From Chrome extension to $5B platform | Postman’s journey | Abhinav Asthana (Co-founder & CEO)

He describes getting a computer in fifth grade, first getting pulled into games, then being pushed by his parents to do “something useful” with it—leading him to learn programming and build software for others. He credits early internet access with making software feel like a “teleportation device” that enabled scale and independence.

In college, he built BITS360 (a community for college aspirants) and a panoramic virtual campus tour that became widely used, later morphing into TeleportMe. He says these experiences shaped his standards for integrated product design, his habit of relentless critique, and his resilience through repeated failures.

He built Postman as a side project after struggling to test/debug APIs while building multiple interfaces for his startup, and he couldn’t find an existing tool he liked—especially visually. He chose a Chrome extension as the fastest, most universal runtime, put it on the Chrome Web Store, and saw organic adoption driven by searches and early GitHub feedback.

He emphasizes being “maniacal” about user feedback, including from experienced developers at major companies, which forced him to learn about use cases he hadn’t encountered (e.g., different API styles). He also frames a core insight: APIs are inherently used by “someone else,” which led them beyond an individual tool into collaboration features like shared workspaces.

Before meaningful fundraising, he experimented with donations, sponsorships, and an in-app purchase (“$10 lifetime,” which he calls a bad pricing decision) to reach early profitability. Later, they shifted monetization to a recurring SaaS model centered on team collaboration, validated by a beta with a high price and minimal features that still attracted dozens of early customers.