The Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series is supported by Diet Coke®. Now, the drink that helps you stay extraordinary brings you extraordinary people. Find Diet Coke® on Facebook for access to a whole lot of extraordinary.
Posterous entered the world when self-described “Apple fanboy” Sachin Agarwal, a student of stellar product design, left his cushy job at Apple after he felt a “burning need” to build a better way to share photos and content on the web.
The startup was first embraced by early adopters for its simplicity, but was often pitted against the trendier, higher traffic-generating Tumblr. Three years later, Posterous is now developing its own identity thanks to its wildly popular new group sharing features.
“What we’re finding is that Facebook’s network has gotten too big,” Agarwal says. “It’s because they are so successful that people feel like they don’t have easy controls to indicate who can see what. It’s because of their success that we have this opportunity [with groups].”
In an interview with Mashable, Agarwal discusses how he was able to leave his dream job in pursuit of the unknown, elaborates on what inspires him, shares advice for other would-be entrepreneurs and talks about his experiences with Y Combinator’s fraternity-like network.
Name: Sachin Agarwal
Company: Posterous
Year Founded: 2008
Fun Fact: There’s a restaurant in Newcastle, England named after him. “My mom and dad met and got married in London, England. That’s where I was born and I lived in England until we moved to the United States when I was three years old,” Agarwal explains. “They opened a restaurant in Newcastle, England soon after I was born. The name: Sachin’s. That restaurant still exists today, but I haven’t been there in over 25 years.”
Q&A With Sachin Agarwal, founder & CEO of Posterous
What was your role at Apple and why did you leave?
I was an Apple fanboy my whole life. I got my first computer when I was 12; it was an Apple. I never looked back and have never had a PC. It was never a question.
Apple is what influenced me to become a computer science major at school and ultimately that was my dream job. I knew all along that is where I wanted to go.
“For me, it came down to a burning need. I was living in New York and keeping in touch with all of my friends in San Francisco. I was always blogging, taking photos and posting photos — it was simply too hard. I wanted to build a better system.”
When I graduated in 2002, I interviewed all over the place and got offers from Apple and Amazon. I honestly really considered the Amazon offer … but I ended up at Apple. I was there for six years, and the whole time I was there I was working on Final Cut Pro.
We started out as the darlings of Apple. Over the course of six years, I watched the stock go up 20x, but it wasn’t because of Final Cut Pro. So, I was able to sit back and watch the rise of the iPod and iPhone.
For me, it came down to a burning need. I was living in New York and keeping in touch with all of my friends in San Francisco. I was always blogging, taking photos and posting photos — it was simply too hard. I wanted to build a better system.
Posterous went through Y Combinator’s incubator program. How has that helped you?
I think incubators like Y Combinator help a ton to get you past the first 50 hurdles that you’re going to hit.
Some of the things that I’ve never had to face before in my career — legal issues, marketing and PR — I would have just been out there alone. For first-time entrepreneurs, it’s a huge, huge value to have that support and network.
I was in a fraternity in college. The similarities between Y Combinator and a fraternity are ridiculous. When we did it [three years ago], there were 22 companies and 40 to 50 people in total, which is generally about the size of a pledge class at a fraternity. You bond really well and become really close to everyone in your batch because you’re basically working alongside them constantly. You’re at the same stage of your company.
We’re still friends with everyone. We still get together. But then there is the greater network. You still feel this connection where you can go to [other Y Combinator startups] for help or they can come to you for help. There’s this unwritten rule that you’re going to help each other.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by companies that build the best possible product and provide the best possible service. On the product end, Apple and Audi are two companies that go above and beyond to build products that are truly user-focused.
But service is equally important. And that’s why I love companies like American Express and Amazon. Even Costco makes my list. It’s not about saving money: It’s about the trust they have earned from me.
I think it’s inspiring to see companies that don’t have to take shortcuts on product or service quality to be successful and profitable.
What is your vision of success?
Success means being able to do what I enjoy every single day.
First, that means being able to spend time with my friends and family. They are the most important part of my life. I believe in work/life balance, and I don’t think you have to kill yourself to have a successful startup. I don’t ask that of my team.
“Success means being able to do what I enjoy every single day.”
Second, it means enjoying my work every day. For me, this means that I am working on a service that is an indispensable part of people’s lives. It means I’m working with a great team, and on an ambitious problem. I love waking up in the morning, excited about work.
What about your startup idea was game-changing?
Our disruptive idea was simplicity — that you could create and update your blog via email when competing services were making blogging more complicated. Email was the perfect platform to bet on since all mobile devices have email, and you can send photos and other attachments.
We’ve extended beyond blogging but continue to focus on the value of simplicity and how it can solve consumer problems. Fortunately, many aspects of the online sharing process are still broken, which creates opportunities for Posterous.
What was the pivotal point in your early startup days?
We launched group sharing on Posterous in December 2010. Posterous had been around for about a year and a half, and we were best known for our blogging product. But we had another set of very passionate users. These users loved Posterous as a way to share privately with a group of people.
