Dopt Startup Case Study: A Deep Dive into Onboarding Innovation

Dopt

Dopt is a platform that empowers product, growth, and engineering teams in B2B software companies to design and implement interactive user onboarding flows. The company focuses on enabling product-led growth by offering a developer-centric approach, pre-built components, and an AI-driven in-product guidance feature. Despite its promising technology and early market traction, the company’s status is currently closed.

• Founding Year: 2021
• Headquarters: Oakland, California, USA
• Industry: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• Status: Closed

Business Model

B2B, One-sided, Product

• Clients: Product, growth, and engineering teams within B2B software companies, particularly those focused on product-led growth and seeking to improve user onboarding and engagement.

It’s Like: WordPress but for user onboarding

Dopt provides a platform with a visual editor and pre-built components, much like WordPress allows the creation of websites with templates and plugins. However, instead of building web pages, Dopt focuses on building interactive user onboarding flows within other applications.

With some differences, though:

• WordPress targets a broad audience for website creation. Dopt focuses specifically on developers and product teams within B2B SaaS companies.
• WordPress primarily deals with static content and basic interactivity. Dopt specializes in creating dynamic, personalized user experiences within the context of software applications.
• Dopt leverages AI for features like AI Assist, providing intelligent user guidance, which is not a core aspect of WordPress.

Key SaaS Onboarding Problems

• Poor user onboarding leads to high churn rates in SaaS businesses. Many users abandon services due to difficulties in understanding how to use them effectively, leading to lost revenue for businesses.
• Traditional onboarding methods often fail to engage users. Generic tutorials and information overload can be overwhelming and ineffective in guiding users toward successful product adoption.
• Creating effective onboarding experiences is resource-intensive. Building customized onboarding flows often requires significant development time and effort, diverting resources from other product development priorities.
• Many onboarding solutions lack flexibility and customization options. This limits the ability to tailor the onboarding experience to specific user needs and product complexities.

Key Features

• Visual Flow Builder: Allows teams to easily design and build interactive user onboarding flows without extensive coding.
• Pre-built Components: Provides a library of customizable React components to streamline the implementation of onboarding elements within applications.
• SDKs and APIs: Enables deeper integration and customization for developers, allowing them to tailor the onboarding experience to their specific product needs.
• AI Assist: Leverages artificial intelligence to provide contextual in-product assistance, offering personalized guidance to users without requiring direct inquiries.
• Analytics and Insights: Tracks the performance of onboarding flows, providing data on user engagement and completion rates to optimize effectiveness.

Founding Story

• When and How Founded: Dopt was founded in 2021 by Alon Bartur, Joe McKenney, and Phil Vander Broek.
• Problem Experienced: The founders, having worked together previously, recognized a common challenge in the software industry: the difficulty of effective user onboarding.
• Founders and Their Experience:
  • Alon Bartur: Brought experience in product leadership from companies like Productboard, Amplitude, and Trifacta.
  • Joe McKenney: Contributed entrepreneurial experience and a background in public service.
  • Phil Vander Broek: Provided expertise in digital product design from his time at Dropbox, Sutter Hill Ventures, and Trifacta.
• Why They Started Dopt: They aimed to create a platform that would empower “builders” (product managers, designers, and engineers) to create better user onboarding experiences.
• Solution: Dopt was designed as a developer-friendly platform featuring a visual flow builder for planning user journeys and a library of prebuilt, customizable React components for implementation.
• First Results: Dopt secured $5.1 million in seed funding in September 2022 from investors like Unusual Ventures and Designer Fund, indicating early traction and investor confidence.
• Continued Growth: Dopt focused on expanding its platform’s capabilities, notably by introducing AI Assist, an AI-powered feature for contextual in-product assistance.
• Innovation and Technology: Dopt’s success stemmed from its developer-centric approach, providing SDKs and APIs for deep integration, and its early adoption of AI to enhance user onboarding.

Key Growth Milestones

• September 2022: Dopt raised $5.1 million in seed funding, enabling further development of their platform and expansion of their team.
• March 2024: Introduced AI Assist, an AI-powered feature designed to provide contextual in-product assistance, enhancing user onboarding experiences by delivering relevant help based on in-app context and custom large language models (LLMs).
• July 2024: Acquired by Airtable to bolster its AI capabilities and enhance its no-code platform offerings. The acquisition aimed to integrate Dopt’s expertise in AI-driven onboarding into Airtable’s suite of tools. Dopt’s operations and products officially wound down on August 15, 2024.

