Zapier, a 7-year-old startup whose software connects different types of applications to automate personal computing tasks, has taken a different path to profitability than most Silicon Valley companies. It doesn’t have a sales team or a main office, and its CEO, Wade Foster, made headlines two years ago by offering new hires $10,000 to relocate outside the Bay Area.
Despite raising only $1.3 million in venture funding, Zapier (rhymes with “happier”) has been profitable since 2014 and has forged relationships with software giants including Salesforce and Google, as well as more than 1,500 other application companies. Zapier announced last fall that it was generating subscription revenue at a $50 million annualized rate.