A company of only 4 people suddenly “jumped forward” into a formidable threat of Facebook, causing Zuckerberg to “create pressure”.

Tram Ho

Một công ty vỏn vẹn 4 người ban đầu bỗng "vọt tiến" thành mối đe dọa đáng gờm của Facebook, khiến Zuckerberg phải "tạo áp lực" - Ảnh 1.

The Instagram story with the death of the two co-founders is a typical example of the harsh rule of the startup world. But the miraculous development of this application, so far, is still an endless inspiration for any entrepreneur. That is perhaps the most beautiful message to come from the Instagram dream.

In 2012, Instagram created a “seismic” in the Silicon Valley tech world when it was acquired by Facebook for a billion dollars. The development journey and turbulent history of this application were described in detail and vividly by journalist Sarah Frier in the work “Facebook acquisition of Instagram” (original title: “No Filter”).

Một công ty vỏn vẹn 4 người ban đầu bỗng "vọt tiến" thành mối đe dọa đáng gờm của Facebook, khiến Zuckerberg phải "tạo áp lực" - Ảnh 2.

Launched in early October 2010, Instagram continuously made a mark with the public when leading the application chart on the Apple Store, sometimes surpassing Facebook in terms of popularity on the app stores. In just the first day of its launch, Instagram attracted 25,000 users.

By the summer of 2011, that number had risen to 6 million. Over the nine months of presence, an estimated 150 million photos of user accounts are saved on Instagram, with an average of 15 photos being uploaded every second.

Possessing such a “miracle” growth rate, few people know that Instagram company only had 4 members in the first six months of operation. To keep the Instagram “machine” running smoothly, these members have to take on a variety of responsibilities, from handling problems that arise when the number of users increases every day, to focusing on emotions and creativity of the user. Not to mention, the handling of arising problems, error resolution, even account authentication errors, are still done manually by staff instead of using programming tools.

In this way, the commercial value of Instagram grows day by day even when the company has a small number of employees. This is also the period when Instagram grew rapidly, although it did not earn any revenue. The initial success of Instagram helps us to realize that, sometimes, the value of a start-up company (startup) does not depend entirely on the massive size of its staff, but on its great growth potential.

For that reason, the Twitter “giant” has wanted to acquire the fledgling Instagram application three times for an estimated amount of $ 700 million. However, Facebook soon jumped into the race for the signature of Kevin Systrom – the creator of the Instagram application – with an overwhelming number: a billion dollars.

Một công ty vỏn vẹn 4 người ban đầu bỗng "vọt tiến" thành mối đe dọa đáng gờm của Facebook, khiến Zuckerberg phải "tạo áp lực" - Ảnh 3.

While the media claimed that Facebook offered a higher price than Instagram’s true value, Mark Zuckerberg soon realized that Systrom would be a dangerous figure threatening Facebook’s growth. Just like the takeover of Instagram is the best way Zuckerberg can do to weed out a formidable competitor in the future.

The remarkable vision of technology billionaire Zuckerberg and the fascinating behind-the-scenes stories behind the billion-dollar acquisition were never revealed to the public, until the book “Facebook acquisition to Instagram” was released.

In the book, author Sarah Frier writes, before agreeing to let Instagram join the “common home” of Facebook, Systrom once turned down an offer to become an employee of Zuckerberg.

Five years after the rejection, Systrom launched Instagram, and immediately put the fledgling app at the top of Apple’s app store, becoming a name loved by users around the world.

Một công ty vỏn vẹn 4 người ban đầu bỗng "vọt tiến" thành mối đe dọa đáng gờm của Facebook, khiến Zuckerberg phải "tạo áp lực" - Ảnh 4.

At this point, the price for Zuckerberg’s successful acquisition of Instagram does not stop at a billion dollars, but most importantly, is the promise of commitment to let this application be developed independently in the heart of the “empire” of Facebook. . This is like a huge morale boost for the tech world. Because, Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram has set a precedent for many acquisitions between technology “giants” and other potential small startups, allowing startups to remain relatively independent, continue to continue to develop instead of being dominated or dying prematurely to avoid competition with the parent company.

Một công ty vỏn vẹn 4 người ban đầu bỗng "vọt tiến" thành mối đe dọa đáng gờm của Facebook, khiến Zuckerberg phải "tạo áp lực" - Ảnh 5.

After the merger was made, Mark Zuckerberg kept his promise by leaving the Instagram team free to do what they do best…Until he “swallowed his word”.

Reading the book, we can see that the two sides of Zuckerberg’s personality (as well as some of Facebook’s other leaders) have been clearly portrayed since Instagram entered the user growth phase. Starting with Instagram being increasingly “commercialized” under pressure from Facebook’s boss, until Zuckerberg agreed to maintain Instagram’s independence in the technical field but allowed Facebook to intervene more and more deeply in the sales segment. goods and operations.

However, thanks to Systrom’s acumen and skillful diplomacy, and the dedicated efforts of his associates, Instagram still independently develops according to the community-oriented criteria, along with constantly improving to serve the needs of the community. serve the diverse needs of users.

Một công ty vỏn vẹn 4 người ban đầu bỗng "vọt tiến" thành mối đe dọa đáng gờm của Facebook, khiến Zuckerberg phải "tạo áp lực" - Ảnh 6.

In 2013, when Instagram was big enough to make money from users by running ads, Systrom carefully selected reputable brands as the first advertising partners and achieved great success. By 2018, this application reached the revenue of $ 10 billion, thanks to attracting many celebrities, social influencers such as Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Rihanna … to participate.

But it is the rapid development of Instagram that is a threat to the long-term existence of the parent company – Facebook. Until the day, the relationship between the two sides was no longer smooth sailing. The two co-founders Systrom and Krieger were blocked by Zuckerberg’s recruitment plan in the context that Instagram needed to deal with an increasing workload.

In 2018, Instagram is about to hit one billion users, but it employs less than 800 employees. Meanwhile, Facebook reached the milestone of one billion users with the effective support of 4,600 employees six years earlier.

At this point, it’s not too hard to see Mark Zuckerberg becoming “sensitive” to all of Instagram’s successes. This led to the inevitable departure of the two co-founders.

Both Systrom and Krieger subsequently resigned.

Một công ty vỏn vẹn 4 người ban đầu bỗng "vọt tiến" thành mối đe dọa đáng gờm của Facebook, khiến Zuckerberg phải "tạo áp lực" - Ảnh 7.

In her farewell message, Systrom wrote: ” Mike and I are so grateful for our eight years at Instagram, six of which are with Facebook. We have grown from 13 people to more than 1,000 people with offices around the world, and have created products that are used and loved by a community of more than 1 billion people. Now we are ready for the next chapter of our lives .”

The journey of the two founders is over, but Instagram’s journey continues to this day.

Although the exit of Systrom and Krieger is not what we want, it is a typical example of the harsh rule of elimination within any large company, not just Facebook. But it is the miraculous growth of Instagram that can become an endless inspiration for any entrepreneur.

That is perhaps the most beautiful message to come from the Instagram dream.

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Source : Genk