# Live From The HIBT Summit: Stewart Butterfield

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2020-01-30
- Length: 15m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield

## Summary

Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr and Slack, discusses his history of pivoting from failed video games to successful software companies. He explains how the failure of 'Game Neverending' led to the creation of Flickr, and how the inability to explain the surreal nature of his next game, 'Glitch', combined with the shift to mobile, caused its shutdown. Butterfield emphasizes the importance of being able to clearly articulate a product's value to avoid the 'owner's delusion' that plagued Glitch but was eventually corrected in Slack's messaging.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield#t=0) Introduction: Stewart Butterfield and the Art of the Pivot
- [1:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield#t=87) Pivoting from Game Neverending to Flickr
- [3:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield#t=206) The Vision and Failure of Glitch
- [7:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield#t=428) The Mobile Shift and the End of Glitch
- [8:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield#t=527) The Human Cost of Shutting Down a Company
- [11:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield#t=708) The Challenge of Explaining New Categories
- [13:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield#t=784) Overcoming the Owner's Delusion at Slack

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Slack (product)
- Flickr (product)
- Yahoo (company)
- Glitch (product)
- Game Neverending (product)
- Android (product)
- iPhone (product)
- Newsweek (company)
- U.S. Bank (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep. 39 - Starting a Hardware Company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2025-05-15-ep-39-starting-a-hardware-company) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [S3 E1: Mastering Tech Adoption and The Hardware Development Workflow with Jon Hirshtick](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir) (The Builder Circle)
- [Leaving a Startup and Lessons Learned from Plethora with Nick Pinkston (Part 3 of 3)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-10-25-leaving-a-startup-and-lessons-learned-from-plethora-with-nick-pinkston-part-3-of) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [#008 - What to learn from Pebble’s story: two times most funded Kickstarter campaign ever to its eventual end, with your host, Balint Horvath, Switzerland](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-01-11-008-what-to-learn-from-pebbles-story-two-times-most-funded-kickstarter-campaign) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [Afterschool Podcast, Episode 9 - Rusty Meadows (10/21)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/core77-podcast/2013-11-05-afterschool-podcast-episode-9-rusty-meadows-10-21) (Core77 Podcast)

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