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卡罗琳，今天我们要播出一集非常特别的《社交雷达》节目，因为不仅嘉宾非常特别，而且今天我们是面对面录制。
Carolyn, today we have a very special Social Radars episode because not only is it with a very special person, but we're in person today
我知道。
I know.
我太喜欢了。
I love it.
在旧金山。
In San Francisco.
所以我特别兴奋。
So I'm super tickled.
是的。
Yes.
今天，我们请来了杰瑞德·弗里德曼。
So today, we have Jared Freedman with us.
你好，杰瑞德。
Hi, Jared.
嘿，贾里德。
Hey, Jared.
嘿，各位。
Hey, guys.
非常感谢你们邀请我参加我最喜欢的播客。
Thanks so much for having me on, my favorite podcast.
听他说的。
Oh, listen to him.
贾里德是Scribd的创始人，Scribd是我们2006年夏季批次的项目。
So Jared was the founder of Scribd, which was in our summer o six batch.
他长期以来一直是Y Combinator的合伙人。
He's now has been for a while a Y Combinator partner.
没错。
Yep.
所以我们认识贾里德很久了。
So we've known Jared for forever.
我想问一下，你做YC的时候多大？
Well, I was gonna say, how old were you when you did YC?
我那时候20岁。
I was 20.
好的。
Okay.
我就猜是这样。
That's what I thought.
我本来猜是19岁，
I was gonna guess 19,
但其实是20岁。
but 20.
继续。
On.
我现在已经震惊了，从Jared这里五秒钟内就学到了新东西。
I'm already now shocked, and I've learned something new in five seconds from Jared.
你从哈佛退学了。
You dropped out of Harvard.
是的。
I did.
对。
Yeah.
大三结束后。
After my junior year.
哦，大三结束。
Oh, junior year.
好的。
Okay.
好的。
Okay.
我们回到之前。
We're going back.
让我们直接倒回去。
Let's just let's just roll right back.
你在哈佛大二的时候学的是什么？
You were a sophomore at Harvard studying what?
计算机科学。
Computer science.
好的。
Okay.
你当时是那个我们曾经合作创办第一家创业学校的本科生计算机科学小组的成员吗？
Were you in the undergraduate computer science group that we used to partner with to do start our very first startup school?
我并不是那个社团的正式成员，但我确实参加了那个活动。
I wasn't a member of that club exactly, but I definitely went to the event.
哦。
Oh.
你去参加过创业学校？
You went to start up school?
是的。
Yeah.
当然。
Absolutely.
就是第一个。
The very first one.
你是怎么第一次了解到Y Combinator的？
And how did you first, like, become aware of Y Combinator?
这个故事要追溯到高中九年级，因为那时我读了保罗·格雷厄姆关于Lisp的书。
The story really goes back to ninth grade in high school because that is when I read Paul Graham's book on Lisp.
天哪。
Oh my god.
你读了Lisp？
You read on Lisp?
是的。
Yeah.
我觉得是你和史蒂夫·赫夫曼。
I think you and Steve Huffman.
那就是我学Lisp的方式。
That's how I learned Lisp.
很有趣。
Mean funny.
就像是，
It's like,
如果你想要读、想要学Lisp，
if you wanted to read if you wanted to learn Lisp, that
那就是你要找的那本书。
was the book that you got.
所以我买了他的书。
So I got his book.
而你当时住在曼哈顿，对吧？你是在那里长大的。
And you're living in like, you grew up in Manhattan.
对吧？
Right?
嗯。
Yeah.
嗯。
Yeah.
好的。
Okay.
曼哈顿下城。
Downtown Manhattan.
嗯。
Mhmm.
父母都是律师。
To to parents who were lawyers.
对。
Right.
对。
Right.
我知道。
I knew that.
他们
They
都是律师，就像约翰和卡罗琳一样。
were both lawyers just like John and Carolyn.
他们确实是，就像约翰和卡罗琳让我想起我的父母，因为他们是
They actually were, like John and Carolyn remind me a lot of my parents because they were
他们一起工作吗？
Did they work together?
他们一起工作。
They did.
是的。
Yes.
他们非常积极乐观。
They were so positive.
这个故事越听越精彩。
This story is already just keeps getting better and better.
你上九年级的时候，是先读了保罗的书才成为Lisp黑客的，还是本来就是Lisp黑客然后读了他的书？
So you're in ninth grade, and were you a lisp hacker and you read Paul's book, or you read Paul's book and became a lisp hacker?
我从不觉得自己能称得上Lisp黑客。
I don't know if I would ever call myself a lisp hacker.
那可是编程界的一种高级身份象征，你知道的。
That's like a that's like a major, you know, like, status symbol in the programming world.
但我读了保罗的书，学会了用Lisp编程。
But I read Paul's book and I learned how to program with Lisp.
好的。
Okay.
后来，我开始读他的文章。
And then at some point, I started reading his essays.
不幸的是，我不记得我是怎么从那本书转向读他的文章的。
And I don't remember, unfortunately, how I got from the book to the essays.
也许我只是好奇保罗·格雷厄姆这个人是谁，于是搜索了他的名字，找到了他的网站，或者他的某篇文章出现在Slashdot上之类的。
Maybe I was just curious about who this Paul Graham person was, and I like googled for his name, and I found his website, or maybe one of his essays was on Slashdot or something.
那段时光有点模糊了。
That's a little bit lost of time.
但某时起，我开始阅读他的文章，而且我真的非常喜欢他的书。
But at some point, I began reading his essays, and, you know, I had really enjoyed his book.
我真的很喜欢他的文章。
I really enjoyed his essays.
所以当你宣布暑期创业者计划时，我立刻就知道了，因为我经常上paulgraham.com。
And so when you announced the summer founders program, I mean, I knew right away because I was on paulgraham.com all the time.
好的。
Okay.
你是我们最早的用户之一。
You were one of our earliest users.
是的。
Yeah.
因为人们总是说，人们是怎么知道Y Combinator的呢？
Like, because people always say, well, how did people even know about Y Combinator?
我说，保罗当时在年轻程序员中已经有了一定的追随者。
I said, Paul had, like, a bit of a following with young programmers.
那个那个
That That's
就是我。
me right here.
粉丝们。
Fanboys.
最初的
The original
粉丝们。
fanboys.
嗯。
Yep.
所以，当我们2005年首次推出时，你知道吗？
So do were you aware when we launched it for the very first one in o five?
你申请了吗？
Did you apply?
我没有，因为那时我没什么在做的项目。
I didn't because I wasn't working on anything at the time.
我没有联合创始人。
I didn't have a cofounder.
我没有点子。
I didn't have an idea.
那年夏天我有个实习。
I had an internship that summer.
好的。
K.
但我确实在我心里种下了一颗种子，觉得这就是我将来想做的事情。
And but I, like, I definitely planted a seed in my mind that, like, this was the thing that I wanted to do someday.
好的。
Okay.
那后来呢？
So then what?
后来我遇到了我的联合创始人，他叫特里普。
So then I met my cofounder, who is this guy named Tripp.
我遇到特里普的故事特别搞笑。
And the way that I met Tripp is this really goofy story.
