Tote

Ben Silbermann describes how Pinterest grew from an earlier shopping app, Tote, into a service for collecting and discovering inspiration. He explains that building something worthwhile can take years, and that committing, shipping something people value, and learning from real users matter more than following conventional startup advice. He recounts early fundraising challenges and how Pinterest found its first community through meetups and focused outreach. He closes by emphasizing adaptability, building a product the team believes in, sharing ownership, and finding support from other founders.