Sublime

Founders at work: Stories of startups’ early days by Jessica Livingston (2008)

Livingston: What was most surprising to you? Kraus: That opportunity creates opportunity.

Livingston: Looking back on all of your experiences, what surprised you most? Kahle: How long things take. To start a company and to get to a point where one has a critical mass—you have an office, you've got your CFO, you've got all of the infrastructure to become a viable entity. I think about 20 to 40 people is a golden size, because you're not

Innovations seem inevitable in retrospect, but at the time it's an uphill battle.

Livingston: Do you think it's a good idea for those who have a big dream like that to section it off a bit? To try to create a successful startup to get the money to give them the freedom to pursue their dream? Kahle: Yes. I try to make sure that every year there's some accomplishment that you can actually point at and say, "OK, this year I'm

Livingston: What competitors did you worry about? Kraus: Early on you worry about the ones that don't matter, because you don't know any better.