9781422287217

9

Beginnings

about live updates. Users could post their likes and dislikes, but that was never the focus of other social networking websites. Ben wanted to cre- ate an outlet for creative people—and he did just that with Pinterest. Us- ing his new website, users could share and collect images of everything that inspired them. Ben couldn’t have predicted just how successful his

small project would become! BEN’S CHILDHOOD

When Ben was born, it seemed his path had already been chosen for him: he was going to be a doctor. “Both of my parents were doctors, and both of my sisters were doctors,” he explained during a speech. Even his dad’s parents were doctors! “I always assumed that I was going to be a doctor as well. I never even thought twice about it.” Ben’s parents, Jane and Neil, were both ophthalmologists, or eye doctors. They worked together at a family practice in Des Moines, Iowa. Ben had many interests outside of medicine, though, such as technol- ogy , business, and collecting things. When the Internet began to boom in the 1990s, Ben was still in high school. He was soon hooked on the new information source. He used the Internet to look up George Eastman, Walt Disney, and Steve Jobs because they were all successful entrepreneurs, people who had started their own businesses. Ben never thought he would start a business on his own, but he admired these men. “I always thought I didn’t share anything in common with these people,” he explained. “I looked up to them the same way I looked up to Michael Jordan.” According to Ben, he had a clear goal for his life before he even graduated from high school. “I was going to study really hard, and get into college, and then get into med school, and then become a doctor,” he said. Sometimes life surprises us!