Since we had the foundation for group sharing already built, and we were already focused on email posting, we decided to launch Posterous Groups. It was a product driven by our own user base.
This was a pivotal point for Posterous. Group-sharing is growing like crazy. People are looking for easier ways to control who sees what they post online, and two-way group sharing makes sense to people.
What was the biggest challenge you faced with your startup?
The greatest challenge is building a strong team. Hiring is hard. We only want the best, and, as a result, Posterous has hired more slowly than other startups at our stage. The risk of hiring a mediocre performer is enormous, so we’ve tried to keep our standards really high. Balancing this discipline against what the Posterous community is asking for is incredibly difficult.
What are the biggest influences on your business model?
Services that charge their customers directly rather than rely on advertising. If you are delivering tangible value, your customers will pay for it … and you’ll never have to sacrifice user experience because an advertiser wants a flashing button.
How does Posterous utilize social media?
Our users are some of the most social media savvy in the world, so we’re very active on many social media platforms. It’s a great way for me to stay on the pulse of our user base and make sure they are happy.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
“If you are delivering tangible value, your customers will pay for it … and you’ll never have to sacrifice user experience because an advertiser wants a flashing button.”
Starting a company is one of the hardest things you can do in life. You will be challenged every day, and you will have to sacrifice a lot if you want to be successful. So my advice is that you shouldn’t rush into starting one. Don’t start a company just for the sake of starting a company. Wait until you have an idea that you believe in so much that it keeps you up at night.
It was very hard for me to leave Apple — I loved my job and the company. Working at Apple was a dream come true. But then I had another dream: I wanted to make sharing online easier and safer. This idea kept me up at night, and eventually drove me to work nights and weekends to make it happen.
Until you have that idea, get more experience. It’s really valuable to work for an established, successful company before starting your own company. I learned a ton at Apple about how to design, develop and ship products — this experience still helps me every day at Posterous.
And before Apple, I worked at my parents’ restaurants in Los Angeles. I learned how to run various aspects of the business including accounting, payroll, marketing and more.
I’m a big believer in education and experience. The longer you wait before starting a company, the greater your chances are for success.
Series Supported by Diet Coke®
The Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series is supported by Diet Coke®. Now, the drink that helps you stay extraordinary brings you extraordinary people. Find Diet Coke® on Facebook for access to a whole lot of extraordinary.
More About: entrepreneurship, Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series, posterous, startupFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:25:17 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/muVUJUm8NWg/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/23/posterous-sachin-agarwal-interview/#comments
Posterous entered the world when self-described “Apple fanboy” Sachin Agarwal, a student of stellar product design, left his cushy job at Apple after he felt a “burning need” to build a better way to share photos and content on the web.
The startup was first embraced by early adopters for its simplicity, but was often pitted against the trendier, higher traffic-generating Tumblr. Three years later, Posterous is now developing its own identity thanks to its wildly popular new group sharing features.
“What we’re finding is that Facebook’s network has gotten too big,” Agarwal says. “It’s because they are so successful that people feel like they don’t have easy controls to indicate who can see what. It’s because of their success that we have this opportunity [with groups].”
In an interview with Mashable, Agarwal discusses how he was able to leave his dream job in pursuit of the unknown, elaborates on what inspires him, shares advice for other would-be entrepreneurs and talks about his experiences with Y Combinator’s fraternity-like network.
Name: Sachin Agarwal
Company: Posterous
Year Founded: 2008
Fun Fact: There’s a restaurant in Newcastle, England named after him. “My mom and dad met and got married in London, England. That’s where I was born and I lived in England until we moved to the United States when I was three years old,” Agarwal explains. “They opened a restaurant in Newcastle, England soon after I was born. The name: Sachin’s. That restaurant still exists today, but I haven’t been there in over 25 years.”
Q&A With Sachin Agarwal, founder & CEO of Posterous
What was your role at Apple and why did you leave?
I was an Apple fanboy my whole life. I got my first computer when I was 12; it was an Apple. I never looked back and have never had a PC. It was never a question.
Apple is what influenced me to become a computer science major at school and ultimately that was my dream job. I knew all along that is where I wanted to go.
“For me, it came down to a burning need. I was living in New York and keeping in touch with all of my friends in San Francisco. I was always blogging, taking photos and posting photos — it was simply too hard. I wanted to build a better system.”
When I graduated in 2002, I interviewed all over the place and got offers from Apple and Amazon. I honestly really considered the Amazon offer … but I ended up at Apple. I was there for six years, and the whole time I was there I was working on Final Cut Pro.
We started out as the darlings of Apple. Over the course of six years, I watched the stock go up 20x, but it wasn’t because of Final Cut Pro. So, I was able to sit back and watch the rise of the iPod and iPhone.
For me, it came down to a burning need. I was living in New York and keeping in touch with all of my friends in San Francisco. I was always blogging, taking photos and posting photos — it was simply too hard. I wanted to build a better system.
