Phil Libin at Startup School 2013

Libin credits his college friends and co-founders with carrying through Engine 5, CoreStreet, and Evernote. Many stayed with him across all three companies, and he urges founders to invest in lasting relationships with people they trust to work alongside.

Engine 5 began as a programming consultancy, working long days on e-commerce projects before selling to Vignette. Libin found that consulting paid in the short term but built little lasting value. CoreStreet created reusable security products, but the team eventually realized they were not excited by the work.

For their third company, the founders wanted to build a product they loved and a business they could keep. When they combined their team with Stepan Pachikov’s Evernote group in 2007, they made the legal and investment structure too complicated. Libin says that complexity delayed fundraising by about 18 months.

After a European investor withdrew a $10 million term sheet on the day Lehman Brothers collapsed, Evernote had about three weeks of cash left. A user in Sweden offered to invest, wiring $500,000, which helped the company last six more months. That time gave Evernote traction and clearer business data for future investors.

Libin says founding does not become easier as a company grows: success brings responsibility to employees, users, and investors. He argues that building something founders personally love helps them judge its quality and can connect it with others who share their interests. Evernote’s purpose, he says, makes the difficult work rewarding over time.