特里普有一个创业点子，但他不懂技术，需要一个技术型的联合创始人。
Tell Tripp, had an idea for a startup, but he was nontechnical, and he needed a technical cofounder.
于是他给计算机科学系本科生的邮件列表发了邮件。
So what he did was he emailed the CS undergraduate's, like, email list.
当时有一个邮件列表，可以发给所有计算机科学系的本科生。
There was at the time one email so he can email all the CS undergraduates.
2005年的时候，计算机科学专业的本科生没多少。
There weren't that many CS undergraduates back in 2005.
在哈佛，这并不是一个很热门的专业。
It wasn't a very popular major at Harvard.
他发邮件给所有人，说：我有个价值十亿美元的点子，正在找一位技术联合创始人。
And he emailed them being like, I have this billion dollar idea, and I'm looking for a tactical cofounder.
如果你想当我的技术联合创始人，就给我发邮件。
Email me if you wanna be my tactical cofounder.
于是我给他回了邮件。
And so I emailed him back.
你们之前从未见过面吗？
And you had never met him?
我从来没见过他
I'd never met
他。
him.
他和你同龄吗？
Was he your age?
他大一岁。
He he was one year older.
大一岁。
One year older.
他已经毕业了，但我还有一年才毕业。
Graduated, but I was still a year away from graduating.
所以我退学了
That's why I dropped
了。
out.
顺便问一下，他主修什么？
What was his major, by the way?
生物物理学，我觉得这可能是他一生中从未用过的东西。
Biophysics, which I think is a thing he's not used one day in his life.
是的。
Yeah.
特里普，当然，我们知道卡罗琳是在帕洛阿尔托长大的。
Trip, of course, we know Carolyn is from grew up in Palo Alto.
哦，我不知道。
Oh, I didn't.
我想我之前不知道这件事。
I don't think I did know that.
在斯坦福校园，因为他的父亲是斯坦福大学的教授。
On the Stanford campus because his dad was a Stanford professor.
哦，原来如此。
Oh, okay.
好的。
Okay.
好的。
Okay.
他当时是吗？
He was?
我学到了很多东西。
I am learning so much.
我已经非常兴奋了。
I'm already so psyched.
我们才说了三分钟。
We're like three minutes in.
他教授的是什么学科？
What what was he a professor of?
生物物理学。
Biophysics.
医学和企业家。
Medicine and an entrepreneur.
特里普的父亲实际上创办了两家公司。
Tripp's dad actually started two companies.
其中一家公司他上市了。
One of them he took public.
这真的非常了不起。
It's a really big deal.
如果你，希望你永远用不上他的东西，但他研发了一台大型放射治疗设备，用于治疗癌症患者。
If you if hopefully, you don't ever need his thing, but, like, he built a giant radiotherapy machine that treats people for cancer.
这简直太酷了。
It's like a it's a it's a cool thing.
是的。
Yeah.
我想我知道这件事。
I think I did know this.
我想我以前听过特里普父亲的这个故事。
I think I had heard that story about Tripp's dad.
哦，天哪。
Oh, wow.
嗯。
Yeah.
嗯。
Yeah.
太棒了。
Amazing.
嗯。
Yeah.
所以特里普长大了。
So Tripp grew up.
他从小就浸润在这种硅谷的创业文化中。
He was steeped in this, like, Silicon Valley Yeah.
他一直想成为企业家。
Entrepreneurial culture, always wanted to be an entrepreneur.
这仅仅是他的人生道路。
This was just, like, his path in life.
好的。
Okay.
所以他觉得，我需要一个程序员，于是就在那个非常方便的名单上联系了你，你说：嘿。
So he's like, I need a programmer, reached out on that very convenient list, and you said, hey.
我对什么感兴趣？
I'm interested in what?
你们有没有在哈佛广场约着喝杯咖啡什么的？
Did you, like, meet meet up for coffee at Harvard Square or something?
或者
Or
我们开始聊天。
And we started talking.
我们发现彼此还挺合得来的。
We realized we kinda, like, hit it off.
嗯。
Yeah.
所以我们决定一起合作。
And so we decided to start working together.
关于什么想法？
On what idea
这个想法有什么吸引人的地方？
was this idea compelling?
足够了。
Enough.
好吧。
Okay.
我的意思是，我觉得我受到夏季创业者项目的些许启发。
I mean, I think I had been inspired a bit because of the summer founders program.
而且，我们都受到了Facebook的启发。
Also, we had both been inspired by Facebook.
所以，像Facebook这样的公司，虽然我们从未在那里工作过，但实际上是这个故事的核心部分，因为我当时在哈佛就住在扎克伯格的正对面。
So, like, Facebook, even though we we never worked there, is, like, actually kind of a core part of the story because we we I I lived literally across the hall from Zuck at at Harvard.
所以，天哪。
And so Oh my god.
这真是
This is
越来越好了。
just getting better and better.
你和扎克伯格住在同一层楼。
You lived on the same hall as Zuckerberg.
我记得看着他去淋浴。
I remember watching him walk to the showers.
带着一个小推车？
With a little caddy?
哦，是的。
Oh, yeah.
每个人淋浴时都会带个小推车。
Everyone has caddy in shower shoes.
就是这样做的。
That's that's how you do it.
他和你同龄还是比你大？
Was he your age or your old?
他大一岁。
He was one year older.
他和特里普同龄。
He was Tripp's age.
好的。
Okay.
特里普的年纪。
Tripp's age.
当扎克跟我们讲那件事的时候，感觉怎么样？
So what was it like when Zuck was tell us about that.
所以我们见证了扎克创建Facebook的过程。
So we had watched Zuck start Facebook.
它已经席卷了哈佛校园。
It had taken over at the Harvard campus.
是的。
Yeah.
然后他离开了哈佛，搬到了帕洛阿尔托那栋著名的小屋，开始创办Facebook，对吧。
And then he had left Harvard and moved to Palo Alto to to the famous house to start Facebook Right.
那时候，它基本上还是一家种子轮融资的公司。
Which is still like, basically like a seed funded company at the time.
我的意思是，当时还没什么大不了的。
I mean, wasn't a big deal yet.
对。
Right.
但即便如此，我们还是觉得，哇，这真是太酷了。
But even so, we were like, woah, that was pretty cool.
这家伙能做到的事，也许我们也能做到。
What this guy did, maybe we could do that too.
然后保罗，你知道的，他做了一场关于如何创办初创公司的演讲。
And then Paul Paul, you know, he gave this talk about how to start startups.
他写了那篇论文。
He wrote the essay.
你去听那场演讲了吗？
Did you go to that talk?
我去听了那场演讲。
I did go to the talk.
那场原始演讲是整个事情的基础。
The original talk that was like the basis of all of of like the this whole thing.
是的。
Yeah.
我当时
I was
卡罗琳，Y Combinator的基础源于保罗在哈佛做的那场关于如何创办初创公司的演讲，没错。
Carolyn, the basis of Y Combinator grew it it grew out of this talk that Paul gave at Harvard, how to start a startup Yeah.
这原本是他的一篇论文。
Which is one of his became an essay.
对。
Yeah.
对。
Yeah.
