Before founding Pinterest, Ben Silbermann was employed at Google where he worked in advertising. Eventually he left Google and began designing various iPhone apps. After a rocky first app launch Ben began working with Evan Sharp on a digital pinboard product that would eventually become Pinterest.
Initially the app was beta tested by 5,000 users who Ben kept personal contact with over the beta testing period. In 2011 the website and non-iOS apps were released to the public and Pinterest gained traction and Time Magazine named it as one of their top 50 websites of the year. Nine years later, Pinterest held its IPO at a valuation of $12 billion.
Pinterest has certainly been a successful company! It seems like there is a clear pattern of ex Google employees who go on to start their own tech businesses. Silbermann was smart to try out multiple mediums for his idea like websites and apps. I enjoyed the article and while I knew about the app I had never heard of Ben Silbermann.
I find it interesting that Silbermann was employed at Google prior to finding Pinterest, I’m sure the experience from working there helped him significantly in developing the app. It was smart for him to beta test the app at first to see if it gained any traction, I’m sure that makes modifications easier and saves time in the long run.