The Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series is supported by Diet Coke®. Now, the drink that helps you stay extraordinary brings you extraordinary people. Find Diet Coke® on Facebook for access to a whole lot of extraordinary.
Much ado has been made about Instagram over the course of its short 9-month lifespan.
Now with 7 million registered users, professional and amateur iPhoneographers attached to the mobile photo platform, and celebrities like Justin Bieber, Ryan Seacrest and Selena Gomez signing on, the startup is on its way to becoming a social network of significance — transforming photography into a form of communication.
On Instagram, a photo is more than a record of something past, co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom believes. A photo shared through Instagram carries with it a message of what someone’s doing, watching, thinking, feeling or viewing; the time stamp is right here, right now.
“In the past, people have looked at photos as a record of memory. The focus has been on the past tense,” says Systrom. “With Instagram, the focus is on the present tense.”
Contrary to what appears to be an overnight success story, Systrom has had a few false-starts, and even several near misses at Internet greatness. Systrom, a one-time Googler, was an intern at Odeo before it went on to be on Twitter. He was also recruited by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to work on photo-related projects during his college years at Stanford.
But timing is everything, and eventually — through a combination of luck, an ongoing passion for social projects, and hard work — Systrom, with the help of his co-founder Mike Krieger, happened upon Instagram.
Here we take a deeper look at Kevin Systrom, the entrepreneur. Keep reading to learn what inspires Systrom, how he handles challenges, and what he has to say to entrepreneurs looking to follow in his footsteps.
The Basics
"Early Xmas present... To myself," Systrom posts to Instagram
Name: Kevin Systrom
Company: Instagram
Year Founded: 2010
Fun Fact: Systrom collects bottles of Bourbon. “If I ever star on the show Hoarders, it will be because I’ve been collecting Bourbon bottles for years. Some bottles are emptier than others, but I’m starting to run out of room for all of them,” he says.
Quick Facts
On regret: Systrom firmly believes that all of his mistakes have led him to where he is now. Still, if there’s one thing he could do over, it would be sticking with his first choice in major at Stanford.
Systrom was first a Computer Science major who then flip-flopped at least five times before being forced to choose, and stick with, a major in his junior year. He eventually went with Investment Science. “It took me a while to remember that I was passionate about Computer Science,” he says. “It would have been easier to have had that background and stick with the thing that I was really passionate about.”
On Scotch: A self-professed Bourbon aficionado (see above), Systrom’s never been as fond of Scotch, but that’s the app name he and Krieger kicked around when first working on a prototype photo-sharing mobile application.
The Scotch application, a precursor to Instagram, allowed you to take a photo and share it with friends, but it didn’t have filters. “It was slow and buggy, and we cut ourselves off from it too quickly,” he says. “But, we did let it simmer and we kept coming back to it.”
On when to pivot: “It’s a hard decision to make,” he says. “If it’s the right thing, it will happen. You have to be flexible enough to give yourself the opportunity to fall into these other opportunities.”
He says it took him and Krieger four months to convince themselves to switch from the initial Burbn location-centric idea to Instagram.
Entrepreneur Q&A
What inspires you?
People who spend their days creating — whether that be in technology or otherwise. I’m always in awe of people who are artists in their fields — people who understand that simply by taking ideas and translating them into reality, they’ve created value in the world.
What is your vision of success?
I think we’re already there in many ways. So many people work hard every day to come in, enjoy and be passionate about the work they do. It was a humble vision back when we started — simply to work with a talented group of people who share the same passion for mobile photography that Mike and I do. Now, it’s clear we’ve been presented with an opportunity to do something very big and improve the way the world communicates and shares in the real world. We work tirelessly to create the tools to achieve this goal.
What about your startup idea was game-changing?
I think we discovered a way to turn ordinary, everyday scenes into magical moments captured in digital form. By doing so, we were able to translate photography from being a form of self expression into a form of communication. I believe the latter innovation is the real game-changer for us.
What was the pivotal point in your early startup days?
The most pivotal moment for us was when we decided to stop working on Burbn (the mobile HTML5 checkin app) and start work on what would become Instagram. It was a tough decision, but honestly I can’t imagine doing it any other way. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose.
What was the biggest challenge you faced with your startup?
There are too many to name — starting a startup was a challenge all by itself. Leaving a great job with great people to start a company was the biggest challenge. I like to say that the one thing that all people who succeed in changing the world have in common is that they at least tried.
What are the biggest influences on your business model?
I’ve always been interested social startups. From the early days of learning from Jack [Dorsey] and Ev [Williams] at Odeo, I always knew I wanted to create a business around social sharing and communication, but it wasn’t until we started working on Instagram that I realized how much of an impact all those people had.
How does Instagram utilize social media?
We’ve got a large presence on Twitter and Facebook and we find each to be excellent tools to communicate with our fans. We’ve got such an amazing community of folks on Instagram, and I feel lucky to be able to have such an open communication channel with everyone through those platforms.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
If you’ve got an idea, start today. There’s no better time than now to get going. That doesn’t mean quit your job and jump into your idea 100% from day one, but there’s always small progress that can be made to start the movement. Instagram only launched nine months ago, but it’s taken over three years to get from the idea of starting something to today. It’s a long road, but well worth it.
Series Supported by Diet Coke®
The Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series is supported by Diet Coke®. Now, the drink that helps you stay extraordinary brings you extraordinary people. Find Diet Coke® on Facebook for access to a whole lot of extraordinary.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Kevin Systrom
More About: entrepreneurs, Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series, instagram, iphone, Kevin Systrom, photographyFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:00:17 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/S317uPlOe4I/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/04/instagram-kevin-systrom/#comments
Much ado has been made about Instagram over the course of its short 9-month lifespan.
