Recruit Rockstars 346: What Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram For a Billion - a podcast by Strong Suit

You’ve probably seen Sarah Frier, since she’s been an award-winning tech reporter with Bloomberg News for 9 years.

But have you read her thrilling new book “No Filter” ?

It’s the inside story of how Instagram became the most culturally defining app of the decade.

And how this 13-person company sold to Facebook for a Billion dollars.

Sarah had unprecedented access… from the founders of Instagram, as well as employees, executives, and competitors; Anna Wintour of Vogue; Kris Jenner of the Kardashian-Jenner empire; and a ton of Instagram influencers worldwide.

In 2010, Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger released a photo-sharing app called Instagram, with 1 simple but irresistible feature: it would make anything you captured look more beautiful.

After the acquisition by Facebook, Kevin & Mike stayed on, trying to maintain Instagram’s beauty, brand, and cachet. They considered their app a separate company within the social networking giant.

They urged their employees to make changes only when necessary, resisting Facebook’s grow-at-all-costs philosophy in favor of a strategy that highlighted creativity & celebrity.

But… Just as Instagram was about to reach a billion users, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg —once supportive of the founders’ autonomy— began to feel threatened by Instagram’s success.

And that’s where the story really gets interesting.

It’s ALL about the culture of your company. Sarah shares the story behind Instagram’s & Facebook’s cultures.

 

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