WhoBuilt

Segment

Customer data platform for collecting and routing analytics data.

1 Talk10 Mentions26 Facts26 Sources3 verifiedUsed by 2 companies

Key facts

Founded by
Ilya Volodarsky, co-founder
Kelvin French-Owen
People
Peter Reinhardt, Co-founder
Alumni
Fouad Matin
Launched
Redshift, Redshift connector
Analytics.js, Open-source data routing library
Capabilities
Launched repeatedly, expanding support in response to user feedback.
data collection tool
Analytics API for sending analytics data and toggling on different tools
Segment API, A single API for sending customer data to multiple analytics and other tools.
JavaScript libraries, iOS SDK, and Android SDK are open source; the core infrastructure pipeline is not
Routes customer data to downstream services, including analytics tools, marketing tools, data warehouses, CRMs, and help desks
+1 more
Creates a single record of customer interactions across digital and offline channels
Integrates with
AI Personalization Engine
Acquired by
Twilio, more than $3 billion

From talks

Results and examples shared in single talks

Tech stack & tools

Based on job postings, talks and code

Tech stack 3

Labels show how a tool is used (core product, infra, data, ML, security); “N jobs” counts the job postings that require it. Click a count to see the evidence. How we verify

Timeline 15

Dated events, newest first. Open the sources under any item.

How we verify
Launch2Acquired2Founded2People2Capability7
20261 event
  1. reported 2026-02Founded
    Kelvin French-Owen founded Segment
    “before that he started Segment” 0:54
    Unverified1 source· Talk
20241 event
  1. reported 2024-10Acquired
    Twilio acquired Segment
    “It was bought by Twilio for like $3 billion.” 10:03
    Unverified1 source· Talk
20231 event
  1. as of Apr 2023Capability
    Launched repeatedly, expanding support in response to user feedback.
    “they kept launching every week” 21:35
    Unverified1 source· Talk
20221 event
  1. as of Dec 2022Acquired
    Twilio acquired Segment
    more than $3 billion
    “acquisition by Twilio for more than $3 billion” 31:15
    Unverified1 source· Talk
20193 events
  1. as of Aug 2019Capability
    Data collection tool
    “It's a data collection tool.” 25:37
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  2. as of Aug 2019Capability
    Analytics API for sending analytics data and toggling on different tools
    “It's an analytics API where you can send analytics data and then toggle on different tools.” 0:18
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  3. as of Aug 2019Founded
    Ilya Volodarsky founded Segment
    co-founder
    “I'm one of the co-founders at Segment” 0:00
    Unverified1 source· Talk
20181 event
  1. as of Oct 2018Capability
    A single API for sending customer data to multiple analytics and other tools.
    A single API for sending customer data to multiple analytics and other tools.
    “The idea was that you'd use the same API to send us data as you would to Mixpanel, KISSmetrics, Google Analytics, and all these other tools.” 13:40
    Unverified1 source· Talk
See all 15 events on the full timeline

Talks by Segment 1

48:47
Finding Product Market Fit at Segment
Peter Reinhardt

Peter Reinhardt describes how Segment moved from a failed classroom product and an unsuccessful analytics tool to product-market fit with an open-source data routing library and its hosted service. He explains how real usage, customer conversations, and skeptical testing helped the team recognize demand and later identify data warehouses as an important use case. The talk also covers sales qualification as a method for product discovery, pricing, company culture, and how to decide which customer requests to pursue. A recurring lesson is that product-market fit becomes clear when customers actively use a product and pull it forward.

Sep 6, 2018· 49 min 0:04

Mentioned in 10

Talks by others that mention this company