Now with 7 million registered users, professional and amateur iPhoneographers attached to the mobile photo platform, and celebrities like Justin Bieber, Ryan Seacrest and Selena Gomez signing on, the startup is on its way to becoming a social network of significance — transforming photography into a form of communication.
On Instagram, a photo is more than a record of something past, co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom believes. A photo shared through Instagram carries with it a message of what someone’s doing, watching, thinking, feeling or viewing; the time stamp is right here, right now.
“In the past, people have looked at photos as a record of memory. The focus has been on the past tense,” says Systrom. “With Instagram, the focus is on the present tense.”
Contrary to what appears to be an overnight success story, Systrom has had a few false-starts, and even several near misses at Internet greatness. Systrom, a one-time Googler, was an intern at Odeo before it went on to be on Twitter. He was also recruited by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to work on photo-related projects during his college years at Stanford.
But timing is everything, and eventually — through a combination of luck, an ongoing passion for social projects, and hard work — Systrom, with the help of his co-founder Mike Krieger, happened upon Instagram.
Here we take a deeper look at Kevin Systrom, the entrepreneur. Keep reading to learn what inspires Systrom, how he handles challenges, and what he has to say to entrepreneurs looking to follow in his footsteps.
The Basics
"Early Xmas present... To myself," Systrom posts to Instagram
Name: Kevin Systrom
Company: Instagram
Year Founded: 2010
Fun Fact: Systrom collects bottles of Bourbon. “If I ever star on the show Hoarders, it will be because I’ve been collecting Bourbon bottles for years. Some bottles are emptier than others, but I’m starting to run out of room for all of them,” he says.
Quick Facts
On regret: Systrom firmly believes that all of his mistakes have led him to where he is now. Still, if there’s one thing he could do over, it would be sticking with his first choice in major at Stanford.
Systrom was first a Computer Science major who then flip-flopped at least five times before being forced to choose, and stick with, a major in his junior year. He eventually went with Investment Science. “It took me a while to remember that I was passionate about Computer Science,” he says. “It would have been easier to have had that background and stick with the thing that I was really passionate about.”
On Scotch: A self-professed Bourbon aficionado (see above), Systrom’s never been as fond of Scotch, but that’s the app name he and Krieger kicked around when first working on a prototype photo-sharing mobile application.
The Scotch application, a precursor to Instagram, allowed you to take a photo and share it with friends, but it didn’t have filters. “It was slow and buggy, and we cut ourselves off from it too quickly,” he says. “But, we did let it simmer and we kept coming back to it.”
On when to pivot: “It’s a hard decision to make,” he says. “If it’s the right thing, it will happen. You have to be flexible enough to give yourself the opportunity to fall into these other opportunities.”
He says it took him and Krieger four months to convince themselves to switch from the initial Burbn location-centric idea to Instagram.
Entrepreneur Q&A
What inspires you?
People who spend their days creating — whether that be in technology or otherwise. I’m always in awe of people who are artists in their fields — people who understand that simply by taking ideas and translating them into reality, they’ve created value in the world.
What is your vision of success?
I think we’re already there in many ways. So many people work hard every day to come in, enjoy and be passionate about the work they do. It was a humble vision back when we started — simply to work with a talented group of people who share the same passion for mobile photography that Mike and I do. Now, it’s clear we’ve been presented with an opportunity to do something very big and improve the way the world communicates and shares in the real world. We work tirelessly to create the tools to achieve this goal.
What about your startup idea was game-changing?
I think we discovered a way to turn ordinary, everyday scenes into magical moments captured in digital form. By doing so, we were able to translate photography from being a form of self expression into a form of communication. I believe the latter innovation is the real game-changer for us.
What was the pivotal point in your early startup days?
The most pivotal moment for us was when we decided to stop working on Burbn (the mobile HTML5 checkin app) and start work on what would become Instagram. It was a tough decision, but honestly I can’t imagine doing it any other way. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose.
What was the biggest challenge you faced with your startup?
There are too many to name — starting a startup was a challenge all by itself. Leaving a great job with great people to start a company was the biggest challenge. I like to say that the one thing that all people who succeed in changing the world have in common is that they at least tried.
What are the biggest influences on your business model?
I’ve always been interested social startups. From the early days of learning from Jack [Dorsey] and Ev [Williams] at Odeo, I always knew I wanted to create a business around social sharing and communication, but it wasn’t until we started working on Instagram that I realized how much of an impact all those people had.
How does Instagram utilize social media?
We’ve got a large presence on Twitter and Facebook and we find each to be excellent tools to communicate with our fans. We’ve got such an amazing community of folks on Instagram, and I feel lucky to be able to have such an open communication channel with everyone through those platforms.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
If you’ve got an idea, start today. There’s no better time than now to get going. That doesn’t mean quit your job and jump into your idea 100% from day one, but there’s always small progress that can be made to start the movement. Instagram only launched nine months ago, but it’s taken over three years to get from the idea of starting something to today. It’s a long road, but well worth it.
Series Supported by Diet Coke®
The Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series is supported by Diet Coke®. Now, the drink that helps you stay extraordinary brings you extraordinary people. Find Diet Coke® on Facebook for access to a whole lot of extraordinary.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Kevin Systrom
More About: entrepreneurs, Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Series, instagram, iphone, Kevin Systrom, photographyFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:00:17 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/S317uPlOe4I/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/04/instagram-kevin-systrom/#comments
