Customer Success Association

What Customer Success Association does

The Customer Success Association (CSA) is a private, vendor-neutral professional membership association founded in 2012 and operated by Mikael Blaisdell & Associates, Inc., headquartered in Alameda, California. It serves Customer Success executives, team leaders, and practitioners worldwide through a content-and-community platform built around three membership tiers (Associate free, Executive at $95/year, Research at $295/year) plus paid Office Hours consulting at $250 per session and vendor partnership sponsorships. Core resources include The Customer Success Library (white papers and research reports), The Customer Success Forum (a LinkedIn-hosted group with 65,000+ members), The Customer Success Wiki (community-built knowledge base), Customer Success Central (editorial blog), The Customer Success Index (267 rated resources), and the Customer Success Case Studies collection.

The CSA's technology surface is best characterized as a curated directory and registry business rather than a software product company. Its principal technical assets are The Customer Success Technology Vendors List (300+ vendors), The Customer Success TechMap (27 functional categories), The Customer Success AI Vendors Registry, and The Customer Success AI TechMap, which together catalog the CS vendor ecosystem. No public API, SDK, mobile app, or software integrations are offered, and the platform is delivered entirely through the website and LinkedIn. Recent additions include the 2024 Customer Success Salary Guide and the May 2025 AI vendor registries, indicating a slow but steady product cadence.

Revenue is generated through individual subscriptions, paid consulting (Office Hours), and vendor partnership/advertising programs. The business is founder-led with 1–10 employees, no disclosed funding, no named enterprise customers, and an explicit vendor-neutrality policy that constrains aggressive monetization. Distribution is fully digital and self-serve, primarily through the customersuccessassociation.com website and The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn. The organization claims 70,000+ members worldwide and 100,000+ unique annual website visitors, positioning it as the largest vendor-neutral CS professional community.

Name

Customer Success Association

Legal name

Mikael Blaisdell & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://customersuccessassociation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Customer Success Association is a vendor-neutral professional membership association that provides research, directories, and a 65,000+ member LinkedIn-hosted community for Customer Success executives and practitioners worldwide, monetized through tiered subscriptions and consulting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Membership

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer Success (Adoption, Retention & Expansion) (EDABABAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Customer Success Operations & Health Scoring (Renewals/QBRs) (EDABABAM)

Keywords

• Professional association
• Customer success
• Online community
• Industry research
• Vendor registry

Headquarters

HQ city

Alameda

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: The association generates revenue through tiered membership subscriptions. Associate membership is free, Executive membership costs $95/year, and Research membership costs $295/year. Multi-year discounts are available (2 years at $160, 3 years at $215 for Executive).
2. Office Hours Consulting: Direct access consulting sessions at $250/session for specific questions about CS research, strategy, technology decisions, and organizational matters. Based on over 12 years of in-depth research.
3. Vendor Partnerships and Advertising: Vendor Partners receive logo placement on main and secondary pages across the CSA site, registry listings, case study publication opportunities, and joint video event opportunities. CSA maintains strict vendor-neutrality policy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Customer Success Association is a vendor-neutral professional association that serves Customer Success practitioners worldwide through tiered membership subscriptions, curated research, and an online community forum. It provides gated access to a research library, technology vendor registries, professional standards, and direct expert consultation delivered as Office Hours sessions. Its core purpose is to support Customer Success professionals in retaining and expanding customer relationships by supplying independent content, community, and consulting resources.

Product overview

The Customer Success Association is a membership-based professional community organization (not a software product company) that provides resources, research, and networking for Customer Success professionals. Its core offerings include: The Customer Success Library with gated content access via Associate, Executive, and Research membership tiers; The Customer Success Directory as a central hub for CS resources organized into Knowledge, Resources, Services, and Technology categories; The Customer Success Forum (hosted on LinkedIn) as a community discussion platform with 65,000+ members; The Customer Success Wiki as a community-built knowledge base; Customer Success Central as an article publication platform; The Customer Success Index as a curated resource gateway with 267 rated entries; and technology ecosystem directories including The Customer Success Technology Vendors List, TechMap (27 functional categories), The Customer Success AI Vendors Registry, and The Customer Success AI TechMap. Additional offerings include Research Membership with Office Hours sessions ($250/session or $295/year with one session), Customer Success Case Studies, The CSM Competency Standard, The Customer Success Blueprint, and the Customer Success Jobs Board. The organization does not offer a software product with technical integrations or a public API.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Customer Success Index: A gateway to the best resources of the Customer Success community, containing indexed entries rated by members.
• The Customer Success Directory
• The Customer Success Library
• The Customer Success Forum
• The Customer Success Technology Vendors List
• The Customer Success AI Vendors Registry
• The Customer Success Blueprint
• The Customer Success Wiki
• Customer Success Central