Market & Competition

Target Market

Dopt focuses on Business-to-Business (B2B) software companies, specifically targeting “product, growth, and engineering teams” within these companies. These roles are critical for defining user needs, driving adoption, and ensuring a seamless user experience.

Market Size and Growth:

• Verified Market Research projects the digital customer onboarding software market to grow at a CAGR of 21.79% from 2024 to 2030, reaching USD 6.81 billion by 2030.
• Dataintelo estimates the global digital onboarding market size to reach around USD 9.8 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 16.2% from 2024 to 2032.

Potential New Markets:

• E-commerce: Online retailers face similar challenges in guiding users through product discovery, purchase processes, and account management.
• Fintech: Financial technology companies dealing with complex user interfaces and sensitive data can benefit from effective onboarding to improve user comprehension and trust.
• Healthcare: As healthcare providers increasingly adopt digital platforms, user-friendly onboarding becomes crucial for patient engagement and adherence to treatment plans.
• Education: Educational technology platforms can leverage onboarding to enhance the learning experience for students and educators.

Growth Trends in Potential Markets:

• Increased Adoption of SaaS
• Mobile-First Experiences
• Personalization and AI
• Data-Driven Optimization

Competitor Landscape

Dopt operated in a competitive market with various players offering solutions for user and customer onboarding.

Key competitors include:

• GuideCX: Focuses on client onboarding and implementation.
• Frigade: A growth platform for software teams.
• Apxor: A digital nudging platform for in-application engagement.
• Rocketlane: Specializes in customer onboarding and professional services automation.
• Trainual: Offers solutions for employee onboarding, training, and knowledge management.
• Resonance: Focuses on user engagement through in-product experiences.
• Chameleon: A no-code UX builder for web applications.
• Appcues: A platform to build and iterate on in-app experiences.
• Pendo: A product analytics platform with onboarding flow capabilities.
• UserGuiding: A low-cost, no-code onboarding solution.
• IntroJS: A free, open-source JavaScript library for onboarding tours.
• ShepherdJS: A highly customizable, open-source JavaScript library for onboarding.

Marketing & Sales

Main Positioning Values: Time

Website & Socials

• Website: Dopt.com (The website is inaccessible).

Media Coverage

• Tech Company News: Covered the launch of Dopt’s AI Assist, detailing how the feature leverages advanced AI to provide contextual, in-product assistance, thereby transforming user onboarding experiences.
• Growthmates News: Published an in-depth interview with Dopt co-founder Phil Vander Broek, discussing insights into user onboarding strategies and the challenges faced in designing effective onboarding experiences.
• LinkedIn: Dopt’s co-founders, including Phil Vander Broek and Joe McKenney, shared updates and reflections on the company’s journey, the launch of AI Assist, and the subsequent acquisition by Airtable, engaging with the professional community through their posts.

Marketing Strategies

• Content Marketing: Dopt placed a strong emphasis on content marketing, particularly focusing on product-led growth and user onboarding. Phil Vander Broek, Co-founder and CPO, actively shared insights through blog posts and interviews, leveraging his expertise in growth design. Notably, he participated in an in-depth interview discussing user onboarding strategies and the importance of continuous experimentation.
• Thought Leadership and Community Engagement: Dopt actively participated in industry discussions and platforms like Reforge, sharing insights and establishing themselves as thought leaders.
• Word-of-Mouth and Direct Outreach: Testimonials from early adopters like Attio suggest the role of referrals and direct outreach in customer acquisition.
• Developer-Focused Targeting: Given their emphasis on SDKs and APIs, Dopt likely targeted developers through relevant online communities and forums.
• Target Audience: Dopt primarily targeted product managers, growth managers, and software engineers working in B2B SaaS companies. These individuals are typically tech-savvy, responsible for user onboarding, and seeking solutions to enhance product adoption and user engagement.

Product & Innovation

Developer-centric Approach

Unlike some competitors focusing on no-code solutions, Dopt caters to developers and product teams comfortable with code, offering SDKs and APIs for greater flexibility and customization.

AI-Powered Assistance

The introduction of AI Assist brought a novel approach to user onboarding, providing proactive and intelligent in-product guidance to enhance user experience and product adoption.

Seamless Integration

Dopt’s focus on providing pre-built components and developer tools aimed at making it easier for companies to integrate its onboarding solutions seamlessly into their existing products.

