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I think the thing that I’ve learned is that really great people, they actually want to work on hard problems.

Ben Silbermann

People say doing a startup is like a marathon. It’s actually a roadtrip at night with no headlights.
BEN SILBERMANN

Night People Thinking
I 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

Joy Looks Thinking
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.
BEN SILBERMANN

Analysis Ideas Want
Just build things and find out if they work.
BEN SILBERMANN

Entrepreneur Starting Work
I think the thing that I’ve learned is that really great people, they actually want to work on hard problems.
BEN SILBERMANN

People Thinking Want
I 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 SILBERMANN

Long People Phones
There’s a lot of pressure to look like the last company that was successful.
BEN SILBERMANN

Entrepreneur Looks Successful
We’re trying to do something so that when the average person uses Pinterest, it has to make the service better.
BEN SILBERMANN

Average Better Service Trying Use
Most people generalize whatever they did, and say that was the strategy that made it work.
BEN SILBERMANN

Made People Strategy
We want the average person to use it and think that it makes the experience of using Pinterest better.
BEN SILBERMANN

Average Pinterest Thinking
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 SILBERMANN

Entrepreneur Feelings People
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 SILBERMANN

Boards Way World
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 SILBERMANN

Country Driving Enough Gas Someone
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

Experience Honest Lucky Team
If Google teaches you anything, it’s that small ideas can be big.
BEN SILBERMANN

Entrepreneur Google Ideas
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 SILBERMANN

Anyone Thinking Yesterday

I think the thing that I’ve learned is that really great people, they actually want to work on hard problems.

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I think the thing that I’ve learned is that really great people, they actually want to work on hard problems.

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