Brendan McNerney

We weren't really pushing to sell the company in the near term, especially not before launching the thing.

We weren't really pushing to sell the company in the near term, especially not before launching the thing.

So I took a page from my celebrity days because I remembered when I worked for Ashton and he was married to Demi Moore at the time. Demi would always get these invites to come to this like luncheon event where she was being given an award. Right. And I realized this is actually just a scheme. You as a top celebrity are probably not going to go to an award show unless you're being given an award.

So I took a page from my celebrity days because I remembered when I worked for Ashton and he was married to Demi Moore at the time. Demi would always get these invites to come to this like luncheon event where she was being given an award. Right. And I realized this is actually just a scheme. You as a top celebrity are probably not going to go to an award show unless you're being given an award.

So like, how do you make sure you get at least one celebrity to an event you want? come up with some award to give them, right? So I reached out to King Batch's people and said, like, listen, he's never been acknowledged by Vine before. Like, Vine had never even congratulated him. So I said, I'm new. We're turning over a new leaf.

So like, how do you make sure you get at least one celebrity to an event you want? come up with some award to give them, right? So I reached out to King Batch's people and said, like, listen, he's never been acknowledged by Vine before. Like, Vine had never even congratulated him. So I said, I'm new. We're turning over a new leaf.

What I want to do is throw a huge party to celebrate King Batch, and I'm going to throw it on behalf of Vine. It's a celebration for his success. And also I would love for him to run the guest list. So I thought this is a great way to get everybody in one place. I'll turn the whole control of the event over to King Batch, have him invite everybody because nobody was responding to me.

What I want to do is throw a huge party to celebrate King Batch, and I'm going to throw it on behalf of Vine. It's a celebration for his success. And also I would love for him to run the guest list. So I thought this is a great way to get everybody in one place. I'll turn the whole control of the event over to King Batch, have him invite everybody because nobody was responding to me.

We all worked together and we had the first ever Vine hosted party for Viners.

We all worked together and we had the first ever Vine hosted party for Viners.

An amazing night. It was so great to see people who had been friends on the Internet in private messages only all of a sudden meet for the first time in person. It was really like beautiful and heartwarming. And the whole party in general was a success. And we were, you know, kind of sharing as a content team. We're the new people and it's going to be a friendlier place for you now.

An amazing night. It was so great to see people who had been friends on the Internet in private messages only all of a sudden meet for the first time in person. It was really like beautiful and heartwarming. And the whole party in general was a success. And we were, you know, kind of sharing as a content team. We're the new people and it's going to be a friendlier place for you now.

But at the end of the night, Marcus Johns came over to me and said, hey, everybody from 1600 Vine would like to meet with you.

But at the end of the night, Marcus Johns came over to me and said, hey, everybody from 1600 Vine would like to meet with you.

And so we were in this apartment conference room and it was like Jake Paul and Marcus Johns and, you know, every kind of top Viner at the time.

And so we were in this apartment conference room and it was like Jake Paul and Marcus Johns and, you know, every kind of top Viner at the time.

There was some talk about how they all knew that if they ganged up and all decided to stop posting on Vine, like immediately, that the whole app would cease to exist.

There was some talk about how they all knew that if they ganged up and all decided to stop posting on Vine, like immediately, that the whole app would cease to exist.

And then the tone changed and it started to get kind of aggressive and ugly in the room.

And then the tone changed and it started to get kind of aggressive and ugly in the room.