$LINEAR · Linear compounds efficiently: ~$80M raised, default alive since year 2, doubling revenue yearly

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Kleiner Perkins

From Airbnb to Linear: How Karri Saarinen Redefined Product Design

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Linear compounds efficiently: ~$80M raised, default alive since year 2, doubling revenue yearly

2026-04-20 · 3 company · 4 thematic

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3 bull0 bear0 neu

speakers

karri saarinen

Former principal designer at Airbnb and first designer at Coinbase. Founded Linear in 2019, building a developer-focused issue tracking tool. Advocates for slow hiring, quality over speed, remote work, and 40-hour weeks.

quote

“After two years. So we we haven't never really spent money. So all that money we raised we still have it... we've been roughly just doubling every year... we kind of like moving up the market, kind of like that's our goal now... I always w…”

—karri saarinen

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$LINEARbullish· high· poskarri saarinen

Linear compounds efficiently: ~$80M raised, default alive since year 2, doubling revenue yearly

Linear has raised only ~$70-80M across three rounds, reached default alive within two years, and doubles revenue annually with a tiny team (120 people at $10-15M ARR at Series B),…

$EXCELbullish· high· poskarri saarinen

Excel led Series B and C for patient, long-term orientation

Linear chose Excel for Series B and C because they are a large, established firm that doesn't care about markups and simply wants the company to be best-in-class in its market.

$SEQUOIAbullish· high· poskarri saarinen

Sequoia chosen for seed and Series A for patient capital and founder alignment

Karri Saarinen selected Sequoia for Linear's first two rounds because they align with a long-term, patient approach and don't pressure for markups; he deliberately chose a less ex…