YC
Ben Silbermann at Startup School 2012
@ Y Combinator
10/25/13
Takeaways
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
It's exciting to be in front of so many people who want to build cool things.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
In March 2010, just a few months after launching Pinterest, we had almost 3,000 registered users and our daily pin count was steadily increasing.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
We made significant operational improvements by relocating our offices to a new building, sharing it with another Y Combinator startup, which reduced our costs.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Four months in, having only 3,000 accounts for a consumer startup is not very good, and it surprised me how long it can take to build something worthwhile.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Running a startup is more like a road trip in a car without good headlights and limited gas, where you constantly face uncertainty and make choices without perfect information.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Making things can take a long time; I learned that committing to a project is crucial for success.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Even rich investors are influenced by free cookies; they are just people who might be wrong despite their experience.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
If you really need money and the investor knows they are your only option, you have no leverage in negotiations, which puts you in a tough spot.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
People will give you all kinds of advice, but you should assess it for yourself because the future is unwritten and they could be wrong.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Convincing someone that you might be the one to beat the odds can lead to success, whether in recruiting, fundraising, or product adjustments. I just want to go somewhere and see somebody that I don't know using something that I made and have it be kind of useful; that is what I thought was really exciting.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
We learned a lesson from doing the iPhone app: even though we had all these ideas of great features, we weren't great at one thing; there wasn't one thing that was special about it.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
You should ship when you have one thing that you're proud of, something worthy of someone's time; if it's not worth their time, you're not going to get good feedback.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
We decided that the one thing we had to do really well was to make the website look really cool; if it didn't look cool, no one would want to show their friends.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
The few people that used Pinterest actually really loved it, so instead of immediately changing the product, I thought maybe I could just find more people like me.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
We started to have meetups to connect with people who shared common interests, which is fundamentally what Pinterest is about.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
The best moment was when things started to grow; people who hadn't met before were having real conversations, which felt like the kernel of something really special.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
A lot of people in Silicon Valley didn't get Pinterest; they looked at it and said it was visual and not organized in real time, but the fact that it made sense to someone was what really mattered to me.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Our problem in distribution wasn't an engineering problem; it was a community problem, and building the first really cool thing was a design problem.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
There are a lot of different ways to succeed in startups; you need to trust the data, the users you have, and your own instincts about what is right for your company.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Pinterest is a tool that helps people find their inspiration and get closer to doing things they want to do, whether it's redecorating their home or going on a vacation.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Pinterest is a network where millions of people are connected through billions of objects; it's the third largest source of referral traffic on the internet.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Adaptability to change is fundamental; Pinterest allows people to plan various aspects of their lives, from vacations to holiday shopping.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
It's important to build something you believe in; if you're going to commit to a long journey, at least build something you really love to avoid burnout.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
Don't give up; don't let someone talk you out of your dream, especially in a place like Silicon Valley where it can feel lonely at times.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
You can find people who share your interests, whether in your neighborhood or online, and it's good advice to invest time in those relationships.
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Ben Silbermann
10/25/13
@ Y Combinator
I just want to build something bigger than myself that a lot of people in the world will find useful; being with others who share that goal excites me.