Groupon

• Due to the 2008 recession, there was a decrease in consumers interested in trying new activities, eating out, and buying products.
• Then came Groupon, a website that offered discounts for non-essential services.
• The company, which sends out daily "email discounts for local businesses, managed to quickly spread to over 35 countries and 300 markets in its first two years, creating a $500 million annual profit. "

Netflix

• Netflix was founded in 1997. However, the once profitable website-based movie rental service, was failing before the 2008 recession due to the dot com bubble. The company even put itself up for sale.
• At the peak of the recession in 2009, it gained 3 million members because it introduced a new streaming plan that allowed subscribers to steam an unlimited amount of content monthly.
• The company also added a wide range of services and price plans, which contributed to its success.
• Netflix has since expanded to over 100 countries and has millions of subscribers worldwide.

Microsoft

• The US went through a 16-month recession in 1975 when the GDP hit an all time low.
• It was during this economic downturn that college drop-outs, Bill Gates and Paul Allen came up with the concept of easy-to-use computing.

Apple

• Despite being around since the 1970s, Apple "transformed itself during the dot-com crash of the early 2000s, and in the wake of 9/11."
• In 2001, after the dot com crash, Steve Jobs returned to Apple and helped launch the iconic iPod.
• Tim Cook, Apple's former COO at the time also contributed to Apple's success amid economic downturns.

MailChimp

• MailChimp was established in 2001. At the time, its main initiative was focusing on large corporate clients with annual retainers.
• When the Great Recession hit in 2008, it reformulated its business model and decided to add a freemium option in 2009.
• A year after this change in business model, its user base went from 85,000 to 450,000.