18:51David Rusenko at Startup School 2012
From Y Combinator · Published Jul 23, 2014 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
David Rusenko recounts Weebly’s journey from a college project to powering ~2% of active websites, emphasizing that real traction took 20 months and profitability took 35 months. Press spikes (TechCrunch, Newsweek, Time) were temporary blips; sustainable growth came from word-of-mouth and a Net Promoter Score >80%.
Key insights
- Six months after first line of code, Weebly had 12 signups in a day; 11 months in, signups were still <100/day and trending downward.
- Press coverage (TechCrunch, Newsweek, Time) produced sharp spikes that decayed quickly; word-of-mouth eventually drove more daily signups than any press event.
- At 14 months, the company had <$100 in the bank and was considering moving to San Jose to save $100/month rent.
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