Data-Driven Optimization

The platform’s analytics dashboard allowed teams to track the performance of their onboarding flows, enabling data-driven decisions to improve effectiveness and user engagement.

Financials & Metrics

• Revenue Streams: Dopt operated on a subscription-based revenue model.
• Employee Count: 2 to 10 Employees

Structure & Culture

Structure

• Leadership:
  • Alon Bartur: Co-Founder & CEO
  • Phil Vander Broek: Co-Founder & CPO
  • Joe McKenney: Co-Founder
• Post-Acquisition:
  • Dopt’s team was integrated into Airtable’s AI Pillar.
  • Alon Bartur leads AI product at Airtable.
  • Phil Vander Broek is a Design Manager, focusing on AI, at Airtable.

Culture

• Developer-Centric Approach: Dopt’s focus on providing SDKs and APIs suggests a culture that values developer experience and deep product integration.
• Innovation: The rapid development and launch of AI Assist highlight a company culture that embraces innovation and staying at the forefront of technology.
• Customer Focus: Testimonials from early adopters like Attio indicate a dedication to providing value and helping customers succeed.

Closure

Challenges and Risks

Despite its innovative offerings, Dopt faced challenges in achieving widespread adoption. The niche focus on developer-centric onboarding solutions, while valuable to a specific segment, may have limited its appeal to a broader market.

Additionally, the competitive landscape of SaaS onboarding tools presents hurdles in differentiating and scaling such specialized platforms.

Sunsetting

Airtable acquired Dopt in July 2024 to enhance its AI capabilities and user experience design.

The acquisition was driven by several strategic factors:

• Strengthening AI Talent and Expertise: Airtable’s CEO, Howie Liu, emphasized that the acquisition was primarily about securing top AI talent. He noted that Dopt’s team had developed a strong intuition for creating intuitive user experiences through their work on onboarding solutions. This expertise was seen as valuable for Airtable’s efforts to develop AI-driven features.
• Enhancing AI-Powered User Experiences: Dopt’s proficiency in AI-based onboarding tools aligned with Airtable’s goal to simplify software creation through AI. By integrating Dopt’s capabilities, Airtable aimed to offer more sophisticated and user-friendly tools, such as the recently launched Airtable Cobuilder, which allows users to create apps via a chat interface.
• Accelerating AI Integration in No-Code Solutions: The acquisition was part of Airtable’s broader strategy to integrate AI into its no-code platform. By bringing in Dopt’s team, Airtable sought to accelerate the development of AI-enhanced features, making it easier for users to build and customize applications without extensive coding knowledge.
• Consolidating AI Talent Amidst Industry Competition: In a competitive landscape where AI talent is highly sought after, Airtable’s acquisition of Dopt represented a strategic move to consolidate expertise. This approach allowed Airtable to bolster its AI capabilities more rapidly than through traditional hiring methods. 

Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

• Nail down a niche pain point: Dopt didn’t try to be everything to everyone. They laser-focused on a specific, pervasive pain point in the B2B SaaS world: user onboarding. This clarity helped them attract investors and customers alike.
• Embrace the power of content and community: Dopt’s early emphasis on content marketing and thought leadership, particularly within communities like Reforge, demonstrates the power of establishing authority and building trust within your target audience.
• Solve a problem you understand deeply: Dopt’s founders had firsthand experience with the challenges of user onboarding, allowing them to build a solution that resonated with their target market. Don’t just chase trends; solve problems you’re passionate about.
• Don’t shy away from a technical audience: While many platforms strive for no-code simplicity, Dopt embraced a developer-centric approach, recognizing the need for flexibility and customization among their target users. Don’t be afraid to build for a technical audience if it aligns with your solution.
• Early funding isn’t everything, but it’s a strong signal: Dopt’s ability to secure significant funding at an early stage, despite being in closed beta, suggests strong investor confidence in their solution and the market opportunity. While not the only metric of success, funding can validate your idea and accelerate growth.
• Focus on the “why” before the “how”: Dopt emphasizes understanding the user’s desired outcome first. This customer-centric approach ensures the onboarding process is relevant and engaging, leading to better product adoption and reduced churn.
• Turn onboarding into an ongoing journey: Dopt recognizes that onboarding isn’t a one-time event. Their platform encourages continuous engagement and guidance, transforming users into long-term, successful customers.