这就是史蒂夫·霍夫曼和亚历克西斯·奥汉尼安从弗吉尼亚大学过来参加的那场演讲，对吧。
And this is the talk that Steve Hoffman and Alexis Ohanian came up from University of Virginia Right.
我记得那场演讲，而且
I remember that and
所以我们投资了Reddit。
why we funded Reddit.
所以你当时在现场，对吧。
So you were in the audience Yeah.
听了那场演讲。
At that talk.
我也是。
So was I.
我们本可以坐在一起。
We could have been sitting next to each other.
我们本可以的。
We could have been.
是啊。
Yeah.
你觉得怎么样？
What did you think?
你对那场演讲有什么看法？
What did you make of that talk?
这就是我的理解。
Here's what I made of it.
从来没有人清楚地向我论证过，对于像我这样的人而言，创办初创公司为何会是一个明智的人生选择。
No one had ever made the argument to me clearly about why starting a startup could be a smart life choice for someone like me.
每个人一直都告诉我相反的说法。
Everyone had always told me the opposite.
他们总是告诉我，创业风险太大。
They'd always told me, startups are so risky.
你应该去找份工作。
You should get a job.
就是，你知道的，你知道的，我不确定。
Like, you know, you know, I don't know.
我一生中所有人的态度都对创办公司这件事持否定态度，而保罗是第一个真正了解情况、我尊重、并站起来为我做出非常合乎逻辑的论证的人：如果你是个聪明、有抱负的大学生，毕业后花几年时间尝试创业，是个明智的选择。
The every every one of my life had always been discouraging about the idea of starting a company, and Paul was the first person who actually knew what he was talking about, who I respected, who stood up and made a very logical argument for why if you were a smart, ambitious undergrad, taking a couple years after college to, like, try your hand at starting a startup would be a smart choice.
没错。
Like Yeah.
如果成功了，你会变得非常富有。
If it worked, you get super rich.
如果失败了，也没什么大不了的。
If it didn't work, it's no big deal.
对。
Right.
你
You
继续你的生活。
go on with your life.
去找份工作。
Get a job.
嗯。
Yeah.
嗯。
Yeah.
哇。
Wow.
所以你离开时受到了鼓舞。
So you left kind of inspired.
当然。
Definitely.
所以你觉得，也许对我来说，做初创公司的话，你应该和Right组队。
So you think, maybe doing startups for me, you're you team up with Right.
Tripp，他有一个十亿美元的点子，那是什么？
Tripp, and he has this billion dollar idea, which is what?
我们听到那是什么了吗？
Did we hear what it was?
这个点子基本上就是Uber的点子，而事实上，正如我们所知，这是一个十亿美元的点子。
The idea was basically the idea for Uber, which was in fact a billion dollar idea as we know.
哦，哇。
Oh, wow.
是的。
Yeah.
不过是在智能手机出现之前。
Although before smartphones.
那就是问题所在。
That was the problem.
那就是问题所在。
That was the problem.
所以整个学年我们都在做这个项目，因为我在学年开始时就认识了他，大概是2005年9月。
So all through the school year, we work on it because and I meet at the beginning of the school year, so, like, September 2005.
所以整个学年，我都在编写这个程序。
And so all through the school year, I'm coding this thing.
我在构建这个东西。
I'm building the thing.
当夏天临近时，我们开始觉得事情进展得还不错。
And when the summer is getting close, we're we're starting to think basically, like, it's going well.
我们的关系也很好。
Our relationship is going well.
我们很喜欢这个项目，开始认真考虑要不要全职投入去做。
We're enjoying working on this project, and we're starting to think about, like, actually, like, doing it full time.
我得退学。
I'd have to drop out of school.
这是一件大事。
It's a big deal.
但因为我生命中多次受到这些触动点的启发，所以我非常热衷于真正去实现它。
But, like, I've been pretty inspired by these multiple, like, touch points in my life, and so I'm, like, pretty gung ho to actually do it.
于是，我们申请了Y Combinator。
And so, of course, we applied to Y Combinator.
嗯。
Yeah.
好的。
Okay.
顺便说一下，是我提出要申请Y Combinator的。
Although, incidentally, I was the one who wanted to apply to Y Combinator.
真的吗？
Really?
这次旅行并没有轻易被说服。
The trip was not easily convinced.
为什么？
Why?
因为我们拿了7%的股份？
Because we took, like, 7% of the stock?
倒不是因为这个。
It wasn't so much that.
我觉得是因为这次旅行，你知道，他从小在索孔谷长大，深受这种文化的影响。
I think it was the trip you know, he'd grown up in Saucon Valley, like, steeped in this culture.
嗯。
Yeah.
是的。
Yes.
而且他有关系。
And And he had connections.
他有关系。
He had connections.
他爸爸，你知道的，创办了一家上市公司，他就只是那样，我不知道。
His dad, you know, had started a public company, and he was just kinda like, I don't know.
他，不像我，没读过保罗·格雷厄姆的书。
He, know, unlike me, he hadn't read Paul Graham's book.
他没去过那场演讲。
He hadn't been to that talk.
他没读过保罗·格雷厄姆的随笔。
He hadn't read Paul Graham's essays.
保罗·格雷厄姆对他来说是个陌生人，是啊。
Like, Paul Graham was a stranger to him Yeah.
Y Combinator当时还没有成功记录。
And Y Combinator didn't have a track record yet.
它完全不知名。
It wasn't famous at all.
完全不是。
Not at all.
所以他有点不明白，为什么他的联合创始人想参加这个叫Y Combinator的奇怪项目。
And so, he was kinda like, I don't get why my cofounder wants to do this goofy program called Y Combinator.
比如，他会说，史蒂夫·乔布斯创业时根本不需要什么项目。
Like like, you know, he would he would say, like, Steve Jobs didn't need a program to start Apple.
我能想象到这种情况。
I can imagine this.
是的。
Yes.
对。
Yeah.
我也能。
I can too.
你是不是说，我们干脆去面试一下，看看会发生什么？
Did you say, let's just interview and see what happens?
差不多是这样。
Something like that.
嗯。
Yeah.
当时是夏天，在剑桥，我们一定是在山景城进行的面试。
Since it was the summer at the time was in Cambridge, we must have conducted the interviews in Mountain
山景城。
View Mountain View.
是的。
Yes.
加利福尼亚。
California.
这是我收到你的第一封邮件，杰西卡。
And so I have here the first email that I ever got from you, Jessica.
邮件中写道：亲爱的杰里德，我们非常期待下周末与你见面，讨论你的提案。
It says, dear Jared, we are really excited to meet you next weekend and discuss your proposal.
我们为每个小组分配了二十分钟的时间段，并将您安排在3月5日星期日下午1:45。
We have assigned each group a twenty minute time slot and have scheduled you for Sunday, March 5 at 01:45PM.
哇。
Wow.
你保存了这封邮件，真好。
That's nice that you saved that.
不过只有二十分钟。
Twenty minutes, though.
二十分钟。
Twenty minutes.
那时候我们的面试时间很长。
We had long interviews back then.
那时我们还没有在Y Combinator达到最高效的水平。
We hadn't quite gotten to be peak efficient at Y Combinator yet.
是啊。
Yeah.
有道理。
Makes sense.
