Ben Silbermann Quotes

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.

There's a lot of pressure to look like the last company that was successful.

We're trying to do something so that when the average person uses Pinterest, it has to make the service better.

One of the things I've learned is to be receptive of feedback.

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

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.

We want the average person to use it and think that it makes the experience of using Pinterest better.

I always just want to move along to the next step.

What you collect says so much about who you are.

I always read about these stories of entrepreneurs - it's like they're in the desert with no water, and they're the ones that survive. But I've been really fortunate to have people on my team who are optimistic about the future and who know that if you work through hard times that there's usually something good at the end.

When Pinterest works well, it helps you find things that are meaningful to you. We want to build a system that helps you do that.

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

If Google teaches you anything, it's that small ideas can be big.

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.

Don't take too much advice.

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.

Most people generalize whatever they did, and say that was the strategy that made it work.

I kind of think of engineering like the chefs at a restaurant. Nobody's going to deny chefs are integrally important, but there's also so many other people who contribute to a great meal.