Images
When we first started growing our employees, I was scared. I would often think, 'If we had more people, what would they do? Is there really enough work?'
Alan Schaaf
If a whole bunch of users want a specific feature, and we think that feature is pretty cool, too, that that's just what we'll do.
Revenue is not where the focus of the company is at. We are focused on pushing out cool products like our analytics.
Imgur has always been profitable right from the very beginning, and the only time I ever had to spend money on it was for the initial domain name because as soon as I released it, people liked it so much that they were donating, and so Imgur survived for the first six months just purely on donations.
I've found that instability from growth comes in waves.
Imgurians increasingly live on their mobile devices, and we wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to browse and discuss Imgur's content wherever and whenever they want.
How do I find someone for a position I've never worked with - or worked under, even? I feel like I'm not qualified to make a lot of these decisions.
If you're even on the fence about hiring someone, that person is a no. You have to feel it in your gut.
If SOPA were to pass, Imgur would not be able to exist. We survive on user-generated content. It would be impossible for us to police the amount of traffic we get for what is or isn't copyrighted material. It's just not possible.
The Imgur community, as a whole, is generally a lot more positive and a lot more funny than other communities.
Imgur is all about images, some of which may be photos but don't have to be.
I don't think display advertising is the future of advertising.
Not only do Imgurians get the opportunity to find the content that they love but also serve up their favorite content to others who visit their profiles.
The successful entrepreneurs that I see have two characteristics: self-awareness and persistence. They're able to see problems in their companies through their self-awareness and be persistent enough to solve them.
Imgur offers a rare place for people to express themselves in a real way without the fear of social judgment. Everyone has an equal chance of sharing their story to millions of people because it's not about who you are but about the quality of your content.
One of my favorite sci-fi books is 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card. I would recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi. It's a perfect intro to sci-fi.
We're not going the photography route. I think there is a real distinction between photos and images, and Flickr is for photos, and Instagram is for photos. You wouldn't put a filter on a meme; you'd put a filter on top of a photo that came from your camera.
My favorite interview question is, 'If you could have a superpower, what would it be?'
'Change' is seen as a dirty word, but personally, I'm searching for it.
For millennials, being a geek is a positive thing, and we see people proudly self-identifying themselves as geeks.
We're trying to be a content destination for viral images and to be an entertainment destination in general.
We want to become the best place on the Internet for self-expression and entertainment. If we have to raise money to achieve that goal and maybe move faster, we'll do it.
If there is a viral video on the Internet, you know it's on YouTube. You can search for it, find it, see the view count, and then take that link and share it with whomever you want. That's what we are doing for images.
In the early days, it was enough for Imgur to have a team that was focused on building product and engineering. But I realized early on if we were going to be successful, we needed someone who would be a bridge between the company and community.
Imgur is a data-driven company, and our community is our most important signal. But you can't perfectly plot humans neatly into a chart. It takes someone with instincts and empathy to truly understand the community and represent them in all of the company decisions.
I'm the type of manager who doesn't really like the word 'manage.' Nor do I really like the word 'boss.' I like to look at myself as more as a leader.
Geek culture is all about being super passionate about your interests and not afraid to express them, even if your interests are unpopular.
The office has a really fun 'community' feel, kind of like Imgur itself. The things that you see that are on the walls and on our desks came directly from our users.
When I was a student, I was working at the technology call center, where students call in if they can't get their email to work or something. A minimum-wage kind of job.
People come home from work, and they just want to unwind.
As long as we continue to bring in more traffic, I'm much more concerned with building a good user experience and developing tools that will help grow the Imgur community of users.
We want to be the best place on the Internet. That's where the focus is at.
We've talked with over a dozen VCs and angel investors over the years. But we've never clicked with any of them until Andreessen. During our initial meeting, we were bouncing ideas around about where Imgur could go.
It's gotten more open and easy to create a business on the Internet. That's a really awesome thing for entrepreneurs and for the world.
When I come into the office, the first thing I do is I plan out what I want to accomplish that day. I write it down in my notebook and make sure I accomplish it before I leave that day.
Entrepreneurship, to me, means that you're a psychopath. The world doesn't work in the way you want it to, and you have a vision for how it should work. Unlike everyone else, this isn't OK with you. You have to go out, against every possible odd, and do something about it. That's what makes you crazy.
I think it's interesting to know that being a geek isn't the negative thing that it used to be.
There are so many easier ways to live your life than to start a company.
It's not always about 'Can you do the job?' It's about 'Can you fit in with the team?'
In many ways, products are a reflection of their founders, and I consider myself a geek. But aside from that, Imgur just organically evolved into the epicenter of geek culture.
Let's get real: the .GIF format is outdated and is not really that great for the modern web anymore. It was created in 1989, and it wasn't even created for the purpose of animation.
Imgur isn't about following a celebrity, and it's not about following a person in real life. You don't have to build up a massive following and use that to get your distribution.
We try hard to provide the best user experience possible, and that means the best ads possible, so we work with the brands to come up with the best images.
I'm against the SOPA act, and Imgur, as a company, is against it.
The reason I want to be able to teleport is that I don't like waiting around. It's one of my pet peeves. I also don't like traveling, because I don't like sitting on a plane for six hours, doing nothing, essentially wasting time. You know what would be awesome? Bam, I'm in New York.
I don't have much time to read. I'm more of a problem solver. I'll have an idea or a problem, and I'll learn what's necessary in order to do the idea or solve the problem. If I need to read a book, then I will, but it usually comes down to researching on the Internet and reading blog posts.
The only thing that matters on Imgur is the quality of the content.
I'm probably most proud of the fact that we are bootstrapped and that we are able to do not just the typical Silicon Valley startup thing. We are basically throwing away all the typical conventions of other startups.
Being bootstrapped is great. You own 100 percent of it. But the downside is that you aren't able to move as fast as you want.
On Imgur, introverts can be extroverts. They don't have to worry about curating their own brand and are able to express themselves more authentically. They can go on Imgur and be themselves.
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