我很喜欢我把它叫做提案。
I love that I called it a proposal.
嗯。
Yeah.
那是一种那种
That's sort that's sort
挺有意思的。
of interesting.
那时候还不叫Y Combinator。
And it wasn't even called Y Combinator back then.
它还叫暑期创始人计划。
It was it was still called the Summer Founders Program.
天啊，杰瑞德。
Oh god, Jared.
这太尴尬了。
This is embarrassing.
你懂的比我多。
You know more than I do.
嗯。
Yeah.
嗯。
Yeah.
它当时还叫暑期创始人计划。
It was still called the Summer founders program.
它就像是由Y创办的暑期创始人计划，所以
It was like the summer founders program, like, created by Y So we
我们被命名为Y Combinator，但我们仍然称它为冬季创始人计划和暑期创始人计划。
were named Y Combinator, but we still called it the winter founders program and the summer founders program.
好的。
Okay.
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冬天是在山景城。
And winter was in Mountain View.
夏天是在马萨诸塞州的剑桥。
Summer was in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
好的。
Okay.
所以我们面试时，我不记得面试了。
So we interview tell I don't remember the interview.
那已经是很久以前的事了。
It was so long ago.
你对它有什么印象吗？
Do you have any memories of it?
那是我第一次去加利福尼亚。
Well, it was my first time ever in California.
我像个真正的东海岸人。
I went on real East Coaster.
所以我根本不知道山景城是什么地方。
So I didn't even know what Mountain View was.
我不得不去谷歌搜索一下，山景城是什么地方？
I had to Google, like, what is Mountain View?
你当时有没有了解到谷歌是一家位于山景城的公司？
Did you learn at the time that Google was a Mountain I
是的。
did.
我当时想，哦，原来如此。
And I was like, oh, okay.
我想那应该是个正经的地方。
I guess that's a legit place to be.
你以前从来没去过加利福尼亚？
You'd never been to California?
好吧。
Okay.
你周末来的时候一定印象深刻吧。
You must have been struck by it when you came for the weekend.
是的。
Yeah.
我觉得，就像很多第一次来硅谷的人一样，我当时可能惊讶于这里竟然这么不起眼。
I think like many people who go to Silicon Valley for the first time, I was probably struck by, like, how little there was.
多么平凡啊。
How mundane
就是这样。
it is.
是的。
Yeah.
没错。
Exactly.
让我印象深刻的是Y Combinator的办公室，因为当时你们还和AnyBot共用一个办公室。
What I was struck by was the Y Combinator office, because at the time, you guys were still sharing an office with AnyBot.
事实上，那主要是AnyBot的办公室，YC只是占了一个小组的位置。
In fact, it was really the AnyBot's office, and like YC was like one Squad.
一个一个一个，我们有
One one one like We had
一个角色。
a role.
一部分。
Piece of it.
是的。
Yeah.
是的。
Yeah.
AnyBot的办公室太酷了。
And the AnyBot's office was so cool.
这正是我来硅谷时梦想看到的场景。
I had like, this was like exactly the thing that I dreamed of seeing when I went to Silicon Valley.
就像一个疯狂的发明家，留着一大把白胡子，正在建造双足机器人。
It's like a crazy inventor dude with like a big white beard building bipedal
可怕的机器人。
Terrifying robots.
是的。
Yes.
我们请过特雷弗做客节目，也聊过很多关于早期YC的事情，那时候YC根本没有多少声誉或品牌，但他的机器人项目却是一个很大的吸引力。
We had Trevor on the show and we've talked a lot about in the early days when when Y Combinator really didn't have any cache or brand of any sort, an interesting draw was all of his robot stuff.
人们对此非常兴奋。
People were psyched to see it.
是的。
Yeah.
是的。
Yeah.
所以，我，嗯，是的。
So I I yeah.
我今天看到了Antibots，我当时就想：我买定了。
I I saw the Antibots today, I was like, I'm sold.
这太棒了。
This is amazing.
我到家了。
I'm home.
我到家了。
I'm home.
没错。
Exactly.
你还记得那次实际的采访吗？我们当时有没有讨论过类似Uber的想法？
You remember the actual interview, and did you did we discuss the basically, an Uber idea?
我们讨论过。
We did.
你知道采访之后发生了什么吗，杰西卡？
And do you know what happened after the interview, Jessica?
你还记得吗？
Do you remember?
保罗说会投资你，但不会用那个点子吗？
Did Paul say we'll fund you, but not with that idea?
不记得。
No.
什么？
What?
他拒绝了我们。
He rejected us.
哇哦。
Woah.
哇哦。
Woah.
等等。
Wait.
为了澄清一下，
Just to clarify,
当时是
it was
那时候只有你们两个人。
just the two of you at the time.
对吧？
Right?
嗯，其实还有第三个联合创始人。
Well, so there was a third cofounder.
好的。
Okay.
我们稍后再谈这个。
We'll get to that.
好的。
Okay.
好的。
Okay.
先放一放。
Put a pin in it.
稍后。
Later.
对。
Yeah.
但没错，保罗拒绝了我们。
But, yeah, Paul rejected us.
他就说，这个想法行不通。
He was just like, this idea won't work.
他当时可能是对的。
Which he was probably
没错。
right on.
他完全对。
He was totally right.
他完全对。
He was totally right.
他说，那是2006年。
He said, this was 2006.
iPhone 还要再过一年才被发明出来。
The iPhone wasn't invented for a whole other year.
嗯。
Uh-huh.
Uber 是在2009年创立的。
Uber was started in 2009.
在2006年你根本不可能创办 Uber。
You could have never started Uber in 2006.
它根本不可能成功。
It would have never worked.
不。
No.
对。
Right.
所以我们正确地拒绝了你，但我已经不记得这件事了。
So we rightly rejected you, but I do not remember this.
那我们是怎么让你回来的？
So how did we get you back in?
所以，我希望我说这个不会引起意外的副作用，但实际情况是，特里普和我通过邮件和保罗争论。
So I hope I don't cause unexpected side effects by saying this, but what happened was Tripp and I argued with Paul over email.
我们只是不断反驳他的拒绝。
We just like kept arguing with his rejections.
哦，天哪。
Oh, wow.
那是拉来的
That is pulled
这个邮件线程有16封邮件之多，都是我们在和保罗争论。
up this email thread, it's like 16 emails long, of us like arguing with Paul.
天哪。
Oh, my gosh.
通常来说，这并不会产生效果，至少根据我对他经验来看，不会让你如愿以偿。
Usually, it doesn't have the effect, at least from my experience with him, of like getting your way.
完全正确。
Totally.
所以，你一定提出了很好的论点。
So, you must have made a good argument.
我不知道是我们提出的论点太好而说服了他，还是他只是厌倦了，觉得接受我们比继续和我们争论更省事。
I don't know if we made a good argument and we convinced him, or if he just like gave up and decided it would be like less effort to accept us than keep arguing with us.
真的吗？
Really?
所以你
So you
顺便得问问他的意见，因为我很想得到那个答案。
have to ask him, by the way, because I would like to know the answer to that.
我们看看他记不记得。
We'll see if he remembers.
嗯。
Yeah.
