[Fireside Chats are round table discussions conducted using Campfire.]

The Chatters
Jacob DeHart (skinnyCorp/Threadless)
Jeffrey Kalmikoff (skinnyCorp/Threadless)
Zach Klein (Connected Ventures/Vimeo)
Jakob Lodwick (Connected Ventures/Vimeo)
Moderated by Matt from 37signals

Continued from Part 1.

Matt
Lately your companies have been getting a lot of attention from the mainstream media. When they write about you, what do they miss? Are there any aspects to your success that have been underappreciated?
Jeffrey
ok
Jeffrey
so
Jeffrey
i hate being called a college dropout
Jeffrey
it’s like
Jeffrey
almost 10 years ago already
Jacob
me too
Jakob
I never got a degree
Jacob
i didn’t drop out, i got kicked out, get it straight
Jeffrey
and i didn’t drop out, i just decided to learn on my own
Jeffrey
haha, well i did get kicked out of ASU
Jeffrey
but then i petitioned my way back in
Jakob
there are plenty of reasons to leave college… if you have a good reason, just leave!
“I hate being called a college dropout. It’s like almost 10 years ago already. And I didn’t drop out, I just decided to learn on my own.”
Zach
I think it’s underestimated how much work we put into it.
Zach
Our success wasn’t random—we work non-stop.
Jacob
even when I’m sleeping i’m working
Jeffrey
i think our initial success was lucky, honestly
Jeffrey
but
Jacob
whatever jeffrey, you weren’t even there
Jeffrey
our ability to nurture it to what it is now is a non-stop-work-athon
Jeffrey
i was defining "our initial success" by when you hired me
Jakob
he’s trying to make it sound like he’s a workaholic
Zach
We take time off now – but at first we didn’t – when it was make-it or break-it time.
Jakob
well, let’s talk about what "work" means.
Zach
When we moved to NYC, we worked on Sundays.
Jeffrey
i work on saturdays
Zach
As simple as talking about Vimeo out loud.
Jakob
if you’re so obsessed with your site that you think about it in the shower, or it literally compels you to get out of bed in the morning, maybe that counts as work?
Zach
yeah, totally.
Jakob
If you work too hard, you lose perspective and you make huge mistakes.
Jacob
Fact: The best ideas come from the bathroom.
Jakob
agreed
Jeffrey
yes
“I think it’s underestimated how much work we put into it. Our success wasn’t random — we work non-stop.”
Jeffrey
jakob, i haven’t told you yet, but your myspace suicide inspired the hell out of me
Jakob
ah, thanks
Jakob
did YOU kill your MySpace account?
Jeffrey
yes
Jeffrey
but for other reasons
Jeffrey
but the inspiration came in the form of buying http://www.socialnetworksuicide.com
Jakob
I killed mine because I’m sick of hearing everyone complain about MySpace, yet they still use the fucking site!
Jakob
I hated it, and I wasn’t going to sit there and complain
Matt
Jeff, you told the Suntimes: "Our ability to be successful is that we don’t have that crazy competitiveness that goes on in Silicon Valley." Do y’all think being outside Silicon Valley has been instrumental to your success?
Jakob
It’s a different culture out there. I can’t picture Vimeo existing in that environment.
Jeffrey
no
Jeffrey
but, having gone there recently
Jeffrey
it’s out of control
Jacob
OOC
Jeffrey
have you guys ever seen valleywag.com?
Zach
yeah, Gawker site.
Jeffrey
so scary
Zach
Why?
Jeffrey
i love that people ask me that question tho
Jeffrey
it’s almost like people forget the internet exists outside of the valley
Matt
what did you see out there that was ooc?
Jeffrey
ok
Jeffrey
when i was out there
Jeffrey
every person i met gave me a business card that said CEO
Jeffrey
it just seems like everyone is so up in each other’s kool-aid they forget to just stfu and work
“When i was out [in Silicon Valley,] every person i met gave me a business card that said CEO. It just seems like everyone is so up in each other’s kool-aid they forget to just stfu and work.”
Jakob
I think we should strive to make online communities nurturing in the same way that real-life communities nurture
Zach
Do you think anonymity will become a thing of the past?
Jeffrey
i don’t think so
Jakob
sort of; I think the most rewarding communities are ones where you can develop an identity
Zach
I wonder if Internet user will eventually become more accountable online than in real-life.
Jeffrey
your online personality and who you are in real life can always be different
Zach
True, but we’ll eventually be able to trace every online action to a real name, right?
Jakob
nah…
Jacob
You think so? I doubt it
Jacob
There will always be anonymous trolls
Jeffrey
i think there will always be that veil
Matt
Who/what do you think is underrated?
Jakob
Dan Deacon is underrated
Jakob
Baltimore is underrated
Jakob
Seeing yourself as a creator is underrated
Jakob
Simplicity is underrated
Jakob
though not among readers of this blog
Jeffrey
in terms of working, i think discontentness is underrated
Matt
