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No amount of technology is going to change the fact that people process information visually.
Ben Silbermann -
So many things that I was excited about as a kid were about proximity. The idea that somebody could grow up in rural Iowa and be into break dancing because of YouTube - that was a really simple, profound idea.
Ben Silbermann
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Most people generalize whatever they did, and say that was the strategy that made it work.
Ben Silbermann -
I kind of think of engineering like the chefs at a restaurant. Nobody's going to deny chefs are integrally important, but there's also so many other people who contribute to a great meal.
Ben Silbermann -
Google was like the only company that was like, 'We're making so much money; let's take a picture of every street in the world.' Nobody does that.
Ben Silbermann -
There's a lot of pressure to look like the last company that was successful.
Ben Silbermann -
A lot of the future of search is going to be about pictures instead of keywords. Computer vision technology is going to be a big deal.
Ben Silbermann -
I really liked insects - all kinds: flies, grasshoppers, weevils.
Ben Silbermann
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I'd never managed anyone before, so I don't have a lot of experience. But I'm lucky - I have a lot of team members who have a really honest relationship with me.
Ben Silbermann -
Don't take too much advice.
Ben Silbermann -
For me, Google was the coolest place. It was the coolest place. People there were so smart. And they were all doing these really interesting things. I just felt lucky to be part of it even in a small way.
Ben Silbermann -
I always just want to move along to the next step.
Ben Silbermann -
So March 2010, we launched Pinterest, and we were at 3,000 accounts. And that wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't started building Pinterest actually in November 2009. And that alone wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't left my job to start a company in May 2008.
Ben Silbermann -
The biggest thing about Pinterest is that people are there saving ideas for their personal lives. Not to rile up other people or make a big statement.
Ben Silbermann
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I always describe Facebook and Twitter to some extent as 'them time': it's time about the world and what's outside of you. Pinterest, for a lot of users, is 'me time.' What do I want my future to be? Who am I? What are the things I want to do?
Ben Silbermann -
What you collect says so much about who you are.
Ben Silbermann -
If Google teaches you anything, it's that small ideas can be big.
Ben Silbermann -
The No. 1 challenge is getting people to understand that Pinterest isn't a social network.
Ben Silbermann -
I think there are a lot more people that don't use Pinterest in the world than do use it, so for most people, that first experience is really, really important. I think feeling really close and in touch with that first user experience is pretty basic to making it better every day.
Ben Silbermann -
There are a lot of really valuable services that are always pushing you to communicate with other people. But there are relatively few services that are about helping you be the person you want to be and fulfilling your ambitions.
Ben Silbermann
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I think that a lot of the most talented and driven people, they're not super deterred by failure. So if you put out a really big challenge, I think they get reality excited by that - they say, 'Hey, why not, let's go give it a shot, and if we fall short on that, at least we took a shot at doing something really important and meaningful.'
Ben Silbermann