他最后怎么样了？
How did he end?
他是说好吧，行了。
Was he like, okay, fine.
你同意吗？
You're in?
基本上是。
Basically.
对。
Yeah.
哇。
Wow.
让他改变主意的是，我们通过一封很长的邮件往来达成一致，改变了我们的想法。
And and what what convinced him was we agreed in this very long email chain to change our idea
好的。
Okay.
改为一个他更感兴趣的想法，也就是针对大学的Craigslist。
To an idea that he was more excited about, which is this idea of Craigslist for colleges.
好的。
Okay.
现在我想起来了，因为这就是我脑海中对你们的印象，你们当时叫什么来着？Who List？
Now now I remember, because that's what I have in my brain of of you guys, and you were called who list?
Who List？
Who list?
哈佛大学列表。
The Harvard University list.
哦，就像扎克伯格那样开始。
Oh, starting just like Zuckerberg.
就像扎克伯格那样开始。
Starting just like Zuckerberg.
哈佛。
Harvard.
没错。
Exactly.
我能理解保罗为什么兴奋，我们也对这个想法感到兴奋。
I could see how Paul was excited, and we were excited about this.
因为，像特里普和我，你知道的，我们的背景和Facebook的创始人们很相似。
Because, like, Trip and I, you know, looked a lot like the Facebook founders in terms of our background.
我们遵循了前一年刚刚成功的模式：从哈佛开始，逐校扩展到所有学校。
We were following a playbook that had just worked the prior year, start at Harvard, expand school by school to all the schools.
对。
Yeah.
这个想法本身并不需要智能手机。
You didn't need smartphones for the idea to make sense.
是的。
Yeah.
好的。
Okay.
我几乎不好意思说，但我们是否需要为年轻听众解释一下Craigslist是什么？
I almost I'm embarrassed to say, but do we need to explain for the younger listeners what Craigslist is?
比如，当我们说‘大学版Craigslist’时。
Like, when we say Craigslist for colleges.
所以给我们讲讲是谁。
So tell us about who is.
当时Craigslist是一个非常大的网站。
So Craysis was this really big website at the time.
它在旧金山仍然相当流行，但在其他地方就没那么常见了，人们可以在上面买卖东西。
It's still pretty big in SF, but less so in other places, where you could buy and sell stuff on the Internet.
它源自九十年代中期，是个非常老的网站。
It's from, like, the mid nineties, really old website.
它出现在我的书《创始人的工作》中。
It was in my book, Founders at Work.
哦，对了。
Oh, that's right.
克雷格·纽马克。
Craig Newmark.
对克雷格·纽马克的采访。
The interview with Craig Newmark.
是的。
Yeah.
他一定是个很有趣的采访对象。
He must have been an interesting character to interview.
确实如此。
Indeed.
他确实是。
He was.
你知道吗，他在旧金山住在我家两个街区外，很多年了。
You know, he lived two blocks from me in San Francisco for, like, many years.
我经常看到他走在街上。
I'd see him, like, walking down the street all the time.
是啊。
Yeah.
他住在卡尔弗谷。
He lived in Culver Valley.
真随机。
So random.
真随机。
So random.
好吧。
Okay.
所以你是为大学做Craigslist，针对大学生。
So you're doing Craigslist for colleges For college.
从哈佛大学开始。
Starting at Harvard University.
所以这个想法是，如果你在哈佛，可能你刚上完一门课，用完了教材，想把教材卖给别人。
And so the idea is, like, if you're at Harvard, maybe you'd, like, finish using a textbook because you just finished the course and you wanna sell the textbook to somebody else.
你只需要在我们的网站上发布这本教材。
You could just list the textbook on our website.
其他刚开学的学生需要这本教材，他们就会从你这里购买。
Some other students just starting the course, they need the textbook, they buy the textbook from you.
是的。
Yeah.
或者一盏灯、一件家具，任何东西都可以。
Or a lamp or piece of furniture any anything.
好的。
Okay.
那后来怎么样了？
So what happened?
那时候你是不是已经退学了？
When and and you you at this point were not definitely had dropped out?
我当时正在读大三结束。
Or So I was finishing my junior year.
对。
Yep.
那时候，你知道，暑期创业者项目对参与者是否应该回学校读书持中立态度。
And at the time, you know, the summer founders program was, like, somewhat agnostic about whether the participants should go back to college
还是不回。
or not.
是的。
Yes.
所以我还没真正决定退学。
And so I hadn't really decided to drop out.
我当时觉得，这纯粹是个暑期创业者项目，之后会怎样再说吧。
I you know, it was really positioned as, a summer founders program, and then we'll see.
对。
Yeah.
对吧？
Right?
接下来故事的重点是卡罗琳的出现。
And, well, the next the next part of the story is really where Carolyn enters.
好的。
Alright.
是的。
Yes.
因为
Because
我第一次接触卡罗琳是在那个春天，我不知道你还记不记得我们为什么需要卡罗琳。
my first interaction with Carolyn was that spring, and I don't know if you remember why we needed Carolyn.
我记得你们三个人坐在威尔逊·孙西尼的会议室里争论的情景。
So I do have a recollection of the three of you sitting in the conference room at Wilson Sunsini arguing.
不。
No.
对不起。
I'm sorry.
那是整整一年后的事了。
That was a whole year later.
哦，原来如此。
Oh, okay.
那我就记不得第一次见面的情形了。
Then I don't remember the first time.
好吧。
Okay.
2006年，我们需要卡罗琳的原因是，在夏季创业者项目开始之前，我们经历了一次联合创始人的分手。
So in the 2006, the reason that we needed Carolyn is that before the summer founders program even started, we had a cofounder breakup.
天哪。
Oh my gosh.
因为有一个长期失踪的第三位联合创始人，没人记得了，没有。
Because there was a long lost third cofounder who nobody remembers Nope.
名叫伊沃·帕拉舍夫，是我随机认识的哈佛朋友，我曾说服他和我以及特里普一起加入这个创业项目。
Named Ivo Parashevov, who was my random Harvard friend that I had, like, convinced to join this venture with me and Tripp.
等等。
Wait.
那你为什么想让他加入呢？
Why'd you want him to join though?
他非常聪明。
He was really smart.
好吧。
Okay.
他非常聪明。
He was really smart.
他是个程序员。
He was a programmer.
我非常了解他。
I knew him really well.
他后来在自己的领域里取得了相当的成功。
He's gone on to be actually quite successful in in in his own right.
但他和特里普合不来，所以没有飞去参加YC的入驻。
But he and Tripp never got along, so he didn't fly out to the YC entry.
这发生在你报销机票之前。
This is before you reimbursed airfare.
所以我们找的借口是，太贵了。
So our excuse was like, it's expensive.
不如只让我们两个人去？
Like, how about only two of us come?
你当时就说，好吧。
And you were like, alright.
好吧。
Fine.
但在春天，也就是我们进入Y Combinator之后，事情开始变得认真了。
But during the spring, as, like, after we got into Y Combinator, things started getting real.
他突然意识到，我和Tripp根本不知道自己在做什么，于是他说，这个初创公司太烂了。
He was just like realized that Tripp and I had no idea what we were doing, and he was like, this startup sucks.
