Company:Squarespace

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Short description: American SaaS-based web hosting platform
Squarespace, Inc.
Squarespace Logo.svg
Squarespace Headquarters (48072707963).jpg
Headquarters in Manhattan
Type of businessPublic company
Type of site
SaaS-based hosting platform
Traded asNYSE: SQSP
Headquarters225 Varick Street
New York City ,
United States
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Anthony Casalena
CEOAnthony Casalena
IndustryInternet
ProductsWebsite builder and hosting service
RevenueIncrease US$867 million (2022)[1]
Employees1,800 (2022)[1]
Websitesquarespace.com
RegistrationRequired; subscription needed for certain features.
LaunchedJanuary 2004; 20 years ago (2004-01)

Squarespace, Inc. is an American website building and hosting company based in New York City .[2] It provides software as a service for website building and hosting, and allows users to use pre-built website templates and drag-and-drop elements to create and modify webpages.

In 2003, Anthony Casalena founded Squarespace as a blog hosting service while attending the University of Maryland, College Park. He was its only employee until 2006 when it reached $1 million in revenue. The company grew from 30 employees in 2010 to 550 by 2015. By 2014, it raised a total of $78.5 million in venture capital; added e-commerce tools, domain name services, and analytics; and replaced its coding backend with drag-and-drop features. It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 19, 2021.[3] According to W3Techs, Squarespace is used by 1.9% of the top 10 million websites.[4]

Company history

Casalena began developing Squarespace for his personal use while attending the University of Maryland.[5][6] He started sharing it with friends and family members[5] and participated in a "business incubator" program at the university.[6] In January 2004, he launched Squarespace as do it yourself/drag and drop website builder for the public,[6][7] with a $30,000 seed fund from his father,[8] a small grant from the university,[9] and 300 beta testers who paid a discounted rate.[6][10][11][12] At that time, Casalena was the company's sole developer and employee, and worked out of his dorm room.[6][11]

By the time Casalena graduated in 2007, Squarespace was making annual revenues of $1 million.[7] He moved to New York City, began hiring, and had 30 employees by 2010.[7][12] That year, Squarespace received $38.5 million in its first round of venture capital funding led by Index Ventures and Accel Partners,[13] enabling it to hire more staff, continue to develop its software,[14] and double its marketing budget.[5] From 2009 to 2012, it grew an average of 266% in yearly revenue.[15] In April 2014, it received another $40 million in funding.[16][17] By 2015, it had reached $100 million in revenue and 550 employees.[7]

Squarespace purchased Super Bowl advertising spots in 2014,[18][5] 2015,[19] 2016,[20] 2017[21] and 2018.[22] Its 2017 ad won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.[21] In 2017, it signed a sponsorship deal with the New York Knicks to add the Squarespace logo to their uniforms.[23]

After the Unite the Right rally in 2017, Squarespace received a petition with 58,000 signatures and removed a group of websites for violating its terms of service against "bigotry or hatred" towards demographic groups.[24][25] In 2017, it raised an additional $200 million in funding, boosting its value to $1.7 billion.[26] This funding was earmarked for reacquiring interests from investors.[26]

In 2018, Squarespace partnered with the Madison Square Garden Company to launch the "Make It Awards", which awarded $30,000 to entrepreneurs (4 winners, totaling $120,000).[27]

Squarespace acquired appointment scheduling company Acuity Scheduling in April 2019.[28] In October 2019, Squarespace acquired Unfold, an app founded by Alfonso Cobo that allows users to editorialize their social media content.[29] In April 2021, the company bought hospitality industry management platform Tock for more than $400 million.[30]

In early 2021, the company filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public through direct listing on the NYSE under the symbol SQSP.[31][32][33] In March 2021, Squarespace raised $300 million in a round of funding led by Dragoneer, Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners and Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from existing investors. This funding round valued the company at $10 billion.[34]

Corporate affairs

Leadership

Squarespace is managed by CEO and Founder Anthony Casalena. Other key executives are:[35]

