Most startup founders believe they need to build everything in-house to maintain control and protect their vision. Stewart Butterfield proved them wrong when he made a decision that would transform a failing gaming company into one of the most successful workplace communication tools in history.
From Gaming Failure to Communication Gold
In 2013, Butterfield's company Tiny Speck was in trouble. Their online game Glitch had failed to gain traction despite years of development and significant investment. The team faced a crossroads: shut down or pivot to something completely different.
During the development of Glitch, Tiny Speck had created an internal messaging system to help their distributed team communicate effectively. While their game struggled, this simple communication tool worked beautifully. Team members found themselves relying on it daily, and Butterfield began to wonder if other companies might face similar communication challenges.
The pivot decision came naturally. Instead of building another game, they would transform their internal messaging system into a standalone product for businesses. They had stumbled upon what would become Slack, though they didn't know it yet.
The Prototype Problem
Butterfield and his team understood software development, but they had a functional prototype that looked like exactly what it was: an internal tool built by engineers for engineers. The interface was clunky, the branding was nonexistent, and the user experience felt rough around every edge.
They knew they had something valuable, but they also knew they lacked the design expertise to make it shine. Enterprise software in 2013 was notorious for being big, boring, and lifeless. If Slack was going to compete against established players like HipChat, it needed to stand out visually and functionally.
This is where many founders make a critical mistake. They either try to learn design skills themselves, hire expensive full-time designers they can't afford, or launch with a subpar product hoping to improve it later. Butterfield chose a different path.
The Smart Outsourcing Decision
In 2012, Butterfield approached MetaLab, a Canadian user interface design company with a reputation for transforming rough prototypes into polished products. He presented them with Slack's basic functionality and asked them to help make it great.
This wasn't a small project. MetaLab would design the entire application from the ground up, create the brand identity, develop the mobile app interface, and build the marketing website. Essentially, they would handle everything that users would see and interact with while the Tiny Speck team focused on the underlying technology and business strategy.
The partnership worked because both sides understood their strengths. Butterfield's team excelled at building robust, scalable software systems. MetaLab specialized in creating user experiences that people actually wanted to use. Neither tried to do the other's job.
MetaLab transformed the utilitarian prototype into something that felt modern, approachable, and even fun to use. They understood that workplace communication tools needed to feel less corporate and more human. The design choices they made would become part of Slack's DNA: the friendly color scheme, the intuitive navigation, the subtle animations that made interactions feel responsive and alive.
Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs
- Know your strengths and weaknesses: Butterfield recognized that design wasn't his team's core competency
- Partner with specialists: Instead of hiring generalists, they worked with experts in user experience design
- Focus on differentiation: The design-first approach helped Slack stand out in a crowded market
- Maintain your vision: While outsourcing design, Butterfield kept control of the product strategy
- Value quality over cost: The investment in professional design paid dividends in user adoption
The Billion-Dollar Outcome
When Slack launched in 2013, it immediately stood out from other enterprise communication tools. Users were drawn to its friendly interface and intuitive design. The product grew primarily through word-of-mouth, with satisfied users bringing it into their workplaces.
By 2014, Slack had over 120,000 daily active users. By 2015, that number had grown to 500,000, and the company was valued at $2.8 billion. In 2019, Slack went public with a valuation of $19.5 billion, and in 2021, Salesforce acquired the company for $27.7 billion.
Butterfield's decision to outsource design rather than trying to do everything in-house was a key factor in this extraordinary success story. It demonstrates that strategic outsourcing isn't just about cutting costs—it's about leveraging specialized expertise to create exceptional products that users love.