A Visionary With a History of Unplanned Success
Stewart Butterfield has never followed a straight line to success. Before Slack, he co-founded Flickr—the photo-sharing platform that helped define Web 2.0. Ironically, that wasn’t the original plan. Flickr emerged in 2004 from an attempt to build a multiplayer online game called Game Neverending. When the game flopped, Butterfield and his team pivoted to focus on a photo-sharing feature they had built along the way. Yahoo later acquired Flickr in 2005, giving Butterfield his first major startup exit.
Trying Again With a New Game Idea
Years later, Butterfield wanted to try again—this time with a new game called Glitch, developed by his company Tiny Speck. Backed by high-profile investors, the game had a whimsical tone, unique art style, and a cult following. But despite creative ambition, Glitch struggled to attract a large enough user base to be financially viable. In 2012, Butterfield made the difficult decision to shut it down.
A Communication Tool Hidden Inside
But during the development of Glitch, the team had built an internal communication tool to help its remote developers stay aligned. It was lightweight, organized by topic, and searchable—designed for transparency and speed. After Glitch ended, Butterfield and his team took a hard look at that tool. They realized it solved a universal problem: workplace communication. That internal software would become the foundation for Slack.
Launching Slack Into a Crowded Market
In 2013, Slack officially launched in a world already filled with workplace tools—email, Skype, IRC, and corporate messengers. But Slack was different. It organized conversations into channels, supported integrations with other software, and offered a fun, human interface. Rather than try to replace email overnight, it offered a better way to collaborate in real time. Within months, thousands of companies adopted it. Slack’s viral growth came largely from word-of-mouth and team-based network effects.
Product-Led Growth With a User-First Focus
Butterfield prioritized design, user experience, and transparency. Slack’s freemium model made it easy to adopt without approval from IT departments. Teams could try it out for free, fall in love with the workflow, and scale up naturally. Butterfield insisted on keeping the product delightful and intuitive—values that dated back to his days building games. That mindset helped Slack win loyalty not just from tech teams, but from marketing departments, customer service groups, and remote teams worldwide.
From Startup to Software Staple
Slack’s growth was meteoric. By 2019, it had over 10 million daily active users. That same year, Slack went public via a direct listing, bypassing the traditional IPO process. In 2021, Salesforce acquired Slack for $27.7 billion—the company’s largest acquisition ever. Butterfield stayed on to help integrate Slack into Salesforce’s broader platform, continuing to advocate for simplicity, transparency, and asynchronous collaboration.
Conclusion
Stewart Butterfield never set out to build a workplace communication platform. He tried to make a game—twice—and each time, something unexpected emerged. Slack didn’t come from a boardroom strategy session. It came from solving a real problem in real time. Butterfield’s story proves that failure isn’t the opposite of innovation—it’s often where innovation begins. Sometimes, the tools that change how we work are born from projects that didn’t work at all.
