And so you have to churn people out and be willing to let them go. It was
painful, but I knew from the beginning we were going to have to do that.
Livingston: What was most surprising to you about starting a startup?
Currier: How painful it was. I woke up on October 3, 1999, at around 4 a.m.
with my chest burning from fear and pain about not knowing what to do, and
worrying that I had taken my friends’ and mentors’ money. I had realized that
what I was trying to do...

for the softer things in life like your family, friends, or dating life. And when you
are there with them, you’re not really there with them; you’re thinking about
this thing because you’re creating it, and it takes that amount of passion to make
it work.
Livingston: Did this ever hurt any of your relationships?
Currier: I almost didn’t marry my wife. She and I started dating about 2 months
before I came up with the idea, so she hasn’t really known me without it. I
couldn’t figure out if we should get...

Monster has been fantastic about leaving us alone. We’re just out here doing
our thing. We are very lucky, and I still enjoy and want to build a great legacy
for Monster. But I won’t be here forever. I can’t. I’m a starter.
If Yahoo had acquired us, they would have made us move to Mountain
View, and would have made us a widget on a feature on a division of a department,
and everyone would have left, and the whole thing would have died. And
Wall Street would have applauded roundly.
Whereas...