CEO Ben Silberman says the company is not trying to file an initial public offering next year. November 6, 2013 11:09 AM PST (Credit: Pinterest) SAN FRANCISCO -- Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann didn't reveal many details about his company's future at a scheduled talk on Wendesday, but he did express one thing -- Pinterest is not angling to go public. When asked if the company wanted to go public next year, Silbermann didn't rule it out completely, but said it wasn't the priority. "That's actually not the goal," he told a crowd while onstage at Fast Company's Innovation Uncensored conference in San Francisco. Silbermann added that the company wants to "stand on it's own two feet," and he didn't know if going public would help Pinterest retain and grow its user base. "There are amazing public companies," he continued. "I've never been in that transition, but we are a long way from that. We want to keep our company laser-focused on 'are people using this service?' If they aren't, then why not?" he said. The comment comes at a time when Silicon Valley is waiting to watch the highly-anticipated initial public offering of another San Francisco-based social network, Twitter. Related stories Pinterest uses your history to pinpoint related content Snapchat used by 9 percent of US cell phone owners Pinterest to pay Getty for data on images It's not too surprising that Silbermann is shy about going public, given that the company has yet to prove if it can make money. While popular, Pinterest doesn't have a clear revenue stream, yet, but the company is experimented with promoted pins, a form of advertisements. Silbermman didn't share much else during the talk on Pinterest's progress. When asked about whether or not Pinterest could become a communication tool for users, Silberman said he recognized a need for communication that wasn't subject to public scrutiny. Currently, Pinterest only allows for public comments on pins. This may hint at a direct messaging feature down the line. He also touched on supporting 10 new markets by the end of the year, saying that in some countries there's a debate about how the word "pin" should be translated, but gave little other details.
CEO Ben Silberman says the company is not trying to file an initial public offering next year.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann didn't reveal many details about his company's future at a scheduled talk on Wendesday, but he did express one thing -- Pinterest is not angling to go public. When asked if the company wanted to go public next year, Silbermann didn't rule it out completely, but said it wasn't the priority.
"That's actually not the goal," he told a crowd while onstage at Fast Company's Innovation Uncensored conference in San Francisco. Silbermann added that the company wants to "stand on it's own two feet," and he didn't know if going public would help Pinterest retain and grow its user base.
"There are amazing public companies," he continued. "I've never been in that transition, but we are a long way from that. We want to keep our company laser-focused on 'are people using this service?' If they aren't, then why not?" he said.
The comment comes at a time when Silicon Valley is waiting to watch the highly-anticipated initial public offering of another San Francisco-based social network, Twitter.
Related stories
- Pinterest uses your history to pinpoint related content
- Snapchat used by 9 percent of US cell phone owners
- Pinterest to pay Getty for data on images
It's not too surprising that Silbermann is shy about going public, given that the company has yet to prove if it can make money. While popular, Pinterest doesn't have a clear revenue stream, yet, but the company is experimented with promoted pins, a form of advertisements.
Silbermman didn't share much else during the talk on Pinterest's progress. When asked about whether or not Pinterest could become a communication tool for users, Silberman said he recognized a need for communication that wasn't subject to public scrutiny. Currently, Pinterest only allows for public comments on pins. This may hint at a direct messaging feature down the line.
He also touched on supporting 10 new markets by the end of the year, saying that in some countries there's a debate about how the word "pin" should be translated, but gave little other details.
