Yesterday, sometime during the evening (at least in New York), Liz Gannes tweeted her post about Instagram and it reminded me how quickly I fell in love with the service. She and I had talked a lot about the service. My belief was that Instagram (or something like it) would emerge and become a big social platform.
Om says he bets that there’s an open opportunity to build a photo-sharing service that’s “designed from the ground up from the perspective of a mobile user” with “a more immersive, two-way service” as compared to the desktop.
She was referring to my previous post on Instagram when the company, Burbn, shifted focus to photos.
The company is right to focus on Instagram, which has potential – mostly because all of us love sharing pictures and congregating around visuals. The continued popularity of Flickr, the skyrocketing usage of Facebook Photos are ample indication that, despite so many options, there is an opportunity for yet-another-photo-sharing service — especially one that is designed from the ground up from the perspective of a mobile user. I feel many of today’s photo sharing services are desktop services re-cast for the mobile. Touch-based smartphones need a unique and more immersive, two-way service. Is Instagram the answer? We shall find out later this month.
Systrom wouldn’t give me early access to the app, but I saw it anyway. (Note to entrepreneurs: I know people, who know people.) Eventually I had it running on my phone, and as I said, it was love at first sight.
I have been writing for so long and have met so many startups in nearly two decades in the trenches of tech that I can see when companies are different. Most of my writing skews towards companies that make old-fashioned technologies — chips, routers, switches, infrastructure software, even lenses, optical modules and, of course, other broadband gear.
However, when it comes to consumer-oriented apps, it has to be love at first sight for it to be a success, both as a product and eventually as a company. Being a cynical optimist by nature, whenever I fall head over heels in love (no, not in the romantic sense) with a product, and the startup and the founder(s), I know that startup/product is going to be a winner.
I am old enough to know that startups are a game of chance and even when they look like a winner, things don’t always quite work out. Let’s just face it, till 2008 Facebook’s world domination wasn’t as obvious as it is today. But I am also foolish enough to follow my heart and decisions based on intuition, and for me that has proven to be a great filter to focus attention on a company.
Of course, there is another aspect to startups that crave your attention — the value proposition is almost instant. The founders don’t need to tell you why you should use their service. No FAQ is required to get started. They are simple and the product connects at a much deeper level. You can’t wait to use those products. You can’t stop talking (or writing) about them.
I remember standing outside Ruby Red Labs back in 2006, getting tipsy, smoking a cigarette and getting a demo of Twitter. Of course, a few hours later, in my slightly inebriated state, I wrote the post about Twitter. It was that same excitement I felt when I met with Larry and Sergey in the super early days of Google(s GOOG). The value-proposition: dead simple. And each time I used it there was a smile on my face.
I had the same feelings of unadulterated joy when I used WordPress for the first time and sent Matt Mullenweg, the founder of the project [who has become a great friend in years since (see disclosure)] an email. In my whole life I have regretted not attending Harvard or some Ivy League school precisely once: the day I saw Facebook and I couldn’t be on it. It was that long ago, and even then Zuckerberg didn’t respond to my emails. LOL!
Instagram was one of those services. You knew it, just couldn’t really explain why it made you feel the way it made you feel. I still can’t. I have tried — many times! I just can’t. That Kevin Systrom and his co-founder Mike Krieger turned out to be affable fellows was just a bonus. Here is one of my posts about Instagram that comes closest to describing the company accurately. It has three lessons co-founder Kevin Systrom has learned in his entrepreneurial journey:
- Entrepreneurship is a process of conviction building.
- We don’t do too many things; we do a few things and we do them really well.
- We scratched our own itch and built products for us.
It is hard to imagine what comes next as an Instagram user. I am highly skeptical of Facebook’s comments about being hands-off with this product. It is only a matter of time before Kevin and Mike go on to head up Facebook’s mobile efforts that have been marked by false starts.
Someone mentioned on Twitter that Facebook now has one of the deepest pools of design talent on the web. What it doesn’t have is the philosophical understanding of design and its relationship with humans. It is a social network, whose product can be described as asocial (which is sort of like asexual.) Like I wrote yesterday, Instagram is all passion. And love. So, like many others I also do wonder how long before the Facebook philosophy starts to permeate Instagram.
Disclosure: True Ventures is an investor in Matt Mullenweg’s company, Automattic. True is an investor in GigaOM’s parent company and I am also a venture partner at True Ventures.
Om, Remember the first photo sharing service you covered for Forbes in 1999….eMemories.com!!!
This will be a test if FB understands to acquire knowledge instead of just data (users), sadly most companies acquire data and loose the knowledge which helped to create that data which includes more than code.
It’s easy to calculate what the cost per user was, but users came for the knowledge which created that service. Not for a number in a spreadsheet.
Exceptional post Om. I think you hit the nail right on the head. Instagram has emotion in it. It has a soul. Whereas many of us see Facebook as a soul-less dragon. Can Instagram give Facebook a soul, or will Facebook kill the soul of Instagram?
“Facebook is a soul-less dragon.” That might be understating it.
Maybe Facebook will leave Instagram as is…
Om wrote: “What it doesn’t have is the philosophical understanding of design and its relationship with humans. It is a social network, whose product can be described as asocial (which is sort of like asexual.)”
LOL! You are an unreliable lover. Just a few days ago, you were saying almost the exact same things as above about Google, while talking favorably about FB. Who would’ve thought that in a short period of time, you’d say the same thing about FB?