Products and services

• Associate Membership Free entry-level tier of Customer Success Association membership, providing baseline community access and basic resources for Customer Success practitioners.
• Executive Membership Paid annual tier of CSA membership ($95/year) granting Customer Success professionals deeper access to research, library content, and community features beyond the Associate tier.
• Research Membership Top annual paid tier of CSA membership ($295/year), providing the most extensive access to research content, library resources, and community features for Customer Success professionals.
• Office Hours Per-session expert consulting service ($250/session) delivered by the CSA, providing direct Customer Success guidance to practitioners and organizations.
• The Customer Success Forum Online community forum for Customer Success practitioners, hosted on LinkedIn, with 65,000+ members, providing peer discussion, networking, and content sharing.
• The Customer Success Directory Curated directory of Customer Success consultants, training providers, and recruiting firms, supporting organizations seeking Customer Success expertise and talent.
• The Customer Success Technology Vendors List Curated registry of 300+ Customer Success technology vendors organized into 27 functional categories, supporting buyer-side technology evaluation.
• The Customer Success Technologies Map (TechMap) Visual ecosystem map of the Customer Success technology landscape, used to categorize and contextualize vendors in the CSA vendor registry.
• The Customer Success AI Vendors Registry Specialized registry of AI vendors serving Customer Success use cases, providing a curated directory of artificial intelligence providers in the CS space.
• The Customer Success AI TechMap Visual ecosystem map of artificial intelligence categories relevant to Customer Success, complementing the AI Vendors Registry.
• The CSM Competency Standard Proprietary professional standard published by the CSA, defining the competency requirements for the Customer Success Manager role.
• The Customer Success Jobs Board Dedicated job board for Customer Success roles, providing a hiring channel for organizations seeking CS talent and a job search resource for CS practitioners.

Quantifiable outcome

• Community reach: 70,000+ CSA members and 65,000+ Forum members
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Mikael Blaisdell & AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounder organization behind the Customer Success Association. Mikael Blaisdell is the moderator of The Customer Success Forum and primary researcher. This is the founding entity that established the CSA in 2012.
• TheSuccessLeaguecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured as a Customer Success Advisor on the CSA website. Provides CS benchmarking and advisory services to the community.
• Melo AssociatescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured as a Customer Success Advisor on the CSA website. Provides CS consulting and advisory services.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Planhat: Customer Success platform serving B2B SaaS CS teams with proprietary content and a community of CS leaders. Comparable as another well-funded vendor-aligned CS content and community operator.
• Catalyst: Customer Success platform offering software and customer education/professional services to CS organizations. Comparable as a vendor-invested CS thought leader and community participant operating in CSA's space.
• ClientSuccess: Customer Success management software vendor serving SMB and mid-market CS teams with educational content and community. Comparable because it targets the same CS practitioner segment and competes for vendor mindshare and content distribution.
• ChurnZero: Customer Success software vendor with strong content, events and community programs aimed at CS practitioners. Comparable because it competes for the same CS audience and vendor marketing dollars.
• Gainsight: Leading Customer Success software platform with an extensive practitioner community, certifications, and content library. Comparable because it competes for the same CS professional attention, vendor marketing budgets, and CS thought leadership that CSA monetizes.
• Totango: Customer Success platform that publishes research, runs a CS community and education programs. Comparable as a CS-focused commercial entity that overlaps with CSA's audience of CS leaders and vendor ecosystem.
• Vitally: Customer Success platform targeting SaaS CS teams with product-led content and a CS practitioner community. Comparable as a CS-vendor community that overlaps with CSA's member base and vendor ecosystem.

Others

• Product School: Product management training and certification provider with courses, live events and a practitioner community. Comparable as an adjacent corporate-training/community business model targeting professionals in technology organizations.
• Mind the Product: Global community and content platform for product managers. Comparable as an adjacent professional community with events, content and memberships serving a similar practitioner-audience playbook to CSA.
• Pavilion: Membership community for revenue leaders including CS, sales and marketing. Comparable as a parallel professional membership/community model targeting overlapping executive buyers and monetizing via tiered memberships and partnerships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/MikaelBlaisdell
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-customer-success-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Customer Success Association