Gusto’s path to $1 billion in revenue, milestone-by-milestone

After closing, a San Francisco flower market isn’t exactly idyllic. 

But in 2012, Eddie Kim and Tomer London, cofounders of HR software startup Gusto, were there to see Christina Stembel. The owner of Farmgirl Flowers, Stembel needed to hire her first employee and, accordingly, had to set up payroll for the first time. She’d been working since 3 AM, but knew payroll was something she simply couldn’t bungle.  

“The flower market closes at noon or 1 PM, so I was the only person still there,” Stembel laughs.