艾克，我不干了。
Ike, I'm out.
你们已经注册公司了吗？
Had you incorporated yet?
我们也已经注册了公司。
We had also incorporated.
所以在进入Y Combinator之前，我们用了一个我找到的糟糕的在线注册服务完成了公司注册。
So before we got into Y Combinator, we had incorporated using some shitty online incorporation thing that I found.
因此，可怜的卡罗琳不得不收拾我们一团糟的公司注册事宜，处理联合创始人的分手和退出文件，以及降低埃沃的股权等一堆麻烦事。
And so poor Carolyn had to clean up our totally messed up incorporation and deal with the cofounder breakup and the release paperwork and, like, reducing Evos equity and all of this junk.
这听起来现在有点耳熟了。
This is kind of sounding familiar now.
好吧。
Okay.
你和保罗在夏威夷度假时给我打过电话。
You got on a call with me from Hawaii where you and Paul were on vacation.
顺便说一下，
By the way,
来处理你们投资的这两个20岁小孩的联合创始人分手烂摊子。
to deal with this cofounder breakup mess of these, you know, two 20 year old kids that you just funded.
我们能暂停一下，纪念一下贾里德吗？
Can we just pause for a minute and, like, marble at Jared's memory?
对我来说标准很低，因为我没什么记忆，但这太棒了。
Like, the bar for me is low because I have no memory, but, like, you this is amazing.
我学到了很多。
Am learning so much.
关于你自己？
About yourself?
我只是不记得这些事了。
Just I hadn't I don't remember any of this.
太神奇了，贾里德。
It's amazing, Jared.
也许我会让贾里德和约翰·利维一起帮我写Y Combinator的书。
I'm maybe I'll have Jared join John Levy in helping me write the y combinator book.
我觉得这不用说了。
Well, I think that's a given.
你绝对应该让贾里德帮忙做这件事。
You absolutely should have Jared help with that.
显然，我们会变得毫无用处。
So Clearly, we're gonna be useless.
是的。
Yes.
我们会变得没用。
We're gonna be useless.
所以啊，我在夏威夷的时候，我说了什么？
So you you I was in Hawaii, and what did I say?
就像
Like
但说真的，你没有把我们赶走，这值得称赞。
Well, to your credit, you didn't kick us out.
我的意思是，你完全有理由说：你们已经改了主意，失去了联合创始人，甚至不确定要不要退学，我们当初资助了你们三个，你们不如先毕业，明年再申请Y Combinator？
I mean, it would have been totally reasonable for you to have been like, well, you know, we funded the three of you when, like, you've already changed your idea and you've lost a cofounder and you're not even sure you're gonna drop out of college.
你这么做完全合理，但你知道，
Why don't you guys just, like, graduate and, you know, you can always apply to YC in, a year?
你没有这么做，
That wouldn't have been a totally reasonable thing for you to do and But you know,
这不符合我们的风格。
not our style.
这不是我们的风格。
Not our style.
一旦加入，就永远是成员。
Once you're in, you're in.
好的。
Okay.
天啊，我都忘了第三个联合创始人了。
So, gosh, I had forgotten about the third cofounder.
好的。
Okay.
那后来顺利了吗？
So that worked out then?
好的。
Okay.
还不错。
It was fine.
然后你回到了剑桥
Then you come back to Cambridge
是的。
Yep.
为了启动这个项目。
For, you know, for we kick off the program.
那应该是在六月左右。
It must have been in, like, the June.
是的。
Yep.
活动地点就在我剑桥住的公寓附近几个街区的地方。
And it took place just a few blocks from the apartment that I was living in Cambridge.
真的吗？
Really?
是的。
Yeah.
你当时住在哪里？
Where were you living?
在花园街。
On Garden Street.
真的就隔几个街区。
Literally a few blocks.
就是同一条街。
Literally the same the same street.
是的。
Yes.
哇。
Wow.
这真的感觉像是命中注定。
This really feels like fate.
我的意思是，处处都像是星象契合。
I mean, everything the stars aligned everywhere you look.
我爱花园街。
I love Garden Street.
是的。
Yeah.
这真的是一个非常漂亮的地方，毫无疑问。
It's a bit it's such a pretty, like, spot in the world, definitely.
确实如此。
It really is.
好吧。
Okay.
那么我们有好的演讲者吗？
So did we have good speakers?
你还记得吗？
Do you remember that?
是的。
Yeah.
有斯蒂芬·沃尔夫勒姆。
There is Stephen Wolfram.
他真的很棒。
He was really good.
那个叫什么名字来着？
There was, what's his name?
安卓的创始人。
The founder of of Android.
一个创建了安卓的人，
A guy who created Android who
是的。
Yes.
他的公司刚刚被谷歌收购。
Whose company had just been acquired by Google.
安卓当时还没有发布。
Android wasn't even released yet.
是的。
Yes.
里奇。
Rich
里奇·米纳。
Rich Miner.
里奇·米纳。
Rich Miner.
米纳。
Miner.
对。
Yep.
就是那个创办了TripAdvisor的人，你书里提到过的。
Had, the guy who is the founder of TripAdvisor who was in your book.
嗯。
Yeah.
史蒂夫·科弗。
Steve Caufer.
我不记得他演讲的任何内容，但我记得一件事，那就是他不得不提前离开晚餐，因为他要飞往法国，在海滩上骑野马。
And I don't remember anything about his talk, but I remember one thing, which is he had to leave the dinner early because he was flying to France to ride wild ponies on the beach.
哇。
Wow.
或者是在海滩上骑野马，我想。
Or wild horses on the beach, I guess.
杰里德，你简直让我震惊。是的。
Jared, you are blowing my mind Yeah.
就在此时。
At this point.
所以我不记得他任何建议，尽管我确实读过你书中的那一章，那一章充满了绝佳的建议。
So I don't remember any of his advice, although I did read the chapter in your book, and that chapter is filled with amazing advice.
但我记得野马的故事，因为我想，这就是你退出初创公司后生活的样子。
But I remember the wild horses story because I was like, well, that's what life looks like after you've exited your startup.
哇。
Wow.
你就像
You're like
你直接去法国骑小马。
You just go to France and ride ponies.
骑野生的。
Ride wild.
野生小马。
Wild ponies.
是
Are
你该去骑野生小马吗？
you supposed to ride wild ponies?
天哪。
Oh my goodness.
而且，那时候保罗还没有固定的办公时间，对吧？
And, was this still back in the days where Paul didn't have, like, formal office hours?
你会不会直接说，嘿，我们能见个面吗？之类的？
Would you just say, hey, can we meet or whatever?
我记得。
I remember.
我收到过你发的一封邮件，杰西卡。
There was I got this email from you, Jessica.
邮件里写的是：嗨，大家。
It says, hi, guys.
你们明天下午三点能去他家和保罗一起头脑风暴吗？
Can you meet Paul tomorrow at his house at 3PM to brainstorm?
办公时间到底是怎么安排的？
How is how office hours work?
你有喜欢
Have you liked
你是不是特别喜欢我们当时什么都干的那种感觉？
You love how, like, we just did everything.
我当时简直就是保罗的私人秘书。
I was, like, Paul's sec personal secretary.
