Kevin Systrom: From Stanford to Startup [Entire Talk]

TL;DR

Build a startup by shipping a simple product, observing what users value, and making decisive choices despite incomplete information. Instagram emerged after its founders saw that Burbn was not gaining traction but its photo-sharing feature was popular, so they focused on that behavior and learned the necessary engineering through hands-on work.

Transcript

Kevin worked at Google for a couple of years and Mike went on to work at Meebo before they decided to get together and start their company. They do have wonderful things to tell us about their experience, and I won't get in the way and let them start. So welcome back to Stanford. Thank you so much. Thank you, Tina. Thanks so much for having us, Tin... Read More

Key Insights

• Entrepreneurship is learned most effectively through direct experience because startup decisions depend on circumstances for which books, blogs, and talks cannot provide exact instructions. External knowledge remains useful, but founders must become comfortable making choices when relevant data and established answers are unavailable.
• Good product decisions require commitment under uncertainty. When choosing between a Twitter-like follow model and a Facebook-like friendship model, the founders relied on available knowledge and intuition, then stayed with a decision long enough to evaluate it instead of building every option or turning the choice into a preference.
• Side projects are practical preparation for founding a company. The founders applied lessons from projects completed during school, on weekends, and alongside regular jobs, showing that motivated people can develop useful product and technical abilities before formally starting a business.
• A startup succeeds through product work rather than entrepreneurial appearances. At Dogpatch Labs, the founders observed that stronger teams worked from morning until late evening, while weaker teams treated startup life as a social identity or a way to avoid having a boss.
• Users ultimately care about the product delivered to them. Media coverage, investor identities, networking events, and conversations about entrepreneurship do not substitute for shipping something that people can use, value, and continue returning to as their needs become clearer.
• Computer Science degrees are not required to build a technical startup. Systrom and Krieger studied MS&E and Symbolic Systems, taught themselves much of the knowledge used to build Instagram's initial version, and emphasized acquiring enough technical ability to prototype and ship.
• Instagram emerged by narrowing an unsuccessful product around demonstrated user interest. Burbn combined location check-ins with photo and video sharing, but the broader application was not progressing. The founders noticed that people particularly enjoyed sharing images and concentrated their next product on that behavior.
• Urgent user demand can accelerate technical learning. Instagram launched on one machine in Los Angeles, received more demand than that machine could handle within 24 hours, and forced its founders to learn Amazon's cloud platform while scaling the service for millions of users.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Burbn lead to the creation of Instagram?

Burbn was a check-in application that allowed people to share pictures or videos while reporting where they were. The founders worked on it for a period but concluded that the overall product was not progressing. They then examined which part people enjoyed most, identified image sharing as the strongest behavior, and focused their work on what became Instagram.

Q: How should startup founders make decisions with limited data?

Startup founders should assess what they currently know, consult their intuition, make a clear decision, and give that choice enough time to produce evidence. Systrom and Krieger used this approach when deciding whether Instagram should use a follow model like Twitter or a friendship model like Facebook. They warned against avoiding responsibility by building both options or making every decision a user preference.

Q: Can books and talks teach someone how to become an entrepreneur?

Books, blogs, and talks can provide useful experiences and accumulated knowledge, but they cannot prescribe the correct response to every startup situation. The founders argue that a day of direct work can be more instructive than extensive secondhand learning because important decisions are highly specific. Preparation should therefore develop judgment and comfort with uncertainty, while actual entrepreneurial ability grows through action.

Q: Why are side projects useful preparation for a startup?

Side projects give aspiring founders opportunities to build products, solve unfamiliar problems, and make decisions without complete instructions. Systrom and Krieger said that much of what they later applied to their startup came from projects pursued during school or on weekends while working elsewhere. People who are sufficiently excited about an idea often find time to experiment with it.

Q: What startup activities matter more than networking and publicity?

Building and shipping the product matter more than attending entrepreneurship events, discussing startup identity, attracting press attention, or emphasizing investor names. The founders observed teams at Dogpatch Labs and concluded that successful groups consistently put in the work. Their central test was simple: end users respond to the product delivered to them, not the founder's social presence or public image.

Q: Do founders need a Computer Science degree to build a technical product?

A Computer Science degree is not presented as a requirement for building a technical startup. Systrom studied MS&E, Krieger studied Symbolic Systems, and they built Instagram's initial version themselves using knowledge that was largely self-taught. Their experience suggests that founders need enough practical technical ability to prototype and ship, along with confidence that they can learn unfamiliar systems when necessary.

Q: How did Instagram's founders learn to scale the service?

The founders learned scaling through immediate operational pressure after launch. Instagram initially ran on a single machine in Los Angeles, but demand exceeded that machine's capacity within 24 hours. Although they had not previously used Amazon's cloud platform, people were actively trying to use the product, so they worked late nights, learned what was necessary, and expanded the system to support millions of users.

Q: What kinds of classes help prepare students for entrepreneurship?

Classes that require students to identify the problem before solving it can help prepare them for startup uncertainty. Krieger highlighted courses in which instructors did not define the entire quarter's work on the first day. Students instead had to formulate a question and pursue an answer, a process that more closely resembled the ambiguous, self-directed decisions encountered while building a company.