I didn’t get my 1st iPhone until mid November, which means I didn’t start playing with Instagram until early December. Once I figured it out and learned how to incorporate it into my tweeting (twitting or acting like a twit???) and blogging, I fell in love with it, and will now say what needs to be said: My name is G-LO, and I am an Instagram addict.
It’s the instant gratification. It’s how it seamlessly works with my photo library and iPhone camera. It’s how I can interact with all of the super creative people out there. I love it! I hope Facebook doesn’t screw up a wonderful experience!
Great article!
Cheers!
G-LO
@boozedancing on Instagram
Maybe I should check out Instagram! LOL
I’m not so much into Twitter, it’s a little too ADD for me (“squirrel”)and I would Tweet too much. Blogging has become the discipline I need. http://www.onelonemagpie.com had a funny post about IG-ing. I can see how the instant info aspect of IG-ing has its uses though.
Happy Pages,
CricketMuse
I’m so out of the loop when it comes to technology, that I just today heard about Instagram for the first time, in light of the Facebook deal. I look forward to learning more.
Kathy
To be honest I find it hard to believe that instragram is worth a billion dollars. All it is is a picture-version of twitter. Oh well.
Very nicely done! Cool post about a cool topic!
and instagram has been bought for a billion. nice for a company that’s never made a cent. GReat story though.
just so you guys know. Facebook Inc. has a smartphone problem, and it’s paying a billion dollars to solve it.
The world’s biggest social network is on the verge of buying a far smaller, photo-based Web service called Instagram. Founded less than two years ago, San Francisco-based Instagram allows users to quickly edit and share the photos they take on their mobile devices.
just so you guys know. Facebook Inc. has a smartphone problem, and it’s paying a billion dollars to solve it.
The world’s biggest social network is on the verge of buying a far smaller, photo-based Web service called Instagram. Founded less than two years ago, San Francisco-based Instagram allows users to quickly edit and share the photos they take on their mobile devices.
Yep it’s amazing how far it’s come 🙂
I liked how you said Facebook lacks an intuitive layout & innate love of design. That’s obvious in their recent hirings of designers. Instagram was beautiful in its intent & filters, but remained enclosed until only recently. I wanted to be an early adopter of new apps so have been using Via.Me since its launch in March and updated the new version today in iTunes. Love its gorgeous filters with the romantic city names & its smooth ability to publish photos + videos and even audio & text to multiple platforms in 1 click. It works like Tumblr on my phone combining the best of Instagram & Pinterest, and pushes to my Via.Me profile & Facebook & Twitter if I choose. You can port your Instagram photos to Via.Me this week according to their blog http://blog.via.me/
Reblogged this on lava kafle kathmandu nepal.
Your love of the product is clear in how well you use it Om. As I wrote the other day, @om’s Instagram skills inspire me to give it a try, retiring the iPhone built-in.
I love instagram, the simplicity of it is what makes it so brilliant… was astounded to learn that FB had paid so much for it and wonder why? What is it that they hope to gain from it? I love FB, I’ve been a user since about 2006 I think, and I wonder why, when it’s such a massively popular social networking site, the powers that be at FB feel the need to change it constantly? A little worried that the same unwelcome attention (meddling) will be given to Instagram that is paid to FB. That would be a shame. Congrats on being FP!
A billion dollar app! It should just be cool, shouldn’t it!
I’ve only recently heard about Instagram after my crush told me about it. I don’t know too much about it yet, but I LOVE the idea of sharing images with others that truly capture a special moment in time.
I’d definitely use it if I had a smart phone lol, but I’m still years and years behind with all this new technology:)
I fell in love with MySpace the moment I created an account. But then I dumped her for Facebook. Aint I a stinker?
Nope I basically did the same thing and now I have just recently dumped Facebook for Twitter and Instagram….lol!!! And about time Myspace caught up to Facebook, it was too late, they had lost too many people. :-/
I am an Android user so Instagram is new to me, but I must admit in a few shorts days, I am in love with Instagram and I am already addicted. I have a graphic design background and the filters for me is like how I first new Graphic Design was the major for me over 10+ years ago. It took one class….Typography and I was hooked! Instagram is a winner in my book! I am an avid apple user, but I never felt the need to switch to an Iphone, well, let’s just say in a few short weeks when it is time for me to upgrade, I am running to grab an Iphone!
Ok, i can see why Instagram would be beneficial for photographers and people with a little too much time on their hands but to say this would be the platform to knock off facebook is a little excessive. Now I’m not a facebook fan myself especially considering their over the top ad campiagn as of late but i dont believe instagram would be the next best thing. Personally i would say google plus has more of a chance to do this then a simple phone application. But if this does happen to steer people away by some mirical then what does that say about us as a people in general? Are we really that distracted by images and our own ego to fall into this cycle of relativity? Or is it just that we are a nation of followers now who just think that going with the flow is really just the thing to do? Either way Instagram equals less readership, more ego and obviously more of a bloated phone market. So pay up while you still have the money guys! -,o
http://wp.me/2aAA8
Even before all those coments (on monday, the 9th), Facebook had already bought Instagram for one billion in shares and cash. That’s just a short time before going public… Do you think Mike Krieger, the 26 year old developer from São Paulo that created it, is happy or what?!?
gosh, wish I had a smartphone 🙁 haha! No, but instagram is pretty revolutionary for the visual social networker. Kinda levels the playing field for profesh photographers, though, don’t you think?
http://www.elizabethselena.wordpress.com
Reblogged this on mariaficca1marketing and commented:
This shows another way social media has become such a huge part of our society. More and more companies use Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube to advertise. Now also I have seen banners and ads on intagram.
I am just about to write a post about instagram – just found it, just love it! Bx
love it!