Build for your users first. The praise and excitement of people who use Gated is what mattered most to our team. From marketing managers being sold to heavily, to overwhelmed CEOs, to nonprofit supporters, to anyone striving to #focusonwhatmatters... It was clear people needed and loved what we built. [It had a 72 Net Promoter Score!] Our LinkedIn accountis a reminder of all of the lives (and inboxes) we touched.

Make a splash. Gated hit the headlines in news outlets from TechCrunch to Protocol to The Hustle. We also earned Product #1 of the Day on Product Hunt and were featured on in-the-know shows like This Week in Tech.

Good communication goes both ways. You'd think asking email senders to pay might ruffle some feathers... but as it turns out: senders were some of our biggest fans! ---- We even had top-tier sales advisors like Josh Roth, Rex Biberston, and Sam McKenna evangelizing the benefits of Gated.

Feel the love. It was our honor to chase our lofty mission - and do a bit of good in the world along the way. $500k+ in value to charitable organizations. The top 5 nonprofits in terms of donated dollars were: Doctors Without Borders, charity : water, SPCA, Alzheimer's Association, and World Central Kitchen.

Tell your story. We love being transparent, authentic, and building in public. So it's likely you heard the Gated team on a podcast - and here are a few of our favorites! Andy's Top 3: SaaS Marketing Superstars, PLG Confessions, and Tenbound Research Labs. Melissa's Top 3: Inbound Success, Growth Marketing Camp, We Are For Good.

Challenge the norm. To be honest, Gated doesn't even really exist in one clear category. A bit productivity, a bit mindfulness, a bit email software, a bit personal improvement. We like to think we're a leader in the Attention Protection category. But, in any case, we earned highest marks and 5-star reviews from G2 for every quarter we were around as a company.