The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Product decision · 2018–2024
Fathom Analytics: zero funding, $1M ARR, 2024 buyout
Started in 2018 from a tweet; privacy analytics, no cookies, no funding; $100K ARR in 2020; 2024 buyout.
Fathom Analytics
What the business is
Fathom Analytics provides privacy-first website analytics: it sets no cookies, collects no personal data, has a script under 2KB, charges by page views via subscription, and replaces Google Analytics.
Starting capital：Never accepted external capital (the two founders self-funded).
How it started
In April 2018, Paul Jarvis posted on Twitter a sketch of the interface of an ideal analytics tool, with a caption roughly saying 'if only someone would build this'; the tweet spread quickly. He and developer Danny van Kooten first built an open-source version, then customers asked 'can you just host and run it for me', and the hosted version was born; about a year later Jack Ellis joined as co-founder.
What happened
The product deliberately does less: no cookies, no personal data, script <2KB; in 2019 Jack rewrote it in Laravel to support billions of page views per month. Revenue milestones: $1K MRR (2019-03), $10K MRR (2020-05), $100K+ ARR (2020-11); Paul recalled in a 2023 interview that going from $0 to $10K MRR and from $10K to $100K MRR took roughly the same amount of time, and the company never had a negative-growth month. After Google shut down Universal Analytics in July 2023, Fathom launched a GA historical data importer, which became the fastest growth wave since founding, importing billions of page views within days.
How it ended up
Still running: on 2024-12-01, Jack Ellis bought out all of Paul Jarvis's shares; Paul retired, and the company is 100% owned by Jack. The official announcement made clear that it would not seek investors or go public, and would continue to operate independently.
Background
Fathom Analytics is a privacy-first website analytics SaaS; its selling point is 'not tracking visitors': no cookies, no personal data stored, script under 2KB, all metrics on one page, subscription pricing by page views, positioned as a simple alternative to Google Analytics.
The origin was designer Paul Jarvis's personal pain point: he only needed one page of core metrics, while Google Analytics was bloated and privacy-invasive. In April 2018 he posted an interface sketch of an ideal tool on Twitter, the tweet went viral, so he and developer Danny van Kooten first built an open-source version; after it got over one million downloads, they built the hosted version, and about a year later Jack Ellis joined as co-founder.
Growth came from restraint and tailwinds: the product deliberately did less, and privacy regulations (GDPR, etc.) and every Google Analytics controversy brought a wave of sign-ups; revenue milestones were $1K MRR (2019-03), $10K MRR (2020-05), $100K+ ARR (2020-11). Paul recalled that going from $0 to $10K MRR and from $10K to $100K MRR took roughly the same amount of time, and there was never a negative-growth month. After Google shut down Universal Analytics in 2023, the GA importer brought the fastest growth since founding.
The company never accepted external capital, with the two founders each holding half; on 2024-12-01, Jack Ellis bought out all of Paul's shares in a deal negotiated within 24 hours, Paul retired, the company became 100% owned by Jack, and it continues to operate independently, not seeking investment or going public.
What has to be true
- Start from the founder's own need: Paul only wanted one page of core metrics, and the product's 'doing less' is itself differentiation and a selling point.
- First open source, then hosted: use the free version to validate demand and the hosted version to make money; seed users were a real paying signal rather than an assumption.
- Privacy compliance is a structural tailwind: every Google Analytics controversy and tightening of regulation pushed customers over, without buying traffic.
- The constraint of not raising funding made the company treat 'customers as investors': low churn, slow growth, profitability first, and finally the founder completed a clean internal exit.
What can be applied
Smaller product and firmer principles beat free giant; no tracking is ethical and compliant; no funding forced customer discipline.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-01: Fathom Analytics still operates independently, wholly owned by Jack Ellis; the official position is no investors and no IPO plans, focusing on being a privacy alternative to GA4; after the 2024 buyout, the team and product are unchanged, and no latest revenue figures have been disclosed.
Sources
- Fathom Analytics has been acquired
- Building the alternative to Google Analytics
- How Fathom Analytics Built a Profitable Privacy-First Alternative to Google Analytics
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