Before Adam posted his podcast episode, Tailwind had:
- 13 Partners à $5000
- 3 Ambassadors à $2500
- 5 supporters à $500
=> $75k MRR
Now:
- 22 Partners à $5000
- 4 Ambassadors à $2500
- 22 supporters à $500
=> $131k MRR
That's +$56k MRR with a tweet, not counting the Tailwind+ sub boosts, free PR, and all the long-term ripple effects for the business that are yet to come.
The community is now sensitized to the cause and are much more likely to convert into a subscription in the future that they would have before this, just because Adam sounded like a human and not a faceless corporation.
When you build something people love with a great attention to craft and manage to tell a compelling story, people show up for you.
That’s something a data driven founder, busy optimizing funnels and nudging button colors, will never quite reach. Because trust isn’t a metric, goodwill doesn’t fit in a dashboard, and people don’t rally behind experiments. They rally behind work that feels intentional, human, and worth supporting.
I’ve been following the conversations around Tailwind CSS, AI, and open-source sustainability.
I tried to put my thoughts together in this article — sharing it here if it’s helpful: https://t.co/dqOkTI1p6r
@adamwathan Hey Adam — you’re not alone.
Putting people first, especially when it hurts, is real leadership.
This moment raises an important question about sustainability in an AI-native world.
Wishing the best for you, the team, and everyone navigating what comes next.
This was heavy, honest, and thoughtful.
It’s not just about Tailwind — it’s about leadership, responsibility, and sustainability in an AI-native world.
I shared a deeper reflection here: https://t.co/dqOkTI1p6r
🎧 Recorded a new morning walk this morning, hard one to share because I'm sure people will want to roast me for it but have been transparent up until now so publishing it anyways.
Tailwind lays of 75% of their team. the reason is so ironic:
> their css framework became extremely popular w AI coding agents, 75m downloads/mo
> that meant nobody would visit their docs where they promoted paid offerings
> resulting in 40% drop in traffic & 80% revenue loss
Check out my latest article: Lo que aprendí diseñando una herramienta de transcripción minimalista y centrada en el usuario (https://t.co/GSQCcup7YR) https://t.co/udhYIfBrFD via @LinkedIn