Live data from Hacker News

Pinterest Raises $200M

readwrite.com

41–50 of 73 posts

Re: Pinterest Raises $200M

#41

I've heard the name and ignored it. But what the hell, let's take a look. Obviously, this website is very popular with some people but if you go to the default page you get this: http://imgur.com/XWdkO8i ...a popup that says "He used Pinterest to start his collection" on top of a blurry background. Who's "He"? Sign up with Facebook? Why? And all this confusion in a popup? Really? The very worst aspect of 1990s web de…

I am in agreement with how jmduke responded to your comment, but wanted to add a couple things. I contracted with Pinterest for several months on a team directly adjacent to the team responsible for designing, testing, and building the logged out home page you see here. It was very thorough, going through immense amounts of research with a multitude of completely different design experiences, and this page (and the o…

Exactly! They are optimizing for their current users (or soon to be users). In other words, you may be a little out of their target market. Second, if someone came to the site directly, then they have at least some brand awareness. So they have some idea what Pinterest is about in the first place.

Re: Pinterest Raises $200M

#42

I get why Pinterest is interesting. I don't use it, but I get why people use it although maybe I should. But what I don't get is why a site with pictures to pin needs $200M. It's basically still the same site it was when it had $500K in funding. Does it cost $200M to scale from thousands of users to hundreds of millions? Wikipedia doesn't need $200M to run.

Growth...growth might be in their future plans. Acquisitions, KLO, more employees, new directions. I hope they go big. Great service, smart design that works. Monetizing would be easy.

Re: Pinterest Raises $200M

#43

I've heard the name and ignored it. But what the hell, let's take a look. Obviously, this website is very popular with some people but if you go to the default page you get this: http://imgur.com/XWdkO8i ...a popup that says "He used Pinterest to start his collection" on top of a blurry background. Who's "He"? Sign up with Facebook? Why? And all this confusion in a popup? Really? The very worst aspect of 1990s web de…

> What am I doing wrong? Am I like a person outside of the 14-22 year demographic watching MTV for the first time?

Nah, you're probably just a cynical pedant. Pinterest has one of the clearest and most compelling landing pages of any social network ever. Not to mention it's a household name now, they're nearly at a point of recognition like Facebook or Google.

You don't see Google explaining what they do anymore do you?

Re: Pinterest Raises $200M

#44
post #40

Shouldn't they have their own $200M by now? No but seriously. Oh. http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=pinterest

You must have a developer account or something. Pinterest, for me, is free and they don't seem to be placing ads or monetizing sales like Etsy. I only connect to Pinterest at 3 distinct times/places: waiting rooms, king conference room (toilet), and when I'm looking for inspiration and ideas (sometimes all in one :)...so I am probably not considered a hard-core user.

How does google search attempts equal 200 million USD...if that were the case searches for Obamacare or Affordable Care Act would have paid the national debt thrice over. [I just used a gov't example, I don't care what the healthcare bill is called]

Re: Pinterest Raises $200M

#45
I've always admired Pinterest. As a guy I don't really understand the appeal of it myself, but my soon-to-be wife absolutely loves it, so does her mum, her sisters, my sisters and my sisters friends. They seem to have done a fantastic job at capturing the female demographic and it has paid dividends for them.

Congratulations to the team, curious to see how Pinterest can take it to the next level. Most likely the e-commerce route is the one they will be taking.

Re: Pinterest Raises $200M

#47

I've heard the name and ignored it. But what the hell, let's take a look. Obviously, this website is very popular with some people but if you go to the default page you get this: http://imgur.com/XWdkO8i ...a popup that says "He used Pinterest to start his collection" on top of a blurry background. Who's "He"? Sign up with Facebook? Why? And all this confusion in a popup? Really? The very worst aspect of 1990s web de…

> What am I doing wrong? I'm guessing you're a male? Last I checked, Pinterest was overwhelmingly used by women, which is both a blessing (very few web sites appeal so massively to women) and a curse (they are trying hard to find out how they can attract males).

I'm a burly bearded man. I check out the "geek", "technology" and "science and nature" sections. I also search for camping gear and kayak pics on the Pacific ocean that remind me of my time kayaking from Anacortes, WA to the San Juan Islands. I have also posted my own very humble nature and landscape photographs on Pinterest. Pinterest is trying to "attract" males, but males need to think to use Pinterest.

Edit: Add link to article that made me think of Pinterest differently: http://highscalability.com/blog/2013/4/15/scaling-pinterest-...

Re: Pinterest Raises $200M

#48

Pinterest adds considerably more value to my life than any other social network. It provides inspiration that plans my meals, my vacations, my clothing, the style of my home, etc.

Pinterest disturbs me somewhat in that it is the distillation of what society has become these days: pure consumerism.

'These are the things I want'.

Actually it's quite clever, on reflection, to have found a way to make money from consumerism without actually selling anything.

Post reply on HN