  • Courtenay O'Connor, General Counsel
  • David Lee, Chief Creative Officer
  • John Colton, Senior Vice President, Engineering
  • Kinjil Mathur, Chief Marketing Officer
  • Nathan Gooden, Chief Financial Officer
  • Mary Good, Chief People Officer
  • Paul Gubbay, Chief Product Officer
  • Raphael Fontes, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations
  • Roberta Meo, Vice President, Channels and Services
  • Dan Chandre, Vice President, Head of Acuity Scheduling & Squarespace Payments
  • Matthew Tucker, Senior Vice President, Head of Tock

Product / business model

As of November 2022, Squarespace had more than four million subscriptions.[33] Its users employ pre-built website templates, and a variety of drag and drop widgets to add elements such as text and images.[14] Its developers also create custom templates that are sold to users.[14] On-screen instructions walk users through things like search engine optimization and setting up e-commerce.[7] Its services are in direct competition with WordPress.com,[36] Wix.com,[37] Webflow.com,[38] Weebly, Pixpa, Strikingly[39] and other digital website building agencies.[40]

Squarespace was initially built for creating and hosting blogs.[10] E-commerce features, such as an integration with Stripe for accepting credit card payments, were added in 2013.[41] In 2014, more commerce features were added; a mobile version of the service was released; a separate facility was added for developers writing custom templates and features;[42] and a logo-creation app was introduced in partnership with icon designer Noun Project.[43]

In 2011, Squarespace was upgraded to version 6, with new templates, a grid-based user interface, and other enhancements.[14] Version 7, which went live in 2014, replaced its coding backend with a drag and drop interface,[44][45] and added integration with Google Workspace (formerly G Suite and Google Apps for Work) and Getty Images.[17] In 2016, Squarespace started selling domains, putting it in more direct competition with GoDaddy;[46] and added an analytics dashboard[47] and PayPal integration.[48]

