Ben Silbermann on analysis
Ben Silbermann24 quotes“I was obsessed with this idea that these things that you collect, they just say so much about who you are. I can’t say it came from hard-nosed business analysis… It was just something I really want to see built.”
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More from Ben Silbermann
I think the thing that I’ve learned is that really great people, they actually want to work on hard problems.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann I thought Google was the coolest place. People there were so smart and they were all doing these really interesting things. I just felt really lucky to be a part of it even in a small way.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann I want Pinterest to be human. The Internet’s still so abstract… To me, boards are a very human way of looking at the world.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann Don’t take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of advice to give ~ with a few exceptions ~ generalize whatever they did. Don’t over-analyze everything. I myself have been guilty of over-thinking problems. Just build things and find out if they work.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann I used to wake up and look at our analytics and think, “What if yesterday was the last day anyone used Pinterest?” Like, everyone collectively decided, “We’re done!” Over time I got more confidence.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann The companies that I really admire the most are the ones that have a deep visceral understanding of why people use their service, and they figure out ways of making money that are completely consistent with how people are feeling and what they are doing at the time.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann Just build things and find out if they work.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann 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 SilbermannBen Silbermann You think you’re going to Toledo but you’re actually going to Miami and you might not have enough gas so you might need to buy gas from someone who might take you out if you aren’t driving well
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann As a kid, I always idolized entrepreneurs. I thought they were cool people in the way that I thought basketball players were cool people. It’s cool that some people get paid to dunk basketballs, but I’m not one of those people.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann People say doing a startup is like a marathon. It’s actually a roadtrip at night with no headlights.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann I always just want to move along to the next step.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann I use Pinterest for everything. Book collections, trips, hobbies. It’s all there. I planned my wedding on it. When I had a kid, I planned all his stuff on it. So it was nice to discover that I wasn’t the only one.
Ben SilbermannBen 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 SilbermannBen Silbermann When Pinterest works well, it helps you find things that are meaningful to you. We want to build a system that helps you do that.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann We want the average person to use it and think that it makes the experience of using Pinterest better.
Ben SilbermannBen Silbermann
Original quotes
From our community writers
They bleed not in the mouth but through their ink – indelible and dark.
Juana GarciaJuana Garcia I would rather shoot my arrows than keep them in my bow, I would rather risk it all than risk nothing at all.
ShamaShama I wish I knew then all of the things I know now that I am enough.
TMCTMC I feel like I’m on fire, fighting for a moment on respite – I’m not placing bets.
M.K. StandbyM.K. Standby I found him in all the chaos, and that was when my world started making sense again.
MoomerMoomer The judgement that people cast on you for how you do or do not appear is nothing more than just a projection of their own wounds.
Taj AroraTaj Arora Be grateful for what you have now, even if it’s not everything you wanted.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis It seems strange how we look in the same mirror, yet what stares back, is so painfully different.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin
More on analysis
It had no practical application in his lifetime, but today, thanks to computers, is routinely used in the modelling of climate change, astrophysics and stock-market analysis.
Bill BrysonBill Bryson Whether a tops-down or bottoms-up investor in bonds, stocks, or private equity, the standard analysis tends to judge an investor or his firm on the basis of how the bullish or bearish aspects of the cycle were managed.
Bill GrossBill Gross An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return.
Benjamin GrahamBenjamin Graham My analysis was directed toward purely physical conditions, such as defective wiring, presence of lack of air spaces between metal flues and woodwork, etc., and the results were presented in these terms.
Benjamin Lee WhorfBenjamin Lee Whorf The ideal form of common stock analysis leads to a valuation of the issue which can be compared with the current price to determine whether or not the security is an attractive purchase.
Benjamin GrahamBenjamin Graham We define a bargain issue as one which, on the basis of facts established by analysis, appears to be worth considerably more that it is selling for.
Benjamin GrahamBenjamin Graham Miracles are manifestations for which science has no definition, no analysis.
B. J. PalmerB. J. Palmer On a longer horizon, his analysis points to a range of issues about land use, transportation, and coordination of public and private investments to which the design professions have an enormous contribution to make. Here design and policy find common ground.
Barry BergdollBarry Bergdoll