Posterous went through Y Combinator’s incubator program. How has that helped you?
I think incubators like Y Combinator help a ton to get you past the first 50 hurdles that you’re going to hit.
Some of the things that I’ve never had to face before in my career — legal issues, marketing and PR — I would have just been out there alone. For first-time entrepreneurs, it’s a huge, huge value to have that support and network.
I was in a fraternity in college. The similarities between Y Combinator and a fraternity are ridiculous. When we did it [three years ago], there were 22 companies and 40 to 50 people in total, which is generally about the size of a pledge class at a fraternity. You bond really well and become really close to everyone in your batch because you’re basically working alongside them constantly. You’re at the same stage of your company.
We’re still friends with everyone. We still get together. But then there is the greater network. You still feel this connection where you can go to [other Y Combinator startups] for help or they can come to you for help. There’s this unwritten rule that you’re going to help each other.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by companies that build the best possible product and provide the best possible service. On the product end, Apple and Audi are two companies that go above and beyond to build products that are truly user-focused.
But service is equally important. And that’s why I love companies like American Express and Amazon. Even Costco makes my list. It’s not about saving money: It’s about the trust they have earned from me.
I think it’s inspiring to see companies that don’t have to take shortcuts on product or service quality to be successful and profitable.
What is your vision of success?
Success means being able to do what I enjoy every single day.
First, that means being able to spend time with my friends and family. They are the most important part of my life. I believe in work/life balance, and I don’t think you have to kill yourself to have a successful startup. I don’t ask that of my team.
“Success means being able to do what I enjoy every single day.”
Second, it means enjoying my work every day. For me, this means that I am working on a service that is an indispensable part of people’s lives. It means I’m working with a great team, and on an ambitious problem. I love waking up in the morning, excited about work.
What about your startup idea was game-changing?
Our disruptive idea was simplicity — that you could create and update your blog via email when competing services were making blogging more complicated. Email was the perfect platform to bet on since all mobile devices have email, and you can send photos and other attachments.
We’ve extended beyond blogging but continue to focus on the value of simplicity and how it can solve consumer problems. Fortunately, many aspects of the online sharing process are still broken, which creates opportunities for Posterous.
What was the pivotal point in your early startup days?
We launched group sharing on Posterous in December 2010. Posterous had been around for about a year and a half, and we were best known for our blogging product. But we had another set of very passionate users. These users loved Posterous as a way to share privately with a group of people.
Since we had the foundation for group sharing already built, and we were already focused on email posting, we decided to launch Posterous Groups. It was a product driven by our own user base.
This was a pivotal point for Posterous. Group-sharing is growing like crazy. People are looking for easier ways to control who sees what they post online, and two-way group sharing makes sense to people.
What was the biggest challenge you faced with your startup?
The greatest challenge is building a strong team. Hiring is hard. We only want the best, and, as a result, Posterous has hired more slowly than other startups at our stage. The risk of hiring a mediocre performer is enormous, so we’ve tried to keep our standards really high. Balancing this discipline against what the Posterous community is asking for is incredibly difficult.
What are the biggest influences on your business model?
Services that charge their customers directly rather than rely on advertising. If you are delivering tangible value, your customers will pay for it … and you’ll never have to sacrifice user experience because an advertiser wants a flashing button.
How does Posterous utilize social media?
Our users are some of the most social media savvy in the world, so we’re very active on many social media platforms. It’s a great way for me to stay on the pulse of our user base and make sure they are happy.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
“If you are delivering tangible value, your customers will pay for it … and you’ll never have to sacrifice user experience because an advertiser wants a flashing button.”
Starting a company is one of the hardest things you can do in life. You will be challenged every day, and you will have to sacrifice a lot if you want to be successful. So my advice is that you shouldn’t rush into starting one. Don’t start a company just for the sake of starting a company. Wait until you have an idea that you believe in so much that it keeps you up at night.
It was very hard for me to leave Apple — I loved my job and the company. Working at Apple was a dream come true. But then I had another dream: I wanted to make sharing online easier and safer. This idea kept me up at night, and eventually drove me to work nights and weekends to make it happen.
Until you have that idea, get more experience. It’s really valuable to work for an established, successful company before starting your own company. I learned a ton at Apple about how to design, develop and ship products — this experience still helps me every day at Posterous.
And before Apple, I worked at my parents’ restaurants in Los Angeles. I learned how to run various aspects of the business including accounting, payroll, marketing and more.
I’m a big believer in education and experience. The longer you wait before starting a company, the greater your chances are for success.
Series Supported by Diet Coke®
The Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series is supported by Diet Coke®. Now, the drink that helps you stay extraordinary brings you extraordinary people. Find Diet Coke® on Facebook for access to a whole lot of extraordinary.
More About: entrepreneurship, Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series, posterous, startupFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:25:17 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/muVUJUm8NWg/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/23/posterous-sachin-agarwal-interview/#comments