On June 15, 2023, Squarespace concluded an agreement to purchase the Google Domains business, including approximately 10 million registered domain names.[49][50]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Squarespace 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 9, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1496963/000149696323000010/sqsp-20221231.htm. 
  2. ↑ "Squarespace Offices / A+I" (in en-US). July 31, 2018. https://www.archdaily.com/897337/squarespace-offices-a-plus-i. 
  3. ↑ Giles, Margaret (May 19, 2021). "What to Know as Squarespace Goes Public" (in en-US). https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1037495/what-to-know-as-squarespace-goes-public. 
  4. ↑ "Usage statistics and market share of Squarespace" (in en-US). https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-squarespace. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Cole, Samantha (May 21, 2014). "How Squarespace's CEO Pivoted to Scale for Millions" (in en-US). https://www.fastcompany.com/3030867/how-squarespaces-ceo-pivoted-to-scale-for-millions. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "About Us - Squarespace". https://www.squarespace.com/about/company. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Clifford, Catherine (April 22, 2016). "How Squarespace Went From a Dorm-Room Project to a $10 Million Web Publishing Platform". https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/274486. 
  8. ↑ "UMD Alumnus Company Squarespace to Run Inaugural Big Game Ad" (in en). February 1, 2014. https://umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/umd-alumnus-company-squarespace-run-inaugural-big-game-ad. 
  9. ↑ Patterson, Dan (June 30, 2016). "How Squarespace became a multimillion dollar publishing giant" (in en). https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-squarespace-grew-from-a-startup-to-multimillion-dollar-publishing-giant/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "How Squarespace became a multimillion dollar publishing giant". June 30, 2016. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-squarespace-grew-from-a-startup-to-multimillion-dollar-publishing-giant/. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Caumont, Andrea (September 13, 2004). "Squarespace Lets Users Manage Multi-Page Web Sites". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17038-2004Sep12.html. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Rusli, Evelyn (July 13, 2010). "Squarespace Raises $38.5 Million From Accel, Index Ventures". https://techcrunch.com/2010/07/13/squarespace-raises-38-5-million-from-accel-index-ventures/. 
  13. ↑ "Squarespace Raises $38.5 Million From Accel, Index Ventures" (in en-US). https://social.techcrunch.com/2010/07/13/squarespace-raises-38-5-million-from-accel-index-ventures/. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Squarespace 6: Rebuilt From The Ground Up To Take On WordPress, Tumblr And Everyone Else". October 21, 2011. https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/21/squarespace-6-rebuilt-from-the-ground-up-to-take-on-wordpress-tumblr-and-everyone-else/. 
  15. ↑ "Fast 50". Crain’s New York Business. October 7, 2013. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/gallery/20131006/FEATURES/926009999. 
  16. ↑ Zipkin, Nina (February 15, 2018). "The Founder of Squarespace Explains Why You Don't Want to Raise As Much Money as Possible" (in en). https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309089. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Warren, Christina (October 7, 2014). "Squarespace Ramps up its Tools to Compete with Wordpress". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2014/10/07/squarespace-google-integration/#kj_b0f0bePqH. 
  18. ↑ "UMD Alumnus Company Squarespace to Run Inaugural Big Game Ad" (in en). http://research.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=7945. 
  19. ↑ Stampler, Laura (January 28, 2015). "This Super Bowl Ad Purposely Wants to Put You to Sleep". Time. http://time.com/3685987/super-bowl-ad-jeff-bridges-squarespace/. Retrieved January 26, 2018. 
  20. ↑ "Key and Peele turn Squarespace's Super Bowl ad into an event". January 1, 2016. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/02/01/key-and-peele-turn-squarespaces-super-bowl-ad-into-event/79645140/. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Squarespace's Super Bowl Ad With John Malkovich Wins the Emmy for Best Commercial". http://www.adweek.com/creativity/squarespaces-super-bowl-ad-with-john-malkovich-wins-the-emmy-for-best-commercial/. 
  22. ↑ Poggi, Jeanine (January 31, 2018). "Squarespace's Super Bowl Ad Is Just Keanu Standing on a Motorcycle". http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/squarespace-s-super-bowl-ad-keanu-standing-a-motorcycle/312160/. 
  23. ↑ Soshnick, Scott (October 10, 2017). "Knicks Team Up With Squarespace for Patch Sponsorship Deal". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-10/nba-s-knicks-set-uniform-patch-sponsorship-with-squarespace. 
  24. ↑ "Website host Squarespace to remove a 'group of sites' after violence at Charlottesville white nationalist rally". Washington Post. August 17, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2017/08/17/website-host-squarespace-to-remove-a-group-of-sites-after-violence-at-charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally/. 
