Caterina points to the launch of Web 2.0 firm, Plum.
Hans Peter, Plum’s founder, said this about the launch:
There are many reasons to start companies. Perhaps we observe inefficiencies and opportunities in the market and realize that we can build a better solution. Or we see how something could work so much better and try to make it happen. Or we want to work in an environment where we can have real influence or hope to make lots of money. All perfectly legitimate reasons.
I start companies for two reasons. First, because I want to change the world for the better—even just a little bit—and second, because it lets me work with dedicated, great people.
Caterina also shares this about the founding of her company:
When we were trying to explain Flickr, we’d tell a story of Stewart’s grandmother’s 80th birthday party, where the photo albums were spread out across the table from the 20s, 30s and 40s, and how everyone would say things like “That must be the house on St. Lawrence Street just before the War” and “That was Tom’s girlfriend Katie from 1974…” — and how the conversations around the images were the metadata, but after the party was over, and everyone went home, everything was lost; no one knew where the albums were anymore — obviously they had to be online, where everyone could get to them, and shared…thus, Flickr.
