R/03 · 05/2021 – 05/2023 · Tallinn

# Hive Identity — Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer

Co-founded a B2B KYC platform and ran marketing as CMO.

- Co-founder
- KYC
- PLG
- Self-serve

Co-founded Hive Identity, a Customer Identity Platform for startups and small businesses, and ran marketing and growth as CMO.

Non-enterprise businesses had been kept out of KYC (Know Your Customer) by cost and overcomplicated setups. To put it simply: underserved and overcharged. Hive was built for them.

$500K seed round, led by Isaac Saldana, founder of SendGrid

## What I did

- Owned marketing and growth, scaling a product-led, self-serve strategy
- Built PLG from scratch
- Raised $500K in a round led by SendGrid's founder

## What it taught me

The war in Ukraine disrupted the team, and Hive shut down in 2023 — which taught me more about prioritization than the roles that worked.

## Where it fits

Hive Identity came after Semrush (10/2019 – 04/2021), where I was part of the team through the ~$2B IPO. It started the C-suite and co-founder years, 2021 – 2026: owning the whole funnel, beginning with PLG from scratch at Hive Identity.

The seed round was led by Isaac Saldana, founder of SendGrid, where I was part of the team from 05/2016 to 02/2019.

## What was Felipe's role at Hive Identity?

Felipe co-founded Hive Identity and was its Chief Marketing Officer from 05/2021 to 05/2023, based in Tallinn. Hive was a Customer Identity Platform for startups and small businesses, which had been kept out of KYC (Know Your Customer) by cost and overcomplicated setups: underserved and overcharged. As co-founder and CMO, Felipe owned marketing and growth and built a product-led, self-serve growth strategy from scratch. Hive Identity came after his time at Semrush and started his C-suite and co-founder years, 2021 to 2026, in which he owned the whole funnel. The war in Ukraine disrupted the team, and Hive shut down in 2023. Felipe says it taught him more about prioritization than the roles that worked.

Related: [SendGrid — Senior Community Development Manager, EMEA](https://fmillan.com/experience/sendgrid/) [GTM, the way I run it](https://fmillan.com/gtm/)

Want to talk it through? Email [hello@fmillan.com](mailto:hello@fmillan.com) or see the [contact page](https://fmillan.com/contact/).

[previous role — R/02 Shroomwell](https://fmillan.com/experience/shroomwell/) [next role — R/04 Semrush](https://fmillan.com/experience/semrush/)

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