# In a feature article on Pinterest's IPO, the venture’s start at Stern in what is now the W. R. Berkley Innovation Labs' $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge is highlighted

1 School News April 18, 2019 ![Wall Street Journal logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/wsjlogo.jpg?itok=5Qt0z3WX)>

Excerpt from [The Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/articles/pinterest-rises-in-trading-debut-on-nyse-11555601520) -- "Rick Heitzmann, founder and managing director at FirstMark Capital, first met the company’s founding team when he served as a judge at a business plan competition at New York University’s Stern School of Business in 2009. Pinterest’s chief executive and co-founder, Ben Silbermann, and other executives pitched an early iteration of the business explaining that they could create the equivalent of an online bulletin board."

[Read more](https://www.wsj.com/articles/pinterest-rises-in-trading-debut-on-nyse-11555601520)