Balsamiq

Looking back at Balsamiq’s 2023

Hi friends,

Wow, 2024 already? Time does fly! I know you've probably heard this a lot, but since we haven't caught up since the holiday rush and Q1 roadmap planning, I thought now's the perfect time to give you the first look at our 2023 year in review—a tradition 14 years strong.

Previous editions: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2009, and 2008.

Revenue & projections

It was a year filled with growth, challenges, and milestones at Balsamiq. Our revenue for 2023 was $6,994,596 USD, a slight 3.6% dip from 2022. This was within our forecasted range, reflecting our strategic pivot away from Desktop and Google Drive towards the more thriving Balsamiq Cloud. And like last year, our Atlassian revenue continues to grow.

Despite the challenging market, we’re committed to longevity and remain profitable. We’ve got so many big, bold things planned, and we're dedicated to building Balsamiq the right way—which means putting our customers and team first.

For 2024, we’re eyeing a stable revenue trend, aiming for a +/- 5% margin from last year’s numbers.

Product updates

2023 was a busy year on the feature front, making Balsamiq faster, easier, and more flexible. Our UX and Editor Groups introduced a ton of new features, pruned some less-used ones, and updated our UI Library—adding more highly-requested images and templates, as well as categories for icons.

BIG features we shipped:

• New chrome (sleeker app bar with fewer icons, side bars)
• An improved canvas, complete with a mini-map
• Zoom-to-width for optimal screen usage
• Handy spell checker
• Eye dropper in the color picker
• Seamless embedding in other applications
• Secure 6-digit authentication

Thanks to everyone who spoke with us in 2022 and shared your feedback! We couldn’t have done it without you.

Behind-the-scenes tech

Meanwhile, the technical side of Balsamiq (our Apps Group) made significant strides in product longevity and security:

• We have improved our database encryption and security standards. For example, our database updates now happen seamlessly with zero downtime, ensuring uninterrupted service.
• We enhanced data infrastructure for marketing projects and updated Balsamiq Cloud’s code base so we can ship features faster.
• We improved developer flexibility, enabling team members to contribute across various projects.

And of course, there was plenty of work done to make our Atlassian products better and our internal tools even more useful for the whole company.

Support

Big changes in our Support Group this year! With Liz transitioning to Product Manager, we merged Tech Support with Sales Support. This streamlined approach improved our efficiency and understanding of your needs, and ultimately made our team more effective and responsive. Win!

Marketing updates

It was a transformative year for Marketing, with a team restructure that’s set us up for future success. We all embraced new roles, challenges, and projects. A few highlights:

• We had the much-anticipated release of our book, Wireframing for Everyone, which received fantastic reviews. More people read it every day!
• We supported even more underrepresented groups in our tech and design communities through sponsorships.
• We used Katelyn Bourgoin’s Clarity Call Cheatsheets in a big research project to learn more about our customers and what UX-related content we can make to help you in your jobs.
• We kicked off our rebranding journey and implemented new marketing tools (like Klaviyo, an email tool) to connect with you more effectively.

Company & culture updates

2023 marked a pivotal year in evolving our company culture and structure. Our first full year with Group Managers proved to be a success—an internal survey showed a happier team and better productivity. And we rolled out a quarterly roadmap process to help all groups plan more efficiently.

But the big company accomplishment happened when we completed the Salary Matrix Project, a new compensation system that aligns job titles, descriptions, and levels. This set the stage for a clearer, fairer, and more growth-oriented Balsamiq (plus, many team members got a salary raise).

Looking ahead

There you have it—2023 in a nutshell. As we step into 2024, we've got plans to keep making Balsamiq Cloud stronger, focusing on what makes your work easier and more enjoyable. We're also working on a fresh look, including new colors and a website redesign based on your feedback.

And as always, we're committed to fostering growth and a strong sense of team spirit among all Balsamici.

Thanks for being with us. Here's to another year of creativity, problem-solving, and fun at work.

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