what do you mean by discontentness?
Jeffrey
like never being fully happy with your work
Jacob
discontentment
Jeffrey
shh
Jeffrey
i’m a creative
Jacob
Maybe you should’ve staying in school
Jeffrey
haha
Matt
i.e. being a perfectionist implies being perpetually dissatisfied?
Jeffrey
well, to quote a really bad cheesy hardcore band, ‘satisfaction is the death of desire’
“To quote a really bad cheesy hardcore band, ‘satisfaction is the death of desire.’”
Zach
I think Yahoo is underrated.
Jakob
why?
Jacob
I agree about Yahoo, for their size they’re doing a pretty great job of innovating, I’m glad they didn’t destroy flickr and delicious as well
Zach
Did you see their Citizen Journalism initiative?
Zach
Zach
That’s underrated!
Jakob
Zach, are you more interested in the goals of the project, or in how people are actually using it?
Zach
I don’t know who is using Yahoo’s service—but I like that Yahoo is thinking about it.
Jakob
Yahoo’s good intentions are underrated!!!!!
Zach
I think good intentions are important.
Zach
For example, Vimeo isn’t massively popular yet, but I think it’s important that we stick to our principles in the meantime.
Jakob
They’re important, but they have to be met with some sort of results, especially if we’re talking about a public company or other huge institution
Zach
Yahoo needs to mature some more.
Matt
"mature"?
Zach
Meaning, they have a lot of stuff in the pipeline .. several strong projects that could produce good results if they pair together
Zach
like the citizen journalism initiative and Flickr.
Zach
They should be working together.
Matt
Gotcha.
Jacob
I think yahoo understands the strength of communities, which to me it seems is something that google is lacking
Jakob
Maybe…Terry Semel shouldn’t be CEO?
Zach
I think it would be cool if I got a Flickr message from Yahoo telling me that there is going to be a demonstration in Central Park tonight—"Will you shoot pictures for us?"
Zach
I’d do it!
Jeffrey
i like that idea
Jacob
thats a good idea!
Jakob
Zach, I think you’re saying that your own ideas are underrated
Zach
Certainly Yahoo must see the same potential. It’s obvious.
Jacob
have you seen Yahoo Pipes?
Jacob
its pretty awkward to use but big potential as far as I can tell
Jacob
when are skinnycorp and connected ventures teaming up?
Zach
We should start by trading employees for a week.
Jeffrey
i think that would be really fun
Zach
Or, how about we build a feature for Threadless, and you design one for Vimeo?
Jakob
Most likely, we will start a town together around 2010
Zach
That’s seems far off, but it isn’t!
Jacob
there was a town for sale somewhere out west a while back, anyone see that? We should’ve bought that
Jeffrey
it was like under 3 mil
Zach
Yeah, in British Columbia.
Jeffrey
this was in new mexico
Zach
Oh, that one—it was a mining town.
Zach
Did you hear what happened to it?!
Jacob
yea it was like a desert ghost town
Jacob
no i didnt!
Zach
Well, some people decided to keep living there after it was sold.
Zach
A private security firm bought it.
Zach
And the security firm used it as a training ground for municipal police departments
Zach
so every week, a new police force would arrive, and they would use the town to train for counter-terrorism techniques
Jeffrey
that seems less cool than what we’d do with it
Zach
and the bank, which was an actual working bank, was ‘held up’ every week, and the police would ‘take care of the situation’
Jacob
that’s lame, oh well.
Jeffrey
i wanted to live in the firehouse like ghostbusters
Zach
that firehouse is around the block from us.
Jeffrey
i think cv and sc should have like photoshop tennis
Jeffrey
but with development involved
Jeffrey
an idea for a site or something submitted by a community
Jeffrey
zach and jakob – what would you do differently with threadless?
Zach
Put videos of models wearing the shirts on product pages.
Jacob
argh! zach!
Jacob
did you know we have that built in? [but we’ve been] too slow to make the videos?
Jacob
drives me crazy
Jakob
open a retail store!
Zach
Fund shortfilms with actors wearing your shirts, and post those too.
Jakob
sell prints of the artwork
Matt
jeffrey and jacob, what would you do differently with vimeo/CV?
Jeffrey
i’d run way more contests with vimeo
Jakob
why?
Jeffrey
i guess to challenge people to create cool stuff
Jacob
yeah, maybe just work in partnerships with someone, have a contest where the most creative video gets a nice camcorder
Jacob
and just have a camcorder company donate it for the exposure
Jeffrey
i like the idea of having advertisers do more than just have ads. like have their presence have purpose, like getting involved in prizing for stuff
Jacob
I already voiced most of my changes months ago and you guys already implemented them :-p
Jakob
New version comes out April 2nd
Jacob
underrated site: zombo.com
Jacob
gosh i forgot about that
Jacob
bye!