My Sit-Down with Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann@@

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Ben Silbermann started five companies that all failed in quick succession before finding "the one." But as long as it took him to get there and as hard as it was along the way, he never gave up. That was the Pinterest CEO's message to students at last weekend's BUILD Gala where Silbermann was honored. He even auctioned off a "Pin-ternship" for one lucky winner to work alongside the team.

Before his speech, I sat down with Silbermann, who rarely does interviews.


He spoke candidly about the importance of entrepreneurship, the value of studying engineering (even though he didn't), and his own personal journey in founding a company that's raised $564 million in funding at a $3.8 billion valuation. "Most things worthwhile, take a while," he said, crediting his wife and mentors like Eventbrite CEO Kevin Hartz who have supported him along the way. He declined to talk about the progress of monetization efforts, but we know Pinterest has been testing "promoted pins" and set a goal to start making more significant revenue this year.

Silbermann is more humble than most CEOs, recently saying he didn't think his company deserved its sky-high valuation just yet. When he took the stage on Saturday, he quipped about how nervous he was, then delivered one of the more eloquent and moving speeches I've heard from a tech CEO, let alone one who hardly ever speaks in public. I asked him to tell me more about the "tough guy" we don't know, who helped build an online pinboard site that's so popular, it's attracted 21% of U.S. adults online.

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