I've been a fan of MailChimp for quite awhile. From where I stand they look like a company doing great things. They're a PHP shop, which awards them big points in my book, but they also seem to have good business sense, which is more uncommon then not in the world of web businesses. What do I mean? Look at your favorite startups and count how many are "self-funded" and "profitable". These are just not in the web 2.0 business dictionary. I find these attributes all more then admirable, but I also love this company because of their attitude towards their customers. They love their customers and they show it first and foremost in how they build their product, and they also show it in some awesome swag too!
When I signed up Higher Things for a MailChimp account I was asked what size tshirt I wore. I told them and didn't think twice about it. A little while later a box showed up with an American Apparel tshirt branded for MailChimp. If you've never worn an American Apparel tshirt before you are depriving yourself of something special. They are really comfortable tshirts! My daughter Lucy loved this tshirt because of the MailChimp mascot Freddie on it. She's only 2, but she would recognize the monkey and start making "eee eee" sounds.
My daughter is an iPhone pro. She has her apps and she commands the Springboard better then most with iOS devices. She was constantly opening up my MailChimp app because she saw Freddie. Unfortunately I really couldn't have her playing around in there. On a whim I emailed MailChimp and asked if they had any branding graphics I could stick in Lucy's photos app to help deter her from opening the MailChimp app. Sure enough they did! But what was super awesome was that when I explained what the image was for to the customer service rep she offered to send me a Freddie doll. How could I resist? More importantly, how could Lucy resist?
Lucy loves her little Freddie and I'm pretty thrilled about it too. This is a slick company, well deserving of your business. As a final thought I'll just say this, thanks MailChimp for loving your customers!
