Kevin Systrom
Kevin Systrom
Kevin Systrom is an American entrepreneur and programmer, best known as the co‑founder and CEO of Instagram, an online mobile photo, video sharing application. This social networking service for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone that allow users to apply a filter to a photo and share it on the service or on other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr. In 2013, Systrom was listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 list under the Social/Mobile category. Together with Mike...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth30 December 1983
CityHolliston, NY
CountryUnited States of America
We're just taking people and shifting them from taking photos anyway to taking them on Instagram.
A lot of the earliest Instagram celebrities took really beautiful photos. But you're starting to see a change where it's not about beauty; it's about the story that you tell.
I always look toward teens on Instagram to really understand what's going on. For some reason, when you're a teen, you just understand the world better than anyone else.
The major reason why Instagram works is that you can follow anyone out there and start following their photos immediately.
With Instagram, the focus is on the present tense.
Instagram is a media company. I think we're about visual media.
Instagram was created because there was no single place dedicated to giving your mobile photos a place to live and to be seen.
We just want to build a company that focuses on the love of Instagram.
I think Instagram at its best is where you feel like you're getting the most authentic version of the person on the other side of the camera.
I think not focusing on money makes you sane because in the long run it can probably drive you crazy.
Every startup should address a real and demonstrated need in the world - if you build a solution to a problem lots of people have, it's so easy to sell your product to the world.
I really value passion for the product above experience.
Obviously, being the CEO, there are a lot of eyes on what you do and what you post and how you post, and I think one of the challenges of Instagram in general is that, as we get bigger, there are just more voices in the room, more eyes on everyone's accounts.
Having a company that's successful is a wonderful platform to do new things. You don't have to raise money for it; you can take profits from the company and pump them into new business.