tell me about viaweb. the idea, at the time, was quite revolutionary.aul: well, the reason the company was called viaweb, is that the software worked via the web. right? it was what is now known as a web app. it was the first one. it was an online store builder and got bought by yahoo!. and eventually became -- still is -- yahoo!'s store. emily: what was it like working at yahoo!? how long did you last there? the guy who was suspended every year. paul: i was basically getting suspended from yahoo!, too. i hereby apologize to all the people i have ever worked for. i barely lasted a year. emily: you went on to write. you started writing essays at paulgraham.com. paul: yeah. emily: and that's when you started building your following. paul: i suppose so. i didn't really think i was building a following. emily: what were you writing about? paul: i started just writing about software, and i gradually realized that no one would come and drag me away if i started writing about other things, too. emily: at what point did you guys meet? jessica: we met at a party

tell me about viaweb. the idea was revolutionary. paul: the reason the company was called viaweb, the company worked via the web. it was known as a web app. it was an online store builder and got bought by yahoo!. and it is yahoo!'s store. emily: what was it like working at yahoo!? the guy who was suspended every year. paul: i apologize to the people i ever worked for. i barely lasted a year. emily: you went on to write. paul: yeah. emily: and you started building your following. what were you writing about? paul: writing about software and i realized that no one would drag me away if i started writing about other things, too. emily: what time did you guys meet? jessica: at a party in paul's house that i almost didn't attend. emily: y combinator almost didn't exist. paul: scary how close. emily: how did you come up with the idea for y combinator? paul: jessica was writing a book. jessica: that was the first book that i read when i moved to silicon valley. jennifer: really? your book about founders. emily: i never tire of hearing stor

tell me about viaweb. the idea was revolutionary. >> the reason the company was called viaweb, is that the software worked via the web. it was known as a web app. it was the first one. it was an online store builder and got bought by yahoo!. and it is yahoo!'s store. >> what was it like working at yahoo!? how long did you last there? the guy who was suspended every year. >> i was basically getting suspended from yahoo! too. i hereby apologize to all the people i ever worked for. i barely lasted a year. >> you went on to write. >> yeah. >> and you started building your following. >> i suppose so. i didn't think i was building a following. >> what were you writing about? >> i was writing about software and i realized that no one would drag me away if i started writing about other things, too. >> at what point did you guys meet? >> we met at a party in paul's house in cambridge that i almost didn't attend. >> y combinator almost didn't exist. >> it's scary how close it was. >> how did you come up with the ide