  25. ↑ "Squarespace won't host your racist websites, either". July 23, 2014. https://www.cnet.com/news/squarespace-wont-host-your-racist-websites-either/. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Vynck, Gerrit De (December 14, 2017). "Squarespace Raises Funding at $1.7 Billion Valuation". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-14/squarespace-is-said-to-raise-funding-at-1-7-billion-valuation. 
  27. ↑ "The New York Knicks and Squarespace Announce Second Annual "Make It Awards" – The Madison Square Garden Company". https://www.themadisonsquaregardencompany.com/news/2018/the-new-york-knicks-and-squarespace-announce-second-annual-make-it-awards/. 
  28. ↑ Ha, Anthony (April 23, 2019). "Squarespace makes its first acquisition with Acuity Scheduling". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/23/squarespace-acquires-acuity-scheduling/. 
  29. ↑ Ha, Anthony (October 22, 2019). "Squarespace acquires social media authoring startup Unfold". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/22/squarespace-acquires-unfold/. 
  30. ↑ Roof, Katie (April 1, 2021). "Squarespace Buys Tech Startup Tock for $400 Million Plus". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/squarespace-buys-tech-startup-tock-for-400-million-plus/2021/03/31/980a896c-9265-11eb-aadc-af78701a30ca_story.html. 
  31. ↑ "Squarespace confidentially files for stock market listing" (in en). Reuters. January 27, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-squarespace-ipo-idUSKBN29W2PE. 
  32. ↑ "Website-building company Squarespace confidentially files to go public". https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/website-building-company-squarespace-confidentially-files-to-go-public/articleshow/80506436.cms. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Novet, Jordan (April 16, 2021). "Website maker Squarespace files to go public on NYSE through direct listing" (in en). CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/16/website-maker-squarespace-files-to-go-public-on-nyse.html. 
  34. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (March 16, 2021). "Squarespace raises $300M at a staggering $10B valuation". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/16/squarespace-raises-300m-at-staggering-10b-valuation/. 
  35. ↑ "Our Team". https://www.squarespace.com/about/team. 
  36. ↑ "Squarespace vs. WordPress.com: Which Is Best for Easy Website Creation?" (in en). https://www.pcmag.com/comparisons/squarespace-vs-wordpresscom-which-is-best-for-easy-website-creation. 
  37. ↑ Brussel, Joe Van. "Best website builder for 2021: Squarespace, Wix and more compared" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/best-website-builder/. 
  38. ↑ "Webflow vs. Squarespace: Head to Head Comparison in 2022 | Flowout | Flowout" (in en). https://www.flowout.com/blogs/webflow-vs-squarespace. 
  39. ↑ "14 Squarespace Alternatives & Why You Need One" (in en). https://blog.hubspot.com/website/squarespace-alternatives. 
  40. ↑ "The Difference Between Squarespace and a Web Design Agency" (in english). September 9, 2016. https://www.whitehatagency.com.au/the-differences-between-squarespace-and-a-web-design-agency/. 
  41. ↑ Summers, Nick (February 14, 2013). "Squarespace Adds Commerce Tools To Its Website Builder". https://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/14/squarespace-adds-commerce-tools-to-its-website-builder-allowing-users-to-manage-and-sell-goods-online/. 
  42. ↑ Novet, Jordan (April 16, 2014). "Don't forget about website runner Squarespace. It just raised $40M". https://venturebeat.com/2014/04/16/squarespace-funding/. 
  43. ↑ Brownlee, John (January 22, 2014). "Squarespace Makes Designing A Logo Dead Simple". https://www.fastcodesign.com/3025275/squarespace-makes-designing-a-logo-dead-simple. 
  44. ↑ Nudd, Tim (October 20, 2014). "Squarespace's Radical Update Is Like a Blank Canvas. So Its New Ads Are, Too". Adweek. http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/squarespaces-radical-update-blank-canvas-so-its-new-ads-are-too-160811/. 
  45. ↑ Rhodes, Margaret (October 7, 2014). "The New Squarespace is a UX Dream that Eliminates the Backend Entirely". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2014/10/new-squarespace-ux-dream-eliminates-backend-entirely/. 
  46. ↑ Ungerleider, Neal (April 15, 2016). "Now Competing To Be The Master Of Your Domain: Squarespace". https://www.fastcompany.com/3054459/now-competing-to-be-the-master-of-your-domain-squarespace. 
  47. ↑ Ha, Anthony (June 14, 2016). "Squarespace introduces new analytics for its commerce-focused customers". https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/squarespace-analytics-for-commerce/. 
  48. ↑ "Squarespace businesses can now accept PayPal". November 1, 2016. https://thenextweb.com/apps/2016/12/01/squarespace-businesses-can-now-accept-paypal/. 
  49. ↑ Li, Abner (2023-06-15). "Google Domains shutting down, assets sold and being migrated to Squarespace" (in en-US). https://9to5google.com/2023/06/15/google-domains-squarespace/. 
  50. ↑ "Squarespace Enters Definitive Agreement to Acquire Google Domains Assets" (Press release). PR Newswire. 2023-06-15. Archived from the original on 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2023-06-15.

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