The best companies in the world have all had predecessors. 'YouTube' was a dating site. You always have to evolve into something else.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
YouTube began as a failed video-dating site. Twitter was a failed music service. In each case, the founders continued to try new concepts when their big ideas failed. They often worked around the clock to try to overcome their failure before all their capital was spent. Speed to fail gives a startup more runway to pivot and ultimately succeed.
YouTube is becoming much more than an entertainment destination.
I think the next set of media companies are going to be created on the web and that YouTube is going to be a big part of that.
When I first started YouTubeing, the idea was, 'Oh, YouTube is going to be a stepping stone to get to other places,' and I just totally don't agree with that. I think YouTube is amazing. The digital space is amazing.
What we'd like to think of YouTube as is a part of Google with very overlapping goals and values. We're a fundamental part of the advertising business for Google.
I think YouTube used to have a negative connotation, like it was the place where the rejects went and made careers, but I'm proud to be YouTuber. I wanted to be in that first generation of YouTube stars who transitioned into the 'real world.' It was a really good way to build my business.
YouTube is such a funny little world. You can create a fanbase.
When I started half.com, our three biggest competitors were Borders, Tower Records and Blockbuster Video.
Facebook, Google, Apple, Yahoo - there's a common theme. None of these companies ever sold. By staying independent, they were able to build a great company.
We're trying to evolve a lot away from YouTube because YouTube is awesome - they have a huge audience, and we started there - but then you're at the mercy of their algorithms a lot, too. They can change anything, and it's really up to them, and you can't say anything about it.