The Story of Linear as told by its CTO - by Gergely Orosz
Ex-Big Tech engineers built Linear by inverting the PM tool playbook—designing for ICs instead of managers—and reached profitability in 2 years with just 17 people by applying Big Tech discipline to startup speed.
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TLDR
• Linear's founders deliberately worked at Big Tech (Uber, Airbnb, Coinbase) to gain pedigree and knowledge before starting their company—making fundraising trivial when Sequoia approached them 2 days after launch
• They identified that all PM tools are built for managers, not ICs, and that top product companies like Uber/Airbnb had no real product methodology—so they built for the underserved market
• Hiring strategy: tap your network first, use contractor-to-FTE conversions (especially in Europe), and hire for future leadership potential before you desperately need it
• Chose GCP over AWS purely because "the user interface is much better"—prioritizing developer experience even in infrastructure decisions
• Reached 1,000+ paying customers and profitability with only 17 people by 2022, proving you can stay lean while competing with enterprise giants
In Detail
Tuomas Artman's path to founding Linear was deliberate: he spent years at Groupon and Uber specifically to learn, build pedigree, and create a financial buffer before starting another company. This strategy paid off when Sequoia contacted them just two days after announcing Linear, leading to easy seed funding because investors bet on the team (ex-Uber/Airbnb/Coinbase) rather than the idea.
Linear's core insight came from two observations: (1) all major PM tools are built for managers, leaving ICs frustrated with clunky software, and (2) even top Silicon Valley product companies like Uber and Airbnb had no real product development methodology—teams just cobbled together bits of Scrum without understanding why. This led to their mission: help companies build better software products, starting with issue tracking for ICs at smaller companies, then scaling up to compete with enterprise solutions.
Their approach to building the company was surgical. For early hires, they relied entirely on their network—no formal interviews. They pioneered contractor-to-FTE conversions, particularly effective in Europe where top engineers often prefer contracting. They hired their first engineering manager early, before desperately needing one, giving the hire space to experiment. Tech choices prioritized craft: GCP over AWS purely for better UX. By 2022, they had 30 employees (18 on product), 1,000+ paying customers, and hit profitability—proving you can apply Big Tech discipline to startup speed without bloat.