If Google teaches you anything, it’s that small ideas can be big.
BEN SILBERMANNIf Google teaches you anything, it’s that small ideas can be big.
BEN SILBERMANNI 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 SILBERMANNDon’t take too much advice.
BEN SILBERMANNI look around my neighborhood, and I see people hailing a cab or ordering their food and then paying for it all with their phone. I’ve read about that stuff for a really long time, and now it’s starting to become commonplace.
BEN SILBERMANNI’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 SILBERMANNWe want the average person to use it and think that it makes the experience of using Pinterest better.
BEN SILBERMANNWhat you collect says so much about who you are.
BEN SILBERMANNOne of the things I’ve learned is to be receptive of feedback.
BEN SILBERMANNThe 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 SILBERMANNMost people generalize whatever they did, and say that was the strategy that made it work.
BEN SILBERMANNI 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 SILBERMANNDon’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 SILBERMANNI 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.
BEN SILBERMANNI 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 SILBERMANNI think the thing that I’ve learned is that really great people, they actually want to work on hard problems.
BEN SILBERMANNI think anyone who makes products has this simultaneous joy and, almost, shame looking at it. You look at it all day and all you can see is all these things you want to make better.
BEN SILBERMANN