The Rocket Science Group is a 4-person team of nerds based in Atlanta, Georgia that specializes in web-based tools and applications. We started our company back in April 2000 with the simple desire to "build web tools that don't need rocket scientists to use them." Since then, we've built websites, tools, and content management solutions for over 100 clients of all shapes and sizes, like The Arthritis Foundation, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Cox Radio Interactive, Delta Airlines, Skanska, BBDO, Worldspan, and more.

There was this freak accident one day in the lab...
One day, we were helping a client send HTML emails to their customers, and got really, really frustrated with the "enterprise" software they were using. It was complicated, expensive, and bloated with features that nobody even knew existed. In a fit of rage (that geeky, embarassing kind of rage) we just built our own tool, and called it MailChimp. We launched it to the public in late 2001, and it quickly grew to several thousand users from all over the world, sending bazillions of emails every month.

And here we are today. Our mission is to build really useful, simple, and efficient tools that our clients and customers love to use. And yes, we truly believe in that "love to use" part. We take on an occasional website project every now and then, but we mostly spend our time improving on MailChimp, and getting other products (PunchyTime, Bugzy, and a couple other experiments) out of the lab.

Everything we build must be useful, simple, and efficient. That's U.S.E. for short (we started with S.U.E., but that sounded too litigious). Useful, because there's no point building something that nobody even needs. Simple, because there's enough complexity in this world. And efficient, because time is money (actually, time's worth more than money, if you ask us). Oh yeah, and on top of all that, people have to love using our products. There's just not enough love in software development these days, don't you think?

The Rocket Science Group is a team of 3 partners, and one industrial designer. We've been building websites and online applications since 1996. Ben and Mark met as students working at Georgia Tech's IMAGINE Multimedia lab in 1997, where they built 3D models of the city of Atlanta, along with virtual reality tours and accompanying websites. After school, they worked at Cox Interactive Media for a few years, where they helped build interactive sales presentations, a bazillion banner ads, and about 300 hundred different websites. They formed The Rocket Science Group in April 2000, and completed the "nerdy trinity" in 2001 when Dan joined as partner...

Mark Armstrong, Partner (Technology)

In his own words, Mark "figures sh%* out." Mark's a true pioneer, and heads up all our experiments at The RSG. He's the "heart" behind all the tools and projects that we build. His background is in Math, Computer Engineering, and Industrial Engineering. He's a perfectionist, and a huge Mac fan freak. When he's not programming, he puts on his amateur chef's hat and cooks up all kinds of gourmet food that the rest of us can't pronounce (but we eat it up anyway).

Ben Chestnut, Partner (Business)

If Mark's the "explorer," Ben's the "exploiter." He schemes up ways to make a buck or two off all the cool gadgets and tools that Mark and Dan program. And yes, he breaks a lot of stuff, too (that's why Mark and Dan don't let Ben in the lab a whole lot). He manages the day-to-day business operations, marketing, branding, and design direction of the company. He also works on the personality (the chimps, kangaroos, and insects) behind all our products. Ben's background is Industrial Design, graphic design, web design, and project management. When he's not working, he doodles little pictures of monkeys. Heck, even when he's working, he doodles little pictures of monkeys.

Dan Kurzius, Partner (Clients)

Mark explores, Ben exploits, and Dan explains. A man of infinite patience, Dan is happy to sit down with a customer and teach him a handy HTML trick or two. Or what FTP means, and how to upload a file. Or how to trim the fat from your code, and make your pages load faster. Dan's background is in programming, HTML, and large-scale website maintenance. Dan's the helpful hand behind everything we do. He can program something and talk about it with customers. He answers all the live chat requests, and responds to every single email help ticket. When he's not juggling several dozen websites, a handful of RSG clients, and a few thousand MailChimp users all at the same time, he's out on the golf course, or mixing tracks in his recording studio.

Ralph Gunderson, Industrial Designer

"JR" is a details man. He handles initial prototyping, and makes sure each of our website and application interfaces looks great, all the while staying consistent with its brand. If you use one of our products, and say to yourself, "wow, this is really easy to use, and it looks awesome!" thank JR for that. When he's not obsessing over fonts, kerning, CSS, and logo standards, he spends his time bicycling and dodging cars around Atlanta.