Russ Yusupov

We started programming the prototype and we were introduced to a venture capitalist, Adam Ludwin. And he was very interested in what we were working on and said, whatever you guys do next, I want to support it.

We started programming the prototype and we were introduced to a venture capitalist, Adam Ludwin. And he was very interested in what we were working on and said, whatever you guys do next, I want to support it.

And he was in those early meetings when we came up with the idea for Vine. He was very quick to write us a check and he was very quick to introduce us to his other VC friends. The pitch, we never really had a pitch deck. We simply just invited them to the beta and they were able to just use the app and see if they liked it for themselves and see if they saw potential.

And he was in those early meetings when we came up with the idea for Vine. He was very quick to write us a check and he was very quick to introduce us to his other VC friends. The pitch, we never really had a pitch deck. We simply just invited them to the beta and they were able to just use the app and see if they liked it for themselves and see if they saw potential.

The VC funding just allowed us to build without feeling like, oh, we're taking on so much risk spending all of our own money. We knew we were in good hands and we knew we had the runway to keep experimenting and keep working on the thing.

The VC funding just allowed us to build without feeling like, oh, we're taking on so much risk spending all of our own money. We knew we were in good hands and we knew we had the runway to keep experimenting and keep working on the thing.

Yeah, Dom, Colin and I, we went out to San Francisco. We met with Twitter leadership over the course of, I think, a day or two. Back and forth with our attorneys and our accountants, but not with the VCs.

Yeah, Dom, Colin and I, we went out to San Francisco. We met with Twitter leadership over the course of, I think, a day or two. Back and forth with our attorneys and our accountants, but not with the VCs.

Yeah, well, we were wearing button downs tucked into jeans and nice shoes.

Yeah, well, we were wearing button downs tucked into jeans and nice shoes.

Nope. And our investors complained to us to this day that we sold too early. We should have said no to Twitter and grown it much bigger than we did at the time of sale. It felt right at the time. No regrets.

Nope. And our investors complained to us to this day that we sold too early. We should have said no to Twitter and grown it much bigger than we did at the time of sale. It felt right at the time. No regrets.

It was a proud moment for us. We did celebrate.

It was a proud moment for us. We did celebrate.

For a while in the Vine prototype, you had to tap on the video to load it before it played. And being inspired by GIFs, we... made the decision to just make them play automatically and load automatically. So we started loading a video before it entered the viewport to make the experience even faster. So while you're watching a video, the next video would already start loading.

For a while in the Vine prototype, you had to tap on the video to load it before it played. And being inspired by GIFs, we... made the decision to just make them play automatically and load automatically. So we started loading a video before it entered the viewport to make the experience even faster. So while you're watching a video, the next video would already start loading.

And we made it autoplay, which is another innovation that didn't exist on the internet before Vine. After launching Vine, YouTube started autoplaying videos and pretty much every other video platform started doing the same. And this endless feed of videos became part of the core experience of Vine.

And we made it autoplay, which is another innovation that didn't exist on the internet before Vine. After launching Vine, YouTube started autoplaying videos and pretty much every other video platform started doing the same. And this endless feed of videos became part of the core experience of Vine.

you know we were inspired by gifts but we also felt like these really short videos left a lot to be desired when you got to the end of them it was just like oh is that it um so adding the loop felt natural and it also unlocked quite a bit of creative potential for the art form and that people can now start playing with with that loop and many comedic formats on vine people used

you know we were inspired by gifts but we also felt like these really short videos left a lot to be desired when you got to the end of them it was just like oh is that it um so adding the loop felt natural and it also unlocked quite a bit of creative potential for the art form and that people can now start playing with with that loop and many comedic formats on vine people used