Name: Dave Weinberg
Major, College: Political Science, Yeshiva College ‘05
Position at Pinbooster: Co-Founder and CEO
Day Job: That is my day job 
Major, College: Marketing, Sy Syms
Position at Pinbooster: Co-Founder (I don’t really do the title thing)
Day Job: I have a web design company called Trifunk Media and an animation studio called Brio.
Meet Dave Weinberg and Ariel Remer—YU alum, social media enthusiasts, and Pinterest extraordinaires. After exploring the world of entrepreneurship, these two buddies have decided to join the ranks of Facebook and Google to found their own startup—Pinbooster.com.
Let’s start with the basics:
What is Pinbooster?
Dave: Pinbooster is the advertising platform for Pinterest. We help major brands and advertisers of all sizes connect to millions of people through our highly influential Pinterest users.
What inspired you to start it?
Ariel: Dave and I are both very entrepreneurial types of people, so if we have an idea, we try to go for it. I love being creative and Dave does as well, and if we have a good idea and we think it works, we’ll run with it.
How did you get Pinbooster on its feet?
D: Our first bit of luck came on the very first day. The CEO of a major technology startup gave us some advice: “It’s not about the technology; you are all about brokering relationships.” That revelation allowed us to take away the focus from raising large sums of money just based on an idea and switched it to proving market demand by brokering relationships between advertisers and influential Pinterest users. Ariel designed an awesome logo and emailed capture landing page for the first Pinbooster.com webpage. We emailed a few people and posted to a few “beta-only” websites and waited. Within a day, we had over a thousand people signed up.
A: Creating the landing page and logo took 5 days; it wasn’t a lot of work. We knew based on our feedback of 1,000 users that we were heading in the right direction and could continue moving forward.
What challenges did Pinbooster face in the beginning?
A: A challenge unique to Pinbooster was that we built Pinbooster advertising on someone else’s platform: on Pinterest’s platform. This was a huge risk because our whole company is based out of Pinterest. Because of this, we built the system in a way that would have enabled us to circumvent Pinterest if it opposed us.
What were some of your fears and hesitations in founding the startup? How did you overcome them?
D: Not Enough Time. Overcame it through brute focus and strict management of my time, organizing my world and continually finding short moments to stop and enjoy life with my family and friends.
A: The biggest hesitation for me was that it costs money. It’s a big financial risk, and Dave and I both have families, so that was something that we really had to take into consideration. Luckily we had an early investor who really believed in us and was willing to take a chance on us based on our idea.
Quote highlights:
“Most businesses are very cutthroat and everyone’s trying to get ahead of each other. The tech community is also very cutthroat…but they still want your startup to succeed…It really reminds me of the frum community.”
In your opinion, what are the essential resources needed to build a successful startup?
A: A good programmer/developer, a good design, and being a people person so you can make connections.
And which skills?
D: Vision, execution and patience.
A: Leadership skills. You need to be able to manage the expectations of your team. Also, you also need to have personality and confidence. You’ll have to get on the phone or speak in front of 25 people and get them excited about your company.
How important is being tech savvy?
D: It is important to talk the talk and understand the underpinnings around technology and how things connect. The rest is vision and execution.
A: There are lot of startups where the founders don’t know how to code, and they’ll hire a programmer. But if you don’t know how to code, it would be good if you understood code, or at least the basics, so you can estimate the time it takes to program certain things. You don’t want to be ripped off for the work.
How does managing a tech business differ from a regular business?
A: At a retail store, if you have a bad experience, the chances that you’ll go back are unlikely. But in the startup world, users might actually reach out to you, especially if they are early adopters. In that way it’s very different because the tech community is very open. It’s a community of people ready to share their advice, experience, and connections. It’s almost like the frum community-if you know someone, you always want to share and you always want everyone to succeed.
Is there anything about managing a tech startup that you didn’t expect or surprised you?
D: How open people are to helping, even at the most senior level, without expecting anything in return.
A: The thing I was most surprised by was how the tech community was so friendly and how everyone shared their contacts and connections. Most businesses are very cutthroat and everyone’s trying to get ahead of each other. The tech community is also very cutthroat, they want to be the best programmer, but they still want your startup to succeed and will connect you to the right people. It’s crazy; it really reminds me of the frum community.
Are there any startups out there that you’re particularly excited about?
D: ReplyAll, anything that tells me more about myself (fitbit, jawbone, etc.) and Tesla Motors.
A: Other than Pinbooster? (laughs) My buddies Zach Abramowitz and Ari Gold have a startup called ReplyAll.me. The idea is that if you and your friends have lots of email threads going back and forth —I don’t know if girls do this, but guys do especially when following professional sports —it takes those conversations and puts them online. You’re sharing your conversation with your buddies, but no one can comment. You kind of become a writer.
What would you say to a young YU entrepreneur looking to start his/her own startup?
D: Come join us for a semester internship and try out startup culture!
A: Get up and do it right now. Now is the time to take the risk. Go for it before you have four kids, a mortgage and tuition to pay.
Pinbooster.com was founded in 2012. To date, it has over 6,000 users and 800 advertisers including Whole Foods, Walmart and Wayfair.com. To apply for an internship, please email your resume and cover letter to hello@pinbooster.com.