Summary

In this video, Kevin and Mike, the co-founders of Instagram, share their experience and debunk some myths they believed in when they started their company. They emphasize the importance of learning from experience, making quick decisions in the face of uncertainty, and building a network of like-minded individuals. They also discuss the value of solving simple problems and the need to fail early and often. Kevin and Mike share their insights on financing startups, optimizing for people rather than valuation, and the importance of having a strong team. They talk about the long and challenging journey of starting a company and the importance of finding the right co-founder. The video ends with the advice to start now and to cherish the relationships built along the way.

Questions & Answers

Q: What was the background and experience of Kevin and Mike before starting their company?

Kevin worked at Google for a couple of years while Mike worked at Meebo before they decided to start their own company.

Q: Why did they decide to start their own company?

After working in larger companies for a while, they both felt the desire to do something on their own and explore entrepreneurship.

Q: How did Instagram come about?

Instagram came from a previous project called Burbn, which was a check-in app that allowed users to share pictures or videos. They realized that people loved sharing images the most, which led to the creation of Instagram.

Q: How many mobile photos are uploaded per day on Instagram?

They estimate that there are around six photos uploaded per second, resulting in a large number of daily uploads.

Q: What was the first myth Kevin and Mike discussed?

The first myth was that you can learn to be an entrepreneur from books, blogs, or talks. They learned that experience and going through their own startup journey were the most valuable sources of learning.

Q: What were some of the decisions they had to make early on in their startup journey?

They had to decide whether to follow a model similar to Twitter or Facebook, and there was no existing guidance or advice that could help them make those decisions. They had to rely on their own instincts and trust their gut.

Q: How did they develop their instincts and improve decision-making skills?

They emphasized the importance of going through different experiences and making quick decisions in the face of uncertainty. They also mentioned the value of doing side projects and learning from them.

Q: What was the second myth they discussed?

The second myth was the belief that startups can only come from Computer Science students. They debunked this myth by highlighting their own backgrounds and the fact that technical skills can be self-taught.

Q: What advice did they give to students trying to pick courses?

They mentioned the importance of courses that focus on addressing uncertainty and asking questions rather than providing a predefined set of problems to solve.

Q: How did they approach scaling their product when faced with high demand?

They had to quickly learn and adapt to scale their product, even though they had no previous experience with Amazon's cloud platform. They emphasized the importance of being motivated by the demand and finding solutions to challenges.

Q: What was the third myth they discussed?

The third myth was the belief that finding the solution to a problem is the hardest part. They emphasized that solutions can come easily for most problems, but the challenge lies in identifying and understanding the problem to be solved.

Q: How did they approach identifying the problems they wanted to solve with Instagram?

They listed out the top problems people had with mobile photos and focused on solving those specific problems. They mentioned the importance of verifying these problems through user feedback and testing hypotheses.

Q: How did they validate their ideas and hypotheses?

They emphasized the need to put the product in front of users quickly and gather feedback. They mentioned the value of failing early and often to refine ideas and iterate on solutions.

Q: What was the fourth myth they discussed?

The fourth myth was the belief in building a robust product in secrecy and then launching it to the world. They emphasized the importance of getting feedback from users early on and iterating based on that feedback.

Q: What advice did they give regarding raising money and venture capital?

They recommended optimizing for people rather than valuation when raising money. They highlighted the value of finding investors who believe in the startup's vision and who can provide more than just capital.

Q: How much money did they spend to launch the first version of Instagram?

They spent about $60,000 to launch the initial version of Instagram and realized that startups can bootstrap themselves with low budgets, especially with the availability of resources like Amazon Web Services.

Q: What was the fifth myth they discussed?

The fifth myth was the belief that starting a company is solely about building a product. They emphasized that there are many other aspects to starting a company, such as legal, financial, and team-related tasks.

Q: How did they approach team-building and recruiting for their startup?

They highlighted the importance of building a strong team and finding people who align with the startup's vision. They mentioned the different roles they played in the company but emphasized the importance of overlapping and supporting each other.

Q: How did they handle tensions and maintain a healthy working relationship?

They mentioned that their co-founder relationship has been positive, and they attribute it to understanding each other and continuously working on their relationship. They emphasized the importance of being in it for the long haul and having shared goals and values.

Q: What advice did they give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

They encouraged starting as soon as possible and not waiting for the perfect idea or moment. They mentioned the value of learning through hands-on experience and constantly iterating on ideas. They also recommended cherishing the relationships built along the entrepreneurial journey.

Takeaways

Kevin and Mike shared their experience and debunked several myths about entrepreneurship and starting a company. They emphasize the importance of learning through experience, making quick decisions in the face of uncertainty, and building a network of like-minded individuals. They highlighted the value of solving simple problems, failing early and often, and optimizing for people rather than valuation when raising money. They emphasized the importance of team-building and the need to focus on both building a product and handling the other aspects of starting a company. Lastly, they encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to start now and cherish the relationships built along the way.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger argue that entrepreneurship is learned primarily through direct experience. Books, blogs, talks, classes, and prior accounts can contribute useful knowledge, but founders still face product decisions that are unique to their circumstances and must learn to act quickly despite uncertainty.

• Instagram developed from Burbn, a check-in application that also supported pictures and videos. When Burbn failed to gain meaningful traction, its founders examined how people used it and found that image sharing attracted the strongest interest. They focused on that behavior and created Instagram.

• The founders challenge the ideas that entrepreneurship is a lifestyle and that technical startups require Computer Science degrees. They emphasize sustained product work, self-directed learning, simple prototypes, and confidence under pressure. Their engineering abilities grew rapidly when strong launch demand forced them to scale beyond one machine.