创业初期，你必须得做你该做的事。
You gotta do what you gotta do when you're starting a business, when you're starting a company.
没错。
Yeah.
所以所有人，全员上阵。
So everybody, all hands on deck.
天哪。
Oh, my gosh.
那是在他位于阿文街的家里。
And that was at his house on Avon Street.
对。
Yeah.
天哪。
Oh, my gosh.
为了澄清一下，此时此刻只有你们两个人。
And just to be clear, it's just the two of you at this point.
那时候只有我们两个人。
It was only the two of us at that point.
嗯。
Yeah.
而且它获得了一些关注。
And and it got some traction.
对吧？
Right?
告诉我们是怎么做到的
Tell us how
不。
No.
不幸的是，这正是问题所在。
It didn't, unfortunately, is is the problem.
嗯。
Yeah.
所以，是的。
So so yeah.
所以我们整个夏天都在做这个‘学院福利’项目。
So we worked on this Graces of Colleges thing all summer.
我们到了夏天结束的时候。
We got to the end of the summer.
我们真的没有取得任何进展。
We didn't really have any traction.
你不能在夏天推出一个买卖商品的产品，因为那时候校园里没有大学生。
You can't really launch a product for buying and selling stuff In the in the summer because there's no college students on campus.
嗯。
Yeah.
所以，到了项目结束时，我们参加了演示日，但基本上没有任何用户。
And so, we got to the end of the batch, and we did demo day, and we basically had no users.
是的。
Yeah.
所以我们没有融到任何资金。
And so, we didn't raise any money.
哦，天哪。
Oh, no.
这并不理想，因为你知道，YC 当时在初创公司上的投资金额并不大。
Which wasn't ideal because, you know, YC didn't invest that much money in companies in the day.
所以我们实际上没什么钱。
So, like, we were kinda like didn't really have any money.
比如一万两千美元。
Like, $12,000.
就是一万两千美元。
It was $12,000.
嗯。
Yeah.
哎呀。
Ouch.
哎呀。
Ouch.
所以我得决定是回学校继续读书，还是继续做这个项目。
And so I had to make a decision about whether I wanna get back to school or whether I wanna continue working on this.
嗯。
Yeah.
其实，有几件事要考虑。
And really I mean, there are couple of things.
第一，我过得很开心。
One, I I was I was having a good time.
我喜欢和特里普一起工作。
Like, I like working with Trip.
我喜欢Y Combinator社区。
I love the Y Combinator community.
那些正在创业的人的整体氛围，比上学有趣多了。
Just the whole vibe of the people who are working on their startups is just so much more fun than school.
我真的不想回学校做习题，为教授解决那些虚构的问题。
I didn't really wanna go back to school and do problem sets and, like, solve made up problems for professors.
在做了真正的事情之后，这看起来似乎非常肤浅。
It just seemed like very shallow after, like, doing the real thing.
你
You
知道吗？
know?
对吧。
Right.
而且，我也想把这件事坚持到底。
And and then also, like, I kinda wanna see it through.
我们基本上整个夏天都在开发这个产品。
Like, we basically spent all summer building this product.
我真的很想发布它，看看它是否能行得通。
I really wanted to launch it and see if it would work.
对。
Right.
你知道，我很好奇。
You know, I was curious.
所以我决定至少休学一个学期。
And so I decided to take at least one semester off.
好的。
Okay.
在九月和十月，我们整个秋季学期都在哈佛大学以及其他大学校园里努力让这个产品运转起来。
And in September and October, we spent the, you know, the fall semester really trying to get this thing working at Harvard and then at other college campuses.
但遗憾的是，到了十月，我们不得不承认，这个想法根本不是人们想要的。
And, unfortunately, by the October, we had to admit to ourselves that this idea was just not something people wanted.
没人想要这个网站。
Like, nobody wanted this website.
为什么他们不想要呢？
Why didn't they want it?
我现在明白了。
I know now.
原因是时机不对。
And the the reason is it's a timing problem.
Craigslist 能成功，是因为人们在随机的时间买卖东西，但大学生的时间都是同步的。
Craigslist works because people buy and sell things at, like, random times, but college students are all synchronized.
每个人都在九月返校，大家都想在九月买齐所有东西，却没人想卖东西。
Everybody comes back to school in September, and they wanna buy everything in September, and nobody wants to sell anything.
到了五月，每个人都想把东西全卖了，却没人想买。
And then in May, everybody wants to sell everything, and nobody's buying.
这就像一个失衡的市场。
It's like a lopsided market.
是的。
Yes.
没错。
Exactly.
嗯。
Yeah.
好的。
Okay.
有意思。
Interesting.
这就是为什么直到今天，还没有人成功创办过针对大学生的二手交易平台。
And that's why to this day, no one has ever started a successful crisis for Colleges.
不过，我偶然得知汤姆·布洛姆菲尔德也启动过完全相同的想法。
Although, I learned randomly that Tom Blomfield started the same exact idea.
他的第一个创业项目也是针对大学生的二手交易平台。
His first startup was also Crisis for Colleges.
真的吗？
Really?
我们都得出了相同的结论。
And we both came to the same conclusion.
这些数据无法解决这种结构性问题。
The data data cannot work for this, like, structural problem.
好的。
Okay.
那么告诉我们，你们是怎么转型成Scribd的？
So tell us how you morphed into Scribd.
于是我们花了几个月时间陷入一段悲伤的低谷，是的。
So then we spent a few months in a trough of sorrow Yes.
当时我们正在努力思考该做什么。
When we were trying to figure out, like, what to do.
我们尝试了大约十几个不同的想法，并推出了很多项目。
We went through probably a dozen different ideas, and we launched a lot of them.
我们会进行一些冲刺，随便想出一个点子。
We would go through these, like, sprints where we'd, like, like, have a random idea.
我们会做出一个产品。
We'd build a thing.
然后发布它。
We'd launch it.
我们会说，哦，这东西真烂。
We'd be like, oh, that thing sucks.
然后我们再重来一次。
And then we'd do it again.
在这段时间里，我决定搬到旧金山。
During this time, I decided to move out to San Francisco.
这对公司来说是一个重要的转折点，因为我们之前在剑桥参加了YC，而我是个东海岸人。
That was a big, like, turning point in the company because we'd done YC back in Cambridge, of course, and I'm the East Coaster.
我以前去加利福尼亚只待过一天，就是参加Y Combinator面试的时候。
The only time I'd ever been to California was for, like, one day for the, like, Y Combinator interview.
嗯。
Yeah.
但特里是帕洛阿尔托人，在硅谷长大。
But Trip was, like, from Palo Alto, grew up in Silicon Valley.
他一直告诉我，我们必须在硅谷。
He kept telling me, like, we gotta be in Silicon Valley.
那是最该待的地方。
That's the place to be.
那里全是初创公司。
That's where all the startups are.
没错。
Rightly so.
没错。
Rightly so.
不过，我当时非常怀疑，我只是觉得，我不确定。
Though, I was very skeptical because I was just like, I don't know.
我去过硅谷。
I've been to Silicon Valley.
它就是一堆郊区而已。
It's just like a bunch of, like, suburbs.
