ScribbleLive

Julia: Once you take outside $, you have to be in it for an exit (acquisition these days, not IPO)

Question: How do you decide what gets built?

Julia: We see so many things we want to do.

Ryan: Get core features down well. Will always trash first round of product, based on how users use your product.

Question: Pownce vs. Twitter vs. Jaiku = is there room for several of these typeof things?

Leah: Spend a lot of time thinking about that. It's emotionally hard for us to say/hear that. There's a lot of room in the niche that you have made. Hard to tell ppl that use other tools why they should use your tool. There will always be a leader, and it's not necessarily bad not to be that lead e.g. Pownce gets mentioned in Twitter articles all the time "and it's awesome". You can always be the "new hot shit" at any time, as long as your still in the running.

Ryan: Depends if you want to dominate the whole world :) They are just like YouSendIt but we only have 1 person, they have 25.

Question: How does your business affect your personal life?

Ryan: You can't separate yourself from your business. It's impossible.

Leah: "I'm working on it"

Question: How would you describe yourself as a company that can coexist or standout? What is your purple cow elevator pitch?

Ryan: Our company is amazing, not our product. Work 4 days a week, great to work there. "I really believe your team is everything". If you have an amazing team, the amazing products will follow.

Julia: "We really are the only ppl doing what we're doing". Have 1st mover advantage. UI is our secret sauce = lends itself to mobile phone. Gives user power to control their profile.

Leah: Pownce is the best way to sent stuff online. Links, photos, videos, music. Best way to spend stuff to your friends.

Question: @Ryan: What would you have liked to know?

Ryan: Don't hire friends. Impossible to become a friend when you are their boss.

Question: What's the best piece of advice you've received?

Leah: "Execution" = it's all about what you do with ideas.

Julia: People, ppl, ppl, ppl. It's all about the ppl at the end of the day. You can't outsource to an agencies. Need to get ppl who are dedicated to you. Finding our CTO was the best thing that could ever happen.

Ryan: Hire a fulltime developer as soon as possible. A freelance developer has no stake. Know what you want out of life: your company is your door to whatever you want. Do you want fame? money? comfortable life? He has "contentment"

Leah: @developers: Ask for a lot of equity!

Julia: "I'm crazed. It's so obsessive to have a startup"

Ryan: @StumbleUpon: What would it be like if acquisition didn't happen?

StumbleUpon: Would still be going after Angels and be self-sustaining. Did it for 4 years on our own, but didn't feel like doing that anymore.

Ryan: Do you feel happy after big payout?

StumbleUpon: Still stresses, some gone.

Flickr (Cowel): Already had an angel round, but werent growing quickly. Needed to spend $ on hardware. At the end, acquisition offer was just better. Some worries go away, some are still there.

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