Episode
#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
1:30:27
Published: Thu Apr 25 2019
Description
“I think a big part of knowing that you’re right is working as hard as you can to prove that you’re wrong. And if you can’t, well, there’s only one option left, which is: you’re probably right.”— Kevin SystromKevin Systrom (@kevin) is an entrepreneur and the co-founder (with Mike Krieger) of Instagram. While at Instagram, Kevin served as the CEO, where he oversaw the company’s vision and strategy and daily operations. Under his leadership, Instagram grew to over one billion users and launched dozens of products including video, live, direct messaging, creative tools, Stories, and IGTV.The company also grew to over 800 employees with a campus in Menlo Park, new offices in New York City, and a new headquarters in San Francisco.Prior to founding Instagram, Kevin graduated from Stanford University with a BS in management science and engineering. Kevin currently lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter.Please enjoy!This podcast is brought to you by Helix Sleep. I recently moved into a new home and needed new beds, and I purchased mattresses from Helix Sleep.It offers mattresses personalized to your preferences and sleeping style — without costing thousands of dollars. Visit Helixsleep.com/TIM and take the simple 2-3 minute sleep quiz to get started, and the team there will build a mattress you’ll love.Its customer service makes all the difference. The mattress arrives within a week, and the shipping is completely free. You can try the mattress for 100 nights, and if you’re not happy, it’ll pick it up and offer a full refund. To personalize your sleep experience, visit Helixsleep.com/TIM and you’ll receive up to $125 off your custom mattress.This podcast is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is the #1 cloud bookkeeping software, which is used by a ton of the start-ups I advise and many of the contractors I work with. It is the easiest way to send invoices, get paid, track your time, and track your clients.FreshBooks tells you when your clients have viewed your invoices, helps you customize your invoices, track your hours, automatically organize your receipts, have late payment reminders sent automatically and much more.Right now you can get a free month of complete and unrestricted use. You do not need a credit card for the trial. To claim your free month and see how the brand new Freshbooks can change your business, go to FreshBooks.com/Tim and enter “Tim Ferriss” in the “how did you hear about us” section.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please fill out the form at tim.blog/sponsor.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapters
Entrepreneur and co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, discusses his experiences building a wildly successful company and shares insights into making tough decisions in business.
00:00 - 04:08 (04:08)
Summary
Entrepreneur and co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, discusses his experiences building a wildly successful company and shares insights into making tough decisions in business.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, shares some of the principles he still applies from Lean Startup and his recommended books including Ray Dalio's Principles.
04:08 - 09:35 (05:26)
Summary
Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, shares some of the principles he still applies from Lean Startup and his recommended books including Ray Dalio's Principles.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
In creating Instagram, the founders made a list of existing problems and decided to focus on solving the lack of a solution for posting great photos to lots of friends all at once, which led to the creation of the first version of Instagram.
09:35 - 19:11 (09:36)
Summary
In creating Instagram, the founders made a list of existing problems and decided to focus on solving the lack of a solution for posting great photos to lots of friends all at once, which led to the creation of the first version of Instagram. The importance of keeping it simple and avoiding feature creep is also discussed.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker took a personality test to know more about himself, but emphasizes that real experience is crucial in any profession.
19:11 - 27:05 (07:53)
Summary
The speaker took a personality test to know more about himself, but emphasizes that real experience is crucial in any profession. He cites examples like cooking or tech founding, where experience is a better learning tool than books or lectures.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
In order to succeed in business, it's important to be aware that most successful ventures involve pivots or shutting down something that's not working.
27:05 - 35:08 (08:03)
Summary
In order to succeed in business, it's important to be aware that most successful ventures involve pivots or shutting down something that's not working. While there isn't a surefire way to know when something needs to be stopped, successful founders tend to be calm under pressure and aware of when it's time to pivot.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Success is not about having a perfect, foolproof idea the first time around, but instead, it's about constantly iterating on weaker ideas and learning from feedback.
35:08 - 41:42 (06:33)
Summary
Success is not about having a perfect, foolproof idea the first time around, but instead, it's about constantly iterating on weaker ideas and learning from feedback. The most successful entrepreneurs are those who are equipped and engaged in the change from something that's not working to something that is, rather than sticking with ideas for too long due to ego or other factors.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
As individuals, we need honest feedback to improve, but it can be challenging to receive it.
41:42 - 47:08 (05:25)
Summary
As individuals, we need honest feedback to improve, but it can be challenging to receive it. This podcast discusses the importance of seeking out honest feedback and how to handle criticism constructively.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Kevin Systrom, founder of Instagram, talks about the struggles that business people and entrepreneurs face and how the fear of failure is ever-present during the process of building something important.
47:08 - 52:41 (05:32)
Summary
Kevin Systrom, founder of Instagram, talks about the struggles that business people and entrepreneurs face and how the fear of failure is ever-present during the process of building something important.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger discuss their determination to prove people wrong after selling their company in 2012 and explain how their competitive nature motivated them to continue growing and evolving the app, despite initial doubts from others in the tech industry.
52:41 - 58:24 (05:43)
Summary
Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger discuss their determination to prove people wrong after selling their company in 2012 and explain how their competitive nature motivated them to continue growing and evolving the app, despite initial doubts from others in the tech industry.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The slowest part in a chain always limits output, similarly, not making important decisions can block progress.
58:25 - 1:07:27 (09:02)
Summary
The slowest part in a chain always limits output, similarly, not making important decisions can block progress. Hence, hiring the smartest people and coaching them on their careers with a structured meeting policy can help in the better management of a team.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker talks about his process of choosing books to read and how he prefers non-fiction to fiction because it helps him learn more about historical events and patterns in business.
1:07:27 - 1:13:32 (06:05)
Summary
The speaker talks about his process of choosing books to read and how he prefers non-fiction to fiction because it helps him learn more about historical events and patterns in business. He also mentions that sometimes it's necessary to call it quits on a book if it doesn't meet his expectations.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The advice given to entrepreneurs is that they should solve a problem.
1:13:32 - 1:19:07 (05:34)
Summary
The advice given to entrepreneurs is that they should solve a problem.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Life is short and we should follow our passion as long as we have thought through it and done the math.
1:19:09 - 1:24:48 (05:39)
Summary
Life is short and we should follow our passion as long as we have thought through it and done the math. Following our passion despite the haters and obstacles is crucial to our success and happiness.
Episode#369: Kevin Systrom — Tactics, Books, and the Path to a Billion Users
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Learn about two of Tim Ferriss's sponsors, Helix Sleep and Freshbooks, and how they can help you get a better night's sleep and manage your business finances.
1:24:48 - 1:30:18 (05:29)
Summary
Learn about two of Tim Ferriss's sponsors, Helix Sleep and Freshbooks, and how they can help you get a better night's sleep and manage your business finances.