Some techies dislike Calendly, a tool for scheduling meetings.

• Calendly simplifies the process of scheduling meetings by allowing users to select times directly, eliminating the need for back-and-forth email communication.
• Last month, the app received a considerable amount of attention on Twitter, with venture investor Marc Andreessen adding to the buzz with a humorous post.
• Patrick Moran, the head of marketing at Calendly, stated that the company's chief revenue officer is highly enthusiastic about the influx of inbound demand.

The past weeks in tech have been eventful, with a $69 billion acquisition agreement, earnings reports causing panic selling for companies like and , and experiencing its best rally since 2015.

In the midst of the cacophony in the mega-cap sector, ensured that the fervent discussions about smaller-dollar technology persisted with an unabated intensity.

Enter Calendly.

Calendly, a nine-year-old start-up based in Atlanta, operates a website that allows individuals to display their availability for booking meetings with others. Its $3 billion private market valuation, as reported by PitchBook, is unique in the current era of decacorns.

When you receive a Calendly link, you access a website with a calendar, pick a date, view available time slots, and confirm a reservation. Afterward, you enter your details, and Calendly will create an invitation that will appear on both parties' calendars.

In late month, a seemingly harmless app sparked a heated debate, with entrepreneur and investor Sam Lessin taking aim at its users in a tweet.

Lessin wrote that when someone sends you a Calendly link and asks you to schedule a meeting, they are implying that you are less important than their current meetings and that you should wait your turn.

Some people loudly disagreed with him taking things too personally, while others were grateful that someone was speaking up for the masses. One person tweeted that asking for a meetup and then sending a Calendly with only business hours was "rude as hell."

Opinions about Lessin's message were varied, with some being complimentary and others being critical.

Calendly's founder and CEO, Tope Awotona, expressed gratitude to Lessin for his portfolio's success, which relies on Calendly to win and delight customers. He also noted a significant increase in signups on Twitter.

Last week, Calendly's marketing chief, Patrick Moran, discussed the immediate aftermath of a randomly-timed event in the company's history with CNBC. The CEO's schedule was fully booked, as stated by a company spokesperson.

Calendly's chief revenue officer was kept busy with the increase in user growth, which came not only from free users but also from paying businesses.

Moran stated that their current CRO is highly enthusiastic about the inbound demand generated from some exceptional sources.

Calendly has over 10 million users and its enterprise customers include software companies such as Microsoft and Google. The product receives a lot of free exposure because people receive Calendly invites from their network members who want to schedule meetings. This is why Lessin is familiar with it.

Calendly was founded by Awotona, who had experience in sales and used his own savings and retirement funds to start the company.

He expressed frustration in a 2019 video, stating that scheduling a meeting through numerous emails was time-consuming and overwhelming.

Playing well with others

When setting up a Calendly account, users can choose to link their existing calendars to avoid double-booking. They can also specify the time they're available for meetings and send a link as an alternative to finding a mutually agreeable time with another person. Meetings can be customized for duration and include video conferencing options like .

Moran claims that the software bridges the calendar app gap in a world with numerous calendar apps.

Moran stated that Calendly is designed to address the limitations of not being able to see across and play well with others.

Calendly offers a premium version starting at $8 per person per month, in addition to a free service, and has tiers for teams. The company's recurring subscription revenue in 2020 exceeded $70 million.

Competition is fierce in the market. Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn all offer appointment capabilities, but their approaches differ. Google uses an Outlook add-in called FindTime, while Microsoft's Recruiter service includes a Calendly-like feature.

According to Tim Campos, who sold calendar app Woven to Slack last year for undisclosed terms, both he and Lessin tried to do something but failed miserably. Woven had a feature called scheduling links that allowed users to suggest specific available times.

Calendly has been closely monitored by Campos. Although he doesn't use it for scheduling board meetings or date nights with his wife, he stated that it has proven useful in various other situations.

"Multiple hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue could be generated annually in the market between inside sales departments and independent consultants, according to Campos," he stated.

Campos stated that Lessin's view applies to a specific segment of the market.

Lessin, a former vice president at Facebook and current partner at Slow Ventures, has a moderate following on Twitter.

In contrast to Marc Andreessen, who is a prominent figure in Silicon Valley with over 900,000 Twitter followers, he entered the discussion with a humorous tone.

Anyone who ignores my Calendly links will be permanently banned from raising venture capital in Silicon Valley, as stated by Andreessen.

Seeing the Andreessen tweet at the top of his feed, Moran knew the discussion had escalated.

Moran admitted that he was attempting to comprehend what was being said without having fully read the comments that preceded it.

Moran stated that it was like a marketer's dream, and although there was a lot of noise to sift through, the company was able to extract valuable suggestions on how to improve the product for those who found it annoying.

Four CEOs generated their own momentum during the early stages of their companies.