So Misanthropic claims that 416666.66 software developers have bought their expensive $200 subscription when there are 4.4 million software developers in the US.
That sounds reasonable given that 10% of software developers are talkers that need someone to output something that looks like a deliverable.
We were however talking profits here, not revenue.
Presumably their "$1bn ARR from Claude Code" number isn't just the $200/month subscribers, they have $20/month and $100/month plans too, both of which their internal analytics could be crediting to Claude Code based on API usage patterns.
That $1bn number was in a paywalled Information article which was then re-reported by TechCrunch so the actual source of the number isn't clear. I'm assuming someone leaked to the Information, they appear to have some very useful sources.
I doubt this is just US developers - they've boasted about how successful they are in Europe recently too:
> Businesses across Europe are trusting Claude with their most important work. As a result, EMEA has become our fastest-growing region, with a run-rate revenue that has grown more than 9x in the past year.
Are you kidding me? Is there any one person giving better AI updates nowadays than Simonw? Back in the day, there used to be these EF Hutton commercials. There'd be some scene of a bunch of people. One person would say something like, “My broker says…” and another would respond, “Well, my broker is EF Hutton, and EF Hutton says…”. And the whole restaurant or whatever would get silent so they could hear what EF Hutton says. It was great!
I feel the same way about Simon Willison. He's a treasure!
Here's a few of those EF Hutton commercials for your viewing pleasure--
That sounds reasonable given that 10% of software developers are talkers that need someone to output something that looks like a deliverable.
We were however talking profits here, not revenue.