Kristen Rajczak Nelson - Instagram: Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger

Published in 2015 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2015 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rajczak, Kristen, author.

Instagram: Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger/Kristen Rajczak.First edition.

pages cm.(Internet biographies)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4777-7917-0 (library bound: alk. paper)

1. Systrom, Kevin, 1983Juvenile literature. 2. Krieger, Mike, 1986Juvenile literature. 3. Instagram (FirmBiographyJuvenile literature. 4. Image filesJuvenile literature. 5. Computer file sharingJuvenile literature. 6. Software engineeringBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Title.

TR267.5.I57R35 2015

770.285530922dc23

2014012317

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

I n July 2011, Justin Bieber signed up for Instagram. He was just months off of the release of his biopicconcert movie Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. The behind-the-scenes film was a huge hit with his ravenous tween fan base, so joining the social media network that allowed everyday people into the daily lives of celebrities was a nobrainer opportunity. As of March 2014, hed posted almost 1,300 times. Bieber, along with rapper Snoop Dogg, reality TV personality Kim Kardashian, and singer Rihanna, has embraced the photo-sharing app as another way to connect with fans, and all four celebrities boast millions of Instagram followers to prove it. The explosion of celebrities on Instagram truly shows the apps broad reach and genius ability to keep users engagedwith themselves, each other, and their favorite famous names.

Cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger drew on the knowledge and connections they gained as Stanford University students when they started working on the photo-sharing app that would become Instagram. They share a wealth of technology experience, having collectively worked for some of the biggest names in the tech worldGoogle, Odeo (which became Twitter), and Microsoft included. But its the fusion of their individual passions thats truly at the heart of Instagram. Systrom has been interested in photography since high school, and Krieger has long studied the improvement of user interface. These, blended with their particular talent for perceiving the needs of social media users, have allowed them to successfully navigate the development, launch, and sale of Instagram. Theyre young, brilliant, and today remain dedicated to Instagrams development. Even under the umbrella of another social media giantFacebookSystrom and Krieger are stalwart believers in their ultimately good-hearted mission: To capture and share the worlds moments. They want the photos shared on Instagram to reflect the best of the world around us, and perhaps a better world only seen from behind a camera lensor a sepia-toned filter.

Instagram has become a great way for celebrities, such as Justin Bieber, to connect with their fans.

From selfie culture to ever-present food photography, Instagram has changed the way social media users share their pictures. But Instagram hasnt affected only the way photos are shared, though the apps connectivity to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Foursquare has vastly improved the ease of photo sharing. Instagram and its myriad filters have changed whats being shared. While there are plenty of selfies still popping up on the apps feed, more people are taking the time to look at the world around them through the fresh perspective of the Hefe or Lomo-fi filterand making their flower pots, utensils, and streets look more glamorous and nostalgic. In the fast-moving tech world, it may be too soon to laud their accomplishments with Instagram, but so far, Krieger and Systrom have helped users make good on their vision.

How did Systrom and Krieger become such successful entrepreneurs long before either turned thirty? Trial and error, persistence, observation, and perhaps a little luck played into the story of Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, and their innovative Instagram.

Kevin Systrom: Computer Whiz Kid, Passionate Photographer

K evin Systrom was born December 30, 1983, to Doug and Diane Systrom. He grew up in Holliston, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. Systroms interest in technology started early. By age twelve, he was using AOL (America Online) to play pranks on his friends, controlling their cursors or kicking them offline. In high school, Systrom was excused from taking a foreign language class to take more computer science classes. He was exposed to the startup business mentality as a child. His mother, Diane, began working in marketing for Monster.com soon after the websites launch. It was clear that business was in his blood when Systrom expressed an interest in it to a local newspaper in 2002. The Middlesex School alumni magazine reported Systrom had said he wanted to come up with an idea that is unique and that people come away from and say, That was fun.

Of course, computers and business werent the only things on Systroms teenage mind. At Holliston High School, Systrom ran cross-country, even earning the Rookie of the Year award his first year on the team as an eighth grader. Two years later, when Systrom transferred to the Middlesex Schoola boarding school in nearby Concord, Massachusettshe became known for his love of photography. While a student at Middlesex, Systrom did graphic design for the schools newspapers and founded the schools radio station. With such an obviously innovative spirit, its no surprise that he won the Frederick Winsor Book Prize for academic initiative and the first Lawrence Terry Book Prize for distinguished contributions to the life of the school.

STARTING AT STANFORD

After graduating from high school in 2002, Systrom enrolled at Stanford University in Stanford, California. He wanted to study computer science. However, Systrom tried to take an advanced programming class his first semester at Stanfordand was barely able to get a B, even though he was working forty hours a week on just that class. I looked around and saw so many fantastically smart folks in that class and decided I was better off majoring in something like business, Systrom wrote on the question-and-answer website Quora.com. Systrom ended up majoring in management science and engineering.

Systroms years at Stanford would prove to be the most transformative of his life. He joined the Sigma Nu fraternity and worked on building a few games and websites, including a short stint running Stanfords version of Craigslist. He also built a website called PhotoBox for his fraternity to post pictures from parties.