对我来说，它似乎没那么棒。
Like, it doesn't seem that great to me.
我不确定。
I don't know.
对。
Right.
对。
Right.
而且我们得问问，你父母对这一切怎么看？
And and we have to ask, what did your parents think of all of this?
嗯。
Yeah.
问题。
The question.
嗯。
Yeah.
那个经典问题。
The trademark question.
他们并没有特别兴奋，但也没有对我大惊小怪。
They were like, not not exactly excited about it, but they also weren't like jumping up and down on me.
我一直是个很有主见的人，我想他们也觉得我非常勤奋且有抱负，大概不会落得流落街头、无家可归的下场，我相信自己能搞定一切。
Like, I was always a very independently minded person, and I think they had a sense that I was, like, very hardworking and ambitious, and I probably wouldn't end up homeless on, like, a street corner somewhere that, like, I'd figure it out.
而且，是的。
And and yeah.
所以他们并没有过于担心。
And so they weren't, like, overly alarmed.
好的。
Okay.
所以特里普最终说服我去硅谷，我们搬进了这座叫水晶塔的建筑。
So Tripp eventually convinced me to go out to Silicon Valley, and we end up moving into this building, Crystal Towers.
是的。
Yes.
好的。
Okay.
这座建筑后来被称为‘Y摩天大楼’，因为里面住了太多Y Combinator的公司。
The the which is became dubbed the the Y Scraper because there were so many Y Combinator companies living in it.
是的。
Yes.
这实际上是我们一个非常重要的决定，因为我们当时住在这栋楼里，雷德迪特的人也在那里。
And that was actually a really big, like, decision for us because we were in this building now with, you know, the the Reddits were there.
后来，Stripe的创始人也住在那里。
Later on, like, the Stripe founders were there.
Dropbox的创始人也住在那里。
The Dropbox founders were there.
Weebly。
Weebly.
Weebly。
Weebly.
是的。
Yeah.
所有这些了不起的公司。
Like, all of these epic companies.
是的。
Yeah.
基本上，正是在那个社区里，在早期的Y Combinator社区中，当时大家都集中在这一栋楼里，我们才有了Scribd的想法，也获得了继续前进的动力。
And it's basically in the course of, like, being in that community, that early YC community, which was pretty focused on this one particular building at that time Yeah.
我们才有了Scribd的想法，也获得了继续前进的动力。
That we, like, got the idea for Scribd and also got the energy to keep going.
我能理解，因为每个人都在做很酷的项目，这确实提供了更多动力。
I could see how it provided more energy because everyone was working on cool ideas.
你们是怎么想到创建Scribd的？
How did you get the idea for Scribd?
我们当时在随便头脑风暴一些‘X版的YouTube’的想法，而那时YouTube正是最火的公司，因为它刚被谷歌以20亿美元收购。
We were, like, brainstorming random x for y ideas, and, like, YouTube is, like, the hottest company at the time because it just got bought by Google for, like, $2,000,000,000.
所以‘X版的YouTube’这个概念非常流行，但没人做过文档版的YouTube。
And so, like, YouTube for Xs were, like, really popular, but no one was doing YouTube for documents.
因为这有点无聊？
Because it's kinda boring?
因为确实如此。
Because it's yeah.
因为这看起来像是个糟糕的点子。
Because it seems like a bad idea.
你知道的？
You know?
那种看似糟糕的交叉点，其实反而是个好点子。
It's like intersection that seems like a bad idea is a good idea.
对吧？
Right?
嗯。
Yeah.
嗯。
Yeah.
嗯。
Yeah.
嗯。
Yeah.
所以我们有了Scribd的想法。
And so we we we had the idea for Scribd.
我们整个冬天都在开发它。
We built it over the winter.
我们在2007年3月上线，那时已经差不多筋疲力尽了。
We launched it in March 2007, and we were pretty out of gas by then.
我的意思是，我们其实已经折腾了很久，但什么都没成功。
Like, I think, know, we sort of been working on stuff for a while and, like, nothing was working.
我们也没融到钱，全靠最后一口气撑着。
We hadn't raised any money, so we were, like, running on fumes.
天哪。
Oh, boy.
老实说，如果这事没成，我们可能早就撑不下去了。
And I don't know that we would have kept going much longer, honestly, if it hadn't worked.
对。
Yeah.
但事情真的成了，上线后迅速火了起来。
But it did work, and the launch really took off.
给我们讲讲吧。
Tell us about it.
就像那一线希望。
Like, the glimmer of hope.
转折点。
Turning point.
是的。
Yeah.
那是我第二次见到卡罗琳，因为我们的产品发布真的爆火了。
And that was the second time when I met Caroline, because our launch, like, really blew up.
它登上了当时存在的 Hacker News 的榜首。
It was on it was at the top of, Hacker News, which existed at the time.
它登上了 TechCrunch、Slashdot、Digg、Reddit 以及所有这些大型网站的榜首。
It was at the top of TechCrunch and Slashdot and Digg and Reddit and all of these big sites.
它甚至被真正的记者报道了，比如《纽约时报》和 ABC 或 NBC 这样的正规新闻机构。
It got picked up by, like, actual, like, like, journalists at, like, proper, like, news outlets like The New York Times and either ABC or NBC.
它甚至上了有线电视新闻。
It was even on cable news.
我记得有一天早上醒来，看到一辆老式的有线电视新闻采访车，就是那种带着大卫星天线的车
I remember one day we woke up, and there was one of those old school cable news vans, you know, with the big satellite dish
哦，是的。
Oh, yeah.
停在Wisecaper门口的顶部。
On the top, parked outside of the wisecaper No.
因为他们想拍摄那三个制作YouTube视频的家伙。
Because they wanted to film the the three guys making YouTube for documents.
哦，哇。
Oh, wow.
太棒了。
That's awesome.
天哪。
Oh my gosh.
所以我们从彻底失败、完全不知道自己在做什么、不断尝试各种点子、像迷路的孩子一样，短暂地变成了硅谷最炙手可热的公司之一。
And so we went from totally, you know, failing, no idea what we were doing, pivoting through random ideas, lost kids, essentially, to being, for a brief moment, one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley.
是的。
Yeah.
我们从身无分文在几周内获得了多份A轮投资意向书。
And we went from being totally broke to having multiple term sheets for a series a in, like, a few weeks.
好的。
Alright.
谁给了你们投资意向书？你们最终选择了谁？
Who gave you term sheets, and who did you take?
嗯。
Yeah.
我们收到了红杉资本、CRV和 Sequoia 的投资意向书。
So we got term sheets from Redpoint and CRV and Sequoia.
嗯。
Mhmm.
最后我们选择了红杉资本。
And we ended up going with Redpoint.
嗯。
Mhmm.
那就是你重新介绍我们认识卡罗琳的时候，因为你觉得这些家伙需要帮助完成他们的A轮融资。
And that was when you reintroduced us to Carolyn because you're like, these guys need help with their series a.
是的。
Yeah.
是的。
Yeah.
是的。
Yeah.
我记得红点资本。
I remember Redpoint.
杨杰弗里。
Jeffrey Yang.
是的。
Yeah.
杨杰弗里。
Jeffrey Yang.
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