One on One: Andrey Ternovskiy, Creator of Chatroulette

Andrey Ternovskiy, a polite, excited and eager Russian high school student, scoured the Internet trying to find a Web site that allowed random video chats with strangers. When he realized a site like that didn’t exist, he decided to build it. Three months and tens of millions of users later, the 17-year-old is wandering around New York City and (soon) San Francisco talking to investors and programmers about where to take his project next.

David Gallagher, deputy tech editor, and I sat down with Mr. Ternovskiy to hear his captivating story about being too young to receive payment for the Google ads he was running and why so many investors want to be his new best friend. Here is an edited and condensed version of our chat:

Why did you start Chatroulette?
I was looking for a site like this, one that would let me chat randomly on webcams, and I couldn’t find it, so I thought I would try to build it.

How long did it take to build?
It took me three days. I built it on an old computer I had in my bedroom.

Then what happened?
Well, at first I showed it to my friends and they criticized it; they asked why anyone would want to use it. So I went onto a few Web forums and asked people to try the site, and I got 20 people to try it.

How many users do you have now?
Well, after the initial 20 users the site doubled and it continued to double every day since then. Last month I saw 30 million unique visitors come to the Web site and one million new people visit each day. It continues to multiply and I just couldn’t stop it from growing.

What were you thinking while this was happening?
I woke up one morning and checked my computer and saw all of these news articles about Chatroulette. I yelled to Mom to come and look at my computer. At first she was very nervous, but she doesn’t really understand it very well and asked me why I’m not going to school.

What do you think about all the press?
Actually I haven’t read a single article. I don’t want to read them. I see a wall of text and I just look at the picture and click next.

And what did you parents say?
Well, my mother is a bit conservative about it, and I am still in high school.

Where does the name come from?
I came up with it after I watched a movie about American soldiers who were fighting in Vietnam and were captured and forced to play Russian roulette.

Are you making money from the advertisements on the site?
I used to be, but for the last six days I have had no ads.

But you have Google AdWords, right?
Well, Google never sent me the money.

Huh? Why didn’t they send you the money?
Well, at first it took two months to verify my address in Moscow because I wrote a code down incorrectly. Then, when that was fixed, and everything should’ve been fine, I received a letter from Google that said they could not send me the money because I was not 18 years old yet.

What do you plan to do about all the naked people on Chatroulette?
People that are naked are all over the Internet. I don’t like it, because I want a clean site, so I have added a “Report” button. Now if someone is reported three times they are banned from the site.

How do you feel about Chatroulette Map?
I enjoy it. I was e-mailing the creator of the site, but he won’t tell me who it is. There is a certain level of anonymity on the Chatroulette that Chatroulette Map takes away, but I plan to add something to my site to allow them to still hide their whereabouts.

So you have been meeting with investors?
Well, for now, they are more interested in me, than I am in then.

Are people trying to buy the service?
I get calls all the time where people say they want to buy my site, but I think that some of them are not serious, they are only offering me $1 million.

Will you sell it?
Six months ago I would have said yes, but now I want to keep it, I don’t want to sell it.

Do you want investors?
I’m not sure. There are a lot of business people that are interested. I am afraid to take the offers as I don’t have a business plan. If I take the money I’m responsible for delivering on that. Right now I can survive without investors. The site uses peer-to-peer technology and my Web site is not the kind of site that needs a lot of money to run.

So if someone came along to you today and said I’ll give you $5 million for the Web site, would you sell it to them?
I’m not sure, to be honest. The thing is, I could take the money, but what if it won’t work well in the future? I would blame myself. I don’t want to disappoint people.

Have you always wanted to be a programmer?
No, actually I had no interest in being a programmer. I was always interested in language, I studied English and Chinese and I hoped to be a translator. Then I got a computer and saw that you could write code, so I decided to try it.

What’s next for you and Chatroulette?
I’m looking for ideas, I personally don’t know, but I’m debating changing everything. I’m meeting with people in New York and San Francisco to look for ideas and see what to do next. Who knows what will happen next.

And when do you go back to Moscow?
I have a ticket to go back in mid-April. But who knows, maybe I’ll never go back!