Ladder
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Ladder (ladder.to) was a San Francisco-based next-generation professional community platform founded in 2020 by CEO Andrew Tan, a Stanford computer science student. It aimed to make career growth more inclusive and community-driven for young professionals. Built on three pillars - communities (professional groups by industry/role/interest), career content, and connections (AMAs, group chats, events, coffee chats) - it started as a mentorship program connecting 500+ students with industry mentors, grew the Remote Students Newsletter to 75,000+ subscribers, and launched a mobile app reaching tens of thousands of users. It raised $3.7 million led by Forerunner Ventures, with participation from Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six, Pear VC, Scribble Ventures and Script Capital.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
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03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Ladder was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic by Andrew Tan, starting as a mentorship program and the Remote Students Newsletter.
- Funding and app launch
Ladder raised $3.7 million led by Forerunner Ventures and launched its mobile app to tens of thousands of users.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
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Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
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