Ben Silbermann
Ben Silbermann | |
|---|---|
 Silbermann at the South By Southwest Interactive conference in March 2012 | |
| Born | c. 1982/1983 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | CEO of Pinterest |
| Known for | Co-founding Pinterest |
| Spouse | Divya Bhaskaran |
Ben Silbermann (born c. 1982/1983)[1] is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded and is CEO of Pinterest, a virtual pinboard which lets users organize images, recipes and other things.[2] The website allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own collections and/or 'like' photos.
Silbermann was raised in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1998, Silbermann attended the acclaimed Research Science Institute at MIT. He graduated from Yale in 2003 with a political science major.[3] His parents, Jane Wang and Neil Silbermann, are ophthalmologists with a family practice. He is married to Divya, with whom he has a son, Max.[4]
Prior to Pinterest, Silbermann worked at Google in the sales organization;[2] however, after a short time with the company he left and started designing his own iPhone apps with a college friend, Paul Sciarra. After many app failures, Pinterest was born. However, Pinterest saw a low user base and very little engagement in its early stages. Silbermann said the prospect of telling people he failed was too embarrassing so he and Sciarra continued to tinker and improve the site. Today, Pinterest claims over 20 million users.[2]
References
- ^ "30 Under 30: The Essential Names to Know - Ben Silbermann, 29, and Evan Sharp, 29, Pinterest co-founders". Elle. May 11, 2012.
- ^ a b c Shontell, Alyson (March 13, 2012). "Meet Ben Silbermann, The Brilliant Young Co-Founder Of Pinterest". Business Insider.
- ^ Hempel, Jessi (April 9, 2012). "Is Pinterest the Next Facebook?". Fortune. 165 (5): 109–114.
- ^ "Most Popular E-mail Newsletter". USA Today. 2011-10-28.