Turns flexible and scalable auth into seamless logins for a growing startup community
Contrary is a unique venture fund that finds, invests in, and nurtures emerging talent in the tech industry. That doesn't just mean providing the capital that new startups need to grow, but also the tooling and resources that entrepreneurs need to thrive. Their community includes scouts, venture partners, early-stage founders, and other members who can count on Contrary for everything from career coaching to fellowships to networking opportunities.
Given their tech-builder backgrounds, Contrary's members expect a magical online experience — far from the old-school systems of traditional VC. With Stytch, whether they’re getting onboarded, joining an event, or exploring resources on the platform, they get frictionless, passwordless auth flows that are just as agile as the products they’re supporting in their day-to-day work.
Partnership highlights
- Speed: Stytch’s out-of-the-box SDK enabled Contrary to deliver value quickly to their community, without wasting time troubleshooting and iterating on authentication.
- Flexibility: Contrary didn’t want to be locked into a fixed auth flow. Stytch’s integrated product suite lets them choose which methods they implement and when.
- Self-service: Stytch’s intuitive solutions empowers Contrary to fly solo. They can easily embed and test new flows locally, while knowing that the Stytch team is just an email or a slack away from any support they may need.
Challenge
Contrary knew from the start that their community and ecosystem would grow quickly. While early users shared the same, internal email domain — allowing them to rely on OAuth sign up and log in flows alone — they were primed to expand into exciting new markets and opportunities. They needed an auth solution that would scale with them.
Most auth providers only offered rigid products that would lock Contrary into a specific authentication flow and UX from day one, regardless of how their platform and users evolved. Stytch offered them the flexibility to scale on their terms.
Solution
With Stytch’s comprehensive product suite and turnkey SDKs, it’s simple for Contrary to work new auth methods into existing flows, like Email Magic Links to enhance their users’ access and experience, and MFA to add an additional layer of security.
“Stytch’s SDK makes it easy to toggle on and off different auth products — rather than having to navigate a dashboard or complex pieces of code — so we can explore and implement the flows that we want to offer.”
— Nathan Chiu, Software Engineer, Contrary
Stytch’s products are easy to use and understand, so Contrary’s engineering team can test new options and play with configurations and customizations without having to follow a tiresome onboarding process.
These self-serve qualities not only save them considerable time and resources, but allow them to build swiftly and confidently with an effective solution.
“It slows you down to join a sales call when all you want to do is build quickly, ensure it works, and get a fair price based on actual use. We like that Stytch isn’t there to sell; they’re there to help us move fast. If I do have a question or issue, the support team responds quickly. They've even pulled in PMs for more in-depth questions or feature requests.”
— Jennifer Yang-Wong, VP of Product, Contrary
Results
With Stytch’s speed and flexibility at their back, Contrary was able to launch quickly. And now, they can scale and adapt their auth flows to their growing community’s needs.
- <100 lines of code: Stytch’s SDK gave Contrary’s team a simple block of code they could insert directly into their application — saving them countless integration hours, resources, and headaches.
- <1 day to scale: With Stytch’s flexible platform, adding Email Magic Links to Contrary’s flow was like flipping a switch, allowing them to launch a new auth factor in less than a day.
- Zero-effort debugging: Stytch’s intuitive dashboard gives Contrary clear visibility into each user’s settings, making it easy to diagnose login issues and address any errors or bugs.
The bottom line
Stytch’s flexible, frictionless auth flows mean Contrary can build quickly while providing the smooth sign up and log in experiences their community expects — and the valuable resources they deserve.
Stytch’s self-serve “starter pack” was perfect to get Contrary up and running. And as their platform and user needs evolve, they love how Stytch’s scalable solution will evolve seamlessly with them.
“It’s great to know we can just enable new flows through Stytch when we’re ready and customize them to our users’ needs. As our community grows, we’re thrilled that Stytch will continue to support our security goals.”
— Jennifer Yang-Wong, VP of Product, Contrary
What can Stytch do for you?
Jump into our Docs to learn more about our flexible, frictionless SDKs — or sign up for a free account to try them out for yourself. Have questions? Reach us via Slack, Stytch Forum, or email
Disclosure: In addition to being a third-party vendor of Contrary, Stytch is also a portfolio company of one or more of Contrary’s private funds, which could pose a conflict of interest due to the affiliation. Both Nathan Chiu and Jen Yang-Wong are employees of Contrary. Neither Nathan, Jen, nor Contrary were compensated for this testimonial.