When it comes to going from startup to billion dollar company, CEO David Karp says Tumblr did it the right way.
"I think and I hope that we were thoughtful about how we raised money, that we've been thoughtful about how we've grown the team," Karp told CNNMoney.
Yahoo bought Tumblr last May for $1.1 billion. Karp says that Tumblr remains "precious" to him, and he maintains autonomy over the final product. But Yahoo (YHOO) has given Tumblr the support it needs to grow faster.
For example, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said this week that since the acquisition, Tumblr's audience has grown by 40% to 420 million users, and the number of blogs has doubled to more than 200 million.
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Tumblr's ad business has also grown strongly. Mayer said Tumblr will bring in $100 million in revenue next year, and finally turn a profit.
Karp says he's happy about the progress the company has made under Yahoo. He says advertisers have a unique opportunity on Tumblr -- to create a blog and tell a story in a different way than traditional banner ads allow. Yahoo also pushes Tumblr as a great platform for advertisers to reach the coveted millennial audience.
"We're now a couple years into our ad business with hundreds of the biggest brands in the world now spending money on Tumblr," said Karp.
But Karp says that even as the brand grows under Yahoo's watch, Tumblr is still, well, "Tumblry."
"If this thing stays true to what it is, I'm going to be here 30 years from now. This is my dream job."
