Ben Silbermann at Startup School 2012

Four months after launching Pinterest, the team had about 3,000 accounts, after beginning work in November 2009 and Silbermann leaving his job in May 2008. He says building something worthwhile can take much longer than expected, with startup decisions made under uncertainty and limited information.

Silbermann says repeatedly delaying product ideas was a way of avoiding commitment, and that leaving Google helped him focus. The team’s earlier shopping app, Tote, became difficult to ship as they added features and faced delays getting it approved. For Pinterest, he recommends launching when there is at least one thing worth a user’s time.

The first Pinterest launch drew little response, so Silbermann looked for more people who shared his interests. Meetups and the Pin It Forward campaign helped the team find people interested in collections and show them how the service could be useful. In-person conversations suggested the service was creating genuine connections, even when Silicon Valley observers did not understand it.

Silbermann says Pinterest’s early distribution challenge was about community, while making the product compelling was a design challenge. He encourages founders to learn from users and data while using their own judgment, since the product’s purpose can change. He also argues that sharing ownership can help attract people to build something larger together.

Silbermann’s closing advice is to build something you believe in, since a long startup journey can otherwise lead to burnout. He also urges founders not to give up when progress is slow. Friends, meetups, and other founder communities can make the lonely early stages easier.