"World of DaaS" Bolt.new CEO Eric Simons — one of the fastest growing AI companies in the world
19 snips
Nov 11, 2025 
Eric Simons, CEO and co-founder of StackBlitz, discusses the meteoric rise of Bolt.new, reaching $40M ARR in just five months. He shares insights on pioneering usage-based pricing for AI tools and building WebContainers technology over seven years. Eric highlights the competitive landscape, noting challenges with rapid growth and operational constraints. He also explores how non-developers are now using Bolt.new, expanding the total addressable market. The conversation wraps up with thoughts on the role of AI in support and personal life, along with the importance of independent thinking.
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First Mover Explosion
- Bolt.new launched in October and was the first vibe-coding product to hit the market.
- Two months later competitors like Lovable and Replit followed and adoption exploded by word-of-mouth.
Scaling With A 12‑Person Team
- StackBlitz had a 12-person team when Bolt.new went from $0 to $4M ARR in the first month.
- They scaled to $20M in month two while keeping almost zero downtime despite being unprepared.
From Land Grab To Oil Prospecting
- The market shifted from land-grab growth to choosing where the real business value (the 'oil') lies.
- Winning requires narrowing focus to customers and segments where you have a unique edge.