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JC

Jason Citron

04/29/25

@ a16z speedrun

After we fully committed to Discord, we figured out how to make it work within four weeks, demonstrating the importance of focus and conviction in a startup.

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The Untold Story of Discord: "Pivots and F*ck Ups..."

@ a16z speedrun

The Untold Story of Discord: "Pivots and F*ck Ups..."

04/29/25

Related Takeaways

JC

Jason Citron

04/29/25

@ a16z speedrun

When we pivoted to Discord, half of our team thought it was a horrible idea, and one employee even quit through a Post-it note, showing the skepticism we faced.

JC

Jason Citron

04/29/25

@ a16z speedrun

We decided to be intentional about making Discord an amazing place to work for creative people, prioritizing a good environment over just pushing people hard.

JC

Jason Citron

04/29/25

@ a16z speedrun

It became clear that 'Fates Forever' wasn't going to be big enough to bootstrap our network, so we decided to focus on launching Discord as a standalone chat app.

JC

Jason Citron

04/29/25

@ a16z speedrun

The launch of Discord coincided with the rise of WebRTC technology, which allowed us to reduce friction and improve interoperability in our communication platform.

JC

Jason Citron

11/25/24

@ 20VC with Harry Stebbings

The breakthrough for Discord's growth came from inviting users to provide feedback rather than just promoting the app, which helped build a community.

JC

Jason Citron

11/25/24

@ 20VC with Harry Stebbings

In the early days, investors rejected our multiplayer game idea because they doubted its potential for success, which ultimately led us to pivot to Discord.

CA

Chase Adam

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

We realized that we weren't alone in our struggles; other startups faced similar challenges, and persistence was key to success.

JC

Jason Citron

04/29/25

@ a16z speedrun

Laying off a third of the company was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was necessary to focus our efforts on Discord.

JC

Jason Citron

11/25/24

@ 20VC with Harry Stebbings

The initial thesis for Discord was that a durable gaming company needed an established distribution advantage, leading to the creation of a group chat app for gamers.