How a humiliating moment transformed Weebly into a multimillion-dollar company – CLONE

Weebly

• Weebly CEO David Rusenko sold his company to Square
  earlier this year for $365 million.
• The journey leading up to the sale wasn’t always so
  easy. Rusenko recalls a moment of doubt he had early on when he
  revealed Weebly’s product for the first time and was told it
  was a terrible idea.
• Now, he reflects on his top piece of advice for budding
  entrepreneurs. 

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When David Rusenko, founder of website building platform Weebly,
debuted his product for the very first time before a
crowd of nearly 1,000 people in 2006, he was met with a
remarkably unfavorable response.

At an an early tech gathering led by a prominent tech CEO
in New York, Rusenko was one among a number of early-stage
entrepreneurs to deliver a five-minute business pitch before the
group of tech enthusiasts.

Rusenko leaned into the mic and described his plan to build
an online platform that made it easy for anyone to create their
own professional website. 

“After we finished our demo, [the tech CEO leading the
meeting] grabbed the mic and said it was the worst idea he ever
heard of,” said Rusenko.

“He said that no one needed to make a website and anyone
who needed to would be able to figure it out on their
own.”

For Rusenko, the moment was …

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