Clay tapped into a network of B2B agencies experimenting with cutting-edge growth tactics. These agencies became early adopters of Clay, using the platform to build prospecting lists and improve their workflows.

Kareem’s team tapped into this momentum by creating a public Slack community where users could share their use cases, ask questions, and provide feedback. While this approach was risky—it exposed product shortcomings in a public forum—it ultimately paid off. The transparency fostered trust, and the community became a valuable feedback loop that accelerated product improvements.

“We set up our Slack group as a customer support forum, but it evolved into a hub where users shared best practices and taught each other,” Kareem explained.

This organic word-of-mouth growth was amplified by LinkedIn posts from power users who showcased how they used Clay to achieve results.

How you can build community-driven growth:

1. Engage early adopters: Identify a niche group of power users who will champion your product and provide valuable feedback.

2. Foster transparency: Create spaces (like Slack or Discord) where users can share their experiences and collaborate openly.

3. Leverage user-led evangelism: Encourage your community to share their success stories on platforms like LinkedIn to drive awareness.

Iterate on Go-to-Market Motions for Long-Term Growth

Clay’s go-to-market (GTM) strategy evolved, starting with a product-led growth (PLG) motion and layering in additional approaches as the company scaled. Initially, Clay focused on making the product self-serve, allowing users to sign up, explore, and pay without speaking to a salesperson.

As the product gained traction, Kareem’s team introduced a sales-assisted motion, targeting high-value users who needed more support to unlock the product’s full potential. They’ve recently added a sales-led motion, working directly with larger accounts to drive adoption.

Kareem emphasized the importance of aligning your GTM strategy with your product.

“We narrowed our go-to-market positioning while keeping the product open-ended. That helped us scale without losing flexibility.”

How founders can optimize their GTM strategy:

1. Start with PLG: Build a self-serve product experience that allows users to onboard and see value quickly.

2. Add layers over time: As you scale, introduce sales-assisted and sales-led motions to capture larger accounts and expand your reach.

3. Focus on feedback loops: Use direct customer interactions to refine your onboarding and sales processes.

Hire for Flexibility and Curiosity

Building a team for hypergrowth requires more than technical skills. Kareem shared that Clay prioritizes hiring people with a “quiet ego”—individuals who are confident in their abilities and open to feedback.

“High-bandwidth communication requires low ego,” he explained.“If we have to watch every word we say, it slows down collaboration.”

In the early days, the team looked for “T-shaped” individuals with deep expertise in one area and the ability to contribute across multiple disciplines. This flexibility allowed Clay to move quickly and adapt to changing needs.

What founders should look for when hiring:

1. Prioritize curiosity: Hire people who bring new ideas and perspectives to the team.

2. Emphasize collaboration: Look for candidates open to feedback and thrive in high-communication environments.

3. Balance skill sets: Build a team with complementary strengths, ensuring that you have both speed and precision where it matters.

Final Thoughts: Build for the Long Game

For Kareem Amin, the journey to $30M ARR wasn’t about overnight success but persistence, clarity, and a deep commitment to solving real problems. By narrowing their focus, leveraging community, and iterating relentlessly, the team at Clay was able to unlock hypergrowth and build a product that truly resonates with users.

Whether you’re in the early stages of building your startup or scaling to the next level, Kareem’s story offers valuable lessons on patience, experimentation, and staying true to your vision.

You can also listen to it as a podcast.

Let me know your thoughts or takeaways,
Fabian