True Story #4: How Digg got Started

This is a great story on how to create buzz for your company by following two rules

1. Compare your company with a known branded company, but give a simple explanation on how you are different

2. Leverage other platforms to create a buzz for your company.

Kevin Rose introduced Digg to the world in a December 2004 episode of The Screen Savers (Kevin was a host of the show). The video clip, now safely archived at YouTube, is embedded below.



Kevin discusses Slashdot to start the clip, saying its a great site, but he also says that the fact that editors control what’s on the home page of Slashdot “takes the power away from the people.” He then gives a demo of digg (great v.1 screenshots), which he says “looks much like a Slashdot,” but gives the power “back to the people.” At no point in the clip does Kevin state that he is the founder or in any way connected with Digg.


It’s always fun to go back and review vintage video of startups before they’ve rocketed to success. Given the ease of sharing and archiving video clips today, all startups should be sure to take the time to record the early days. And using video to spread the message of your company